Australian adult and community education (ACE) providers have achieved the best results in bringing students from unemployment into employment, according to 2022 student outcomes data released by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER).
ACE providers have shown the greatest increase of adult students employed after training, compared to other vocational education and training (VET) providers. Nationally ACE providers excelled, with a 16.1% increase, compared to 12.6% for TAFE, 10.5% for private for-profit providers and a national average of 11.7%.
| Type of provider | Students employed before training (%) | Students employed after training (%) | Student employment increase (%) |
| ACE (community education) |
53.3 |
69.4 |
16.1 |
| TAFE |
63.0 |
75.6 |
12.6 |
| Private for-profit providers |
69.9 |
80.5 |
10.5 |
| National average |
65.7 |
77.4 |
11.7 |
CCA Comment:
“The employment status of many ACE students starts at a much lower base – 53% – than students with other providers – at least 10% fewer are employed. ACE providers consistently engage many more disadvantaged students than other types of VET organisations. So, although our sector does not end up with the highest percentage of employed student graduates, our increases are significantly better than other providers. This is not a statistical anomaly, but part of a consistent pattern that proves the tremendous value the ACE sector brings to Australian employment and economy,” said CCA CEO, Dr Don Perlgut.
In addition to improving student employment, Australia’s ACE sector has accomplished many other notable achievements, listed below.
Student Outcomes Measures: Skills
ACE government-funded VET students in the survey report they:
- Achieved main reason for doing the training: 88.7% of ACE students, more than TAFE, and equal to private providers.
- Developed problem solving skills: 82% of ACE students, surpassing both TAFE and private providers.
- Improved writing skills: 63.2% of ACE students, easily surpassing both TAFE and private providers.
- Achieved main reason for doing the training: 88.7% of ACE students, surpassing TAFE and equal with private training providers.
- Received at least one job-related benefit: 86% of ACE students, much higher than TAFE and private providers.
Student Satisfaction Measures
Total ACE VET students report:
- Of those who undertook training online: 86.6% of ACE students were satisfied with the overall quality of the training, outscoring both TAFE and private providers.
- Satisfied with the support from teachers/trainers: 86.9% ACE students, greater than both TAFE and private providers.
- Satisfied with the training overall: 90.5% of ACE students, more than both TAFE and private providers.
- Satisfied with support services: 82.7% of ACE students, greater than both TAFE and private providers.
- Satisfied with their learning resources: 85.9% of ACE students, greater than both TAFE and private providers.
About the Survey: The NCVER National Student Outcomes Survey is an annual survey of students who completed their VET in Australia during the previous calendar year. The survey collects information on VET students’ reasons for training, their employment outcomes, satisfaction with training, and further study outcomes. The main reason for not continuing with the training is also collected for those who did not complete. In total, 216,162 VET students responded to the 2022 survey, which was released on 15 December 2022.
