The Sydney Morning Herald logo

Vocational training

Advertisement
One number – the ATAR – will be consuming students and parents this week.

Our college dumped the ATAR – because it doesn’t measure anything useful

Students are turning their backs on the ATAR system and pursuing more meaningful subjects.

  • Sam Jacob

Latest

Simon Ashby at work as a cabinetmaker.

WA university graduates can struggle to find work. Why not try a trade?

At 34 years old, Simon Ashby took a huge risk, trading in his office job of nine years to become an apprentice for a Perth cabinetmaker before enrolling at TAFE.

  • Holly Thompson
Plumber Maric Wichman, 27, left school and enrolled in a bachelor of security studies but dropped out after two weeks.

Cheaper and shorter degrees: Welcome to the ‘tradies university’

One university says TAFE qualifications should be treated with “esteem”, after government reviews called for better pathways between vocational education and university.

  • Christopher Harris
Jimenez says she has start again from zero after spending six years saving the money she claims to have lost from an education agent operating in Australia.

Liliana paid thousands to study in Australia but never got her money back

An education agency has been accused by nine former prospective students of not providing refunds. Experts say the problem is much broader.

  • Kayla Olaya
RBA Governor Michele Bullock attempts to get attention back on interest rates at her Tuesday press conference that was ultimately dominated by questions over productivity.

What the RBA governor’s struggle to get a room to focus on rates says about the economy

For three days, two dozen people will debate ways to lift the nation’s living standards as productivity growth remains sluggish. Failure cannot be an option.

  • Shane Wright
Sara Abdalhadi is studying medicine at Macquarie University.

Four years ago, 800 teenagers left school. Then, they were tracked

Disadvantaged students’ pathways to a career are typically non-linear in the years after leaving school, a study has found.

  • Christopher Harris
Advertisement
Even when you are learning the role, you are still entitled to be paid.

My teen’s boss says she won’t be paid while she’s learning the job. Is this legal?

The owner might claim that it’s perfectly fine to offer little or no pay during a training period, but Dr Kirstin Ferguson says taking advantage of young workers doesn’t stack up.

  • Kirstin Ferguson
The government is on a major vocational education compliance blitz.

‘Shocked’: College ordered to shut after students accused of cheating

The vocational education watchdog has been on an aggressive campaign to clean up the sector. One college says it has been wrongly targeted.

  • Daniella White
The government is cracking down on dodgy providers.

Colleges shut, thousands of students lose qualifications in fake diploma crackdown

About 17,000 students across the country have been told their qualifications will be torn up.

  • Daniella White
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will face-off in Parliament on Monday with questions over flight upgrades likely to dominate.

Building a 2025 election win: Albanese starts campaign early

The next federal poll isn’t due until May, but the prime minister has kicked off proceedings with another large education promise aimed at TAFE.

  • Shane Wright