Vocational education and training (VET) has been designed to be more flexible, accessible and supportive than other forms of tertiary education, which helps students, jobseekers and workers overcome a multitude of education obstacles.
It offers a more individual and tailored approach, as Australians can choose their study and training pathway to their career as well as their learning style, availability and personal needs.
TAFE NSW outlines VET differs from higher education in particular ways but rather than being prohibitive to studying a bachelor or postgraduate degree, it can actually help students get a headstart or transition to higher education.
Firstly, VET focuses on practical, hands-on training that is specifically designed to meet job or workforce needs, whereas higher education offers more theory-based, academic learning.
Courses can get workers started in the industry quickly, sometimes from day one as they work while undertaking training.
VET also offers a range of qualifications, from certificates that can take three-to-six months, to diplomas and associate degrees that can take two years of full-time study.
Higher education often requires in-depth academic study or professional accreditation before students can get a relevant job, with bachelor degrees taking a minimum of three years to complete.
Finally, VET generally offers more affordable fees than higher education, while many qualifications are partially or fully subsidised by governments.
Whether the obstacles are cost, time, location, a disability or self-confidence, VET has a way to overcome them all.
ARIAH CHOOSES VET TO GET HER CAREER ON TRACK
Ariah Holmes, 28, was studying nursing and midwifery at university when her life unexpectedly changed.
She became wheelchair-bound and immunocompromised through illness, so was not able to finish her required placements.
While working at Volunteering ACT, she decided a qualification that would be transferable across any career decision she might have would be essential to her success.
She sought advice from her manager, who suggested a Diploma in Leadership and Management traineeship through YWCA SheLeads program.
“Our careers take twists and turns we don’t expect and I wanted something that I could carry across any career,” she says.
“By that time, I was working full time, and with my full-time workload, it would be difficult to work (higher education) studies in.
“VET has a lot of really great opportunities for people who are working full time or part time and are able to do a qualification in a flexible way.”
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She says people in marginalised cohorts in particular, such as people with lived experience of disability or new migrants, often face barriers to accessing adult education including cost, juggling study with work, and requirements to attend lectures in person.
“Vocational education and training really has the power to break down barriers for marginalised cohorts,” she says.
“With online learning options, I was able to complete my diploma with one day a month of class for 12 months and doing assignments in between each of those classes in my own time, on weekends and evenings.
“I personally found that the learning environment was also extremely accessible with regards to a welcoming and safe learning environment where I was asked questions like ‘How can we best support you?’ and ‘How can we make this training more accessible to you?’.
“I was never really asked those questions in university.
“The vocational education and training pathway is really person-centred and flexible in those ways.”
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VET course fees are lower than higher education, while traineeships also involve mentoring and a greater level of on-the-job supervision that helps people to learn while they work, which Ariah found useful.
She believes vocational education and training can be misunderstood as only being about trades when there are so many other careers that it paves the way for, including hers.
LACHIE’S CAREER ADVENTURE FROM APPRENTICESHIP TO HIGHER EDUCATION
Lachie Carey, 22, suffered two strokes when he was in Year 10, so did not have the confidence to return to studying at school and left to pursue an electrical apprenticeship.
During the COVID pandemic, he lost his job twice.
While unemployed, he decided to help out at his parents’ childcare centre during the busy Christmas concert season.
“I absolutely loved it – I’ve had a bit of a passion for ensuring young kids get a go and also for young disadvantaged kids getting a fair go, and after having two strokes and a lot of people helping me get back on track, I really felt like it was time for me to give back,” he says.
Lachie studied his Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care online while working at the centre, then followed it up with a Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care.
“Because I could do it online anytime, I could do that at home and still get that on-the-job experience every day with the kids at work,” he says.
It also helped him to earn while he learned, so he could pay his mortgage.
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He says brain damage caused by his strokes, as well as dyslexia, meant he had some challenges to overcome but the learning experience was incredibly supportive.
“(The trainers) were always willing to have a chat about anything I needed,” he says.
“They were able to help me through, by just reading the question and putting it into some different words here and there.
“Also, if there was something that they wanted more information about in an assessment, they would just send your assessment back through and say, ‘We want more in this area’ (rather than marking him down).”
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He is one of two men working at his childcare centre which he says has led to some concerns from parents but once they have met him, they realise how he can be a positive male role model in their children’s lives.
“I find it a massive positive advantage for the kids because a lot of children may not have a father figure or a male role model in their life,” he says.
“For myself and the other male educator (employed at his centre), that is something we don’t take lightly.”
Even though he didn’t finish school, Lachie has been able to use his VET qualifications to enrol in a Bachelor of Education (Early Years) to become an early childhood teacher.
It has also reduced the total learning time from four years to two years, enabling him to progress in his career into a role that comes with higher responsibility as well as higher pay.
HOW BENJAMIN’S LIFE TURNED AROUND AFTER STUDYING VET
Benjamin Barker, 21, thought his career would not amount to much when he was a teenager as he struggled with several life challenges.
He never knew his father, then his mother died when he was young, and having severe dyslexia meant he struggled at school.
“I fell into a hole thinking the world’s against me and I’m pretty happy ending up at the bottom of the food chain,” he says.
“Once I was able to start my Certificate II and I was able to pick up my apprenticeship, that’s where my life changed.
“Vocational education changed my life.”
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Benjamin had moved in with his grandfather and the two would tinker around in the shed on old cars and motorbikes.
So in Year 11, he enrolled in a Certificate II in Automotive, a VET in Schools qualification offered by his school.
It cemented in his mind that a mechanical career was for him and gave him the entry-level skills to secure a Certificate III in Heavy Commercial Vehicle Mechanical Technology apprenticeship to be a diesel mechanic at Veolia.
He knuckled down and completed each unit at his own pace, so was able to finish his four-year apprenticeship in just two years.
He found alternatives to reading and writing, such as listening to videos, to overcome his dyslexia but was also disciplined to sit down and focus on what he needed to learn until he had learnt it.
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Already, he has been promoted to leading hand mechanic in a workshop with seven workers maintaining more than 100 vehicles.
“Finishing my apprenticeship in just that two-year period and working all the way up to being a leading hand mechanic at just the age of 21 – that’s something that I can say is absolutely amazing,” he says.
“Although I’m very fortunate where I am now, it wasn’t as easy as that for me.
“My training and what I do gave me the confidence and passion in my career and I proved to myself that your background doesn’t define you and your success.
“I’m considering doing my certificate III in auto electronics to become an auto electrician, so I’ll try to be dual trade in the next two or three years.”
He says anyone who has doubt in themselves can be successful if they explore what options are available.
“You’re not only building yourself a future, you’re securing yourself a career and now you’re getting paid to learn (through an apprenticeship or traineeship).
“You’re qualified and you can continue getting qualifications after the first one, after the second one – you can build yourself quite a successful career.”
ANDY’S MID-LIFE CAREER CHANGE MADE POSSIBLE BY VET
Andy Bartlett, 49, was working towards being a chef when the COVID pandemic forced him to reconsider his career, at an age when he hadn’t sat in a classroom in years.
He started driving a supermarket home delivery truck but really wanted to do something more fulfilling.
Someone suggested to him that the disability sector was rewarding work, so he decided to give it a try and enrolled in a Certificate III in Individual Support (Disability).
“I was told ‘Give disability a try and you won’t look back’ and they were dead right, I have not looked back once,” he says.
He attended training one day a week for the six-month course while working full time in his delivery job.
He says he would not have been able to afford to retrain if he had had to pay tuition costs, but his tuition fee was covered by the government as his course is one of those that are fee-free.
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Andy does admit he found it a slight challenge to adapt to learning again.
“So for me, being older, I thought it was going to be a struggle, but it actually became a lot easier as I went through the six months,” he says.
“When I started, I struggled because I couldn’t use a laptop.
“In that six months, I learned how to use a laptop and by the end of the course, I was actually helping other people get their assessments in.
“Once I fired up the old cylinders and the old brain muscle memory or something, it just started all flowing through.”
He says the assessors helped guide him through his mistakes as he went, supporting him to learn.
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Now he is employed by Possability, where he has started a program called Cookability, using the skills he obtained from his previous career, teaching participants how to shop for and cook a full meal.
“I kind of lost the passion for cooking, but working with these six young people (in the program) and even older people as well, I found that passion again,” he says.
“I found a lot of community spirit too.”
Andy has since joined service organisation Rotary and plans to continue his vocational career journey by studying a Diploma of Community Services.
“Knowing that (the trainers and assessors) will be there for me if I need them, it gives you more confidence to do it,” he says.
HOW LAWSON EXPLORED HIS OPTIONS AT SCHOOL
Lawson Connor, 17, has epilepsy, which has caused him to experience seizures and therefore ambulance and hospital treatment many times during his life.
“I pretty much grew up in hospital and around the healthcare system,” he says.
“So I think that made me decide that I definitely wanted to work in healthcare.”
Born two months premature, he also has learning difficulties with subjects such as maths, so obtaining a university entrance score on completion of Year 12 seemed impossible to him.
“I wasn’t able to get an ATAR because I hadn’t fulfilled the requirements because I’d missed so much of school,” he says.
“I wanted to do paramedicine but I didn’t have a pathway because I wasn’t going to get an ATAR, which was a bit scary.”
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But a career advisor at his school showed him a way that he could get started in his future career.
They suggested he complete a Certificate III in Allied Health Assistance as part of an Australian School-Based Apprenticeship, which would provide him with work experience in a range of healthcare settings, while the learning would count towards his schooling.
“I knew it was healthcare but I had no clue what allied health was,” he says.
“But I do love a good opportunity.
“It was from this experience that I knew I definitely wanted to do paramedicine, given my personal experience with the ambulance service.
“She got me started studying that in Year 10, so if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be in this position, which is crazy to think about.”
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While the Certificate III did not contribute to an ATAR, it did provide an alternate pathway into a university degree.
This year, Lawson was accepted into a paramedicine – his dream job.
While he is studying at university, Lawson is also working as a Triple 0 call taker, which has also involved studying another vocational qualification – a Certificate III in Ambulance Communications.
“I like how practical working in healthcare is – it’s not an office job, you’re not working 9 to 5 stuck at a desk, you’re engaging with people, you’re socialising every day and you can see the result of your work,” he says.
When contemplating your study choices, first be mindful to Explore All The Options
Cara Jenkin is a freelance journalist with more than 20 years’ experience working in the print, digital and television media. It included 10 years as the editor of NewsCorp’s Careers employment section, covering topics ranging from education and training to workplace career advice.