VET News

Numbers Show Just How Much This Pandemic Has Impacted Our International VET Students

New data shows the COVID-19 pandemic affected the outcomes of international students who completed a nationally recognised vocational education and training (VET) qualification in Australia.

The report International onshore VET qualification completer outcomes 2020, compiled by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), uses data collected in mid-2020 from approximately 15 500 respondents to the National Student Outcomes Survey.

Results from the survey show the top two reasons for enrolling in a VET qualification in Australia were to develop or start their own business and to improve their general education skills. In all, 87.7% achieved their main reason for training.

The survey showed the COVID-19 pandemic affected international onshore VET qualification completers in many ways:

• Of those employed in mid-2020:
  • 68.3% had their hours reduced because of the pandemic
  • 24.0% were temporarily stood down because of the pandemic
• Of those who didn’t have a job in mid-2020, 50.1% had a job previously that they lost due to the pandemic
• Of those who looked for work after training, 60.6% cited a lack of jobs due to the pandemic as a barrier to finding a job.

Quotes attributable to NCVER Managing Director Simon Walker

The NCVER's Managing Director, Simon Walker said "The results of this year’s survey are particularly important given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international students. Extra questions were added to this year’s survey to understand how the pandemic affected students’ employment and study outcomes."

DOWNLOAD: International onshore VET qualification completer outcomes 2020

Data products and resources for this release:

• Use the DataBuilder to create your own tables

General NCVER resources:

• About our statistics and data
• Latest VET statistics dashboard
• Timeline of Australian VET policy initiatives 1998 – 2020 provides policy context on the changing VET landscape

Enquiries: Deanne Loan M: 0413 523 691 E: deanneloan@ncver.edu.au

Date posted May 6, 2021