Section 5 - Victorian Certificate Of Applied Learning

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VCAL Enrolments

There were 8145 students enrolled in any level of VCAL in 2004. They were enrolled with 322 providers. Nearly three quarters of all students, (74.6%) were enrolled in government schools.

With respect to the level of certificate studied, 30.6% VCAL students were enrolled in foundation and 55.4% in intermediate level certificates. Senior and senior extension enrolments comprised 11.5% and 2.5% of enrolments respectively.

Table 5.1: VCAL Enrolments By Certificate And Level, 2004

Certificate Name and Level

Enrolments

VCAL (Foundation)

2484

ICT Industries (Foundation)

2

All Foundation

2486

VCAL (Intermediate)

4313

Automotive Industry (Intermediate)

31

Carpentry, Joinery & Shop Fitting (Intermediate)

12

Construction Industry (Intermediate)

8

Digital Design (Intermediate)

10

Electrical Industry (Intermediate)

6

Furniture Making (Intermediate)

6

Hospitality Industry (Intermediate)

17

ICT Industries (Intermediate)

7

Land Based Industry-Horticulture (Intermediate)

3

Media & Communications Film & TV (Intermediate)

9

Multimedia (Intermediate)

9

Performing Arts - Music (Intermediate)

10

Plumbing Industry (Intermediate

19

Printing Industry (Intermediate)

5

Service & Retail Industries (Intermediate)

16

Sport & Leisure Industries (Intermediate)

22

All Intermediate

4503

VCAL (Senior)

901

Automotive Industry (Senior)

7

Digital Design (Senior)

5

ICT Industries (Senior)

3

Media & Communications Film & TV (Senior)

8

Multimedia (Senior)

3

Printing Industry (Senior)

1

Sport & Leisure Industries (Senior)

4

All Senior

932

Senior Extension (Folio Enhancement)

204

Total

8125

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Gender

Just over three in five VCAL student enrolments in 2004 were male (61.4%).  However, for Senior and Senior Extension level enrolments there were a similar number of males as of females.

Table 5.2: VCAL Student Enrolments By Gender And Level, 2004

Level

Gender

 

 

 

Female

Male

% Male

All

Foundation

978

1508

60.7

2486

Intermediate

1607

2896

64.3

4503

Senior

551

585

51.5

1136

All

3136

4 989

61.4

8125

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Unit Enrolments and Completions

In 2004 there were a total of 34,300 VCAL unit enrolments. Students enrolled in any VCAL certificate can also gain credit for VET and VCE studies towards their qualification. The table below shows enrolments in VCAL units which is not the full range of curriculum participation or completion that contributed towards the attainment of a VCAL. VCAL students enrolled in VETiS and VCE units are included in the participation and completion reports for those units and certificates.

VCAL Personal Development units (38.5%) and VCAL Work Related Skills units (37.3%) accounted for over three quarters of enrolments in VCAL units.

Overall 70.5% of VCAL units were satisfactorily completed. Literacy Skills units averaged 69.5% completion, Numeracy skills units 62.7%, Personal Development units 71.2% and /work related skills units 71.6%.

Table 5.3: VCAL Unit Completions By Level, 2004

VCAL Unit description

S

Enrolments

% S

Advanced Numeracy Skills (Senior)

24

51

47.1

Advanced Study Skills

143

204

70.1

Folio Enhancement and Presentation

165

204

80.9

Literacy Skills (Intermediate) Oral Communication

1330

1898

70.1

Literacy Skills (Intermediate) Reading and Writing

1435

2139

67.1

Literacy Skills (Senior) Oral Communication

415

571

72.7

Literacy Skills (Senior) Reading and Writing

479

657

72.9

Numeracy Skills (Intermediate)

1120

1790

62.6

Numeracy Skills (Senior)

345

546

63.2

Pathways Planning

162

222

73.0

Personal Development Skills Unit 1 (Foundation)

1793

2478

72.4

Personal Development Skills Unit 1 (Intermediate)

3133

4110

76.2

Personal Development Skills Unit 1 (Senior)

677

890

76.1

Personal Development Skills Unit 2 (Foundation)

973

1641

59.3

Personal Development Skills Unit 2 (Intermediate)

2265

3309

68.4

Personal Development Skills Unit 2 (Senior)

572

789

72.5

Work Related Skills Unit 1 (Foundation)

1754

2332

75.2

Work Related Skills Unit 1 (Intermediate)

2635

3550

74.2

Work Related Skills Unit 1 (Senior)

533

685

77.8

Work Related Skills Unit 2 (Foundation)

1162

1828

63.6

Work Related Skills Unit 2 (Intermediate)

2540

3703

68.6

Work Related Skills Unit 2 (Senior)

539

703

76.7

Grand Total

24,194

34,300

70.5

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Certificate Completions

There were 3642 VCAL certificate completions out of 6126 enrolments which were eligible to complete in 2004. A student is eligible to complete a qualification if they have completed sufficient units or modules or are enrolled in sufficient units or modules that if completed satisfactorily met the requirements for satisfactory completion of the qualification.

Table 5.4: VCAL Certificate Completions By Level, 2004

 

Eligible to Complete

 

Level

Completed

All

% Completed

Foundation

794

1538

50.3

Intermediate

2062

3580

57.4

Senior and Senior Extension

786

1008

76.3

Total

3642

6,126

58.7

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Destinations

VCAL is a pathways program designed to lead on to further education, employment, apprenticeship or traineeship. Students may take up employment or a mix of employment and training such as an apprenticeship before certificate completion. 

Destination data collected by the VQA from 90% of VCAL providers (88% of students) indicates 85.4% of students moving to further education and training and employment destinations; 51.5% into further education and training and 33.9% into employment.

Table 5.5: VCAL Students By Education And Training Destination, 2004

Destination

Number

Percentage

VCAL Foundation

445

6.2

VCAL Intermediate

651

9.1

VCAL Senior

1176

16.4

VCE Year 11

170

2.3

VCE Year 12

406

5.7

TAFE

731

10.2

University (Higher Education)

104

1.5

Total

3683

51.5

Source: VQA

Table 5.6: VCAL Students By Employment Destination, 2004

Destination

Number

Percentage

Apprenticeship

1086

15.1

Traineeship

162

2.2

Employment: Less than 15 hours per week

254

3.5

Employment: More than 15 hours per week

922

12.9

Total

2424

33.9

Source: VQA

Last Update: January 12, 2012