In this eclectic collection of papers, 13 essayists and four high-profile discussants consider the complexity of the tertiary education system and its underlying structures. The papers are clustered by themes: how educational matters influence the system's structures; who controls the system; how the system is governed in a competitive environment; and how individuals interact with...

This paper was written in 2010 to encourage policy-makers to think about how to measure socioeconomic status (SES). The findings show that measurement of SES is a complex issue, and that the Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) measures perform quite well in measuring the aggregate relationship between socioeconomic status and education participation. People who are...

For the fifth consecutive year, the number of students enrolled in the publicly funded training system in Australia increased, with 1.943 million students studying last year, up 3.3% from 2011. Student numbers increased in South Australia (15.5%), Victoria (8.2%), Australian Capital Territory (2.1%) and in New South Wales (2.0%). This publication presents preliminary figures on...

This technical paper explores trends in mid-level qualifications (diplomas, advanced diplomas and associate degrees) from 2002 to 2011. The authors analyse these trends using vocational education and training and higher education enrolment data, as well as student outcomes and destination surveys. Overall they find that changes in the share of student load in mid-level qualifications...

The range of data collected by NCVER for the national vocational education and training (VET) system and how it is disseminated is discussed in this conference paper. The author talks about how analytical techniques are used to maximise what can be extracted from those collections; the current focus on expanding the range of data to...