The destinations of Victorian school leavers: key findings from the On Track Project

On Track is a Victorian Government initiative designed to ensure that all students are on a pathway to further education, training or employment after leaving school. It involves making contact with Year 10 to 12 students in the year after they leave school to map their initial destinations and the factors involved, and offering assistance to school leavers who appear to be experiencing a problematic transition. In addition, a longitudinal component follows the post-school experiences of a sub-set of school leavers over a four-year period. The results are provided back to schools, tertiary providers, regions and LLENS to assist with program development. The project, which was launched in 2003, was the first of this scope to be undertaken by an Australian government. In 2008 around 33,300 completers of Year 12 or a vocational equivalent were interviewed, along with 4,700 early leavers. The paper provides an overview of the main trends in Victorian school-leaver pathways since 2003 and key results from the 2008 survey, and discusses their policy implications.