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Question and Answer Tracking Details

4548 - TAFE ENROLMENTS

Hornery, Sonia to the Deputy Premier, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Skills, and Minister for Small Business
  1. What measures is the Government taking to counteract the 62 per cent drop in enrolments at Hunter TAFE between 2012 and 2016?
  2. Does the Minister believe this drop in enrolments is attributable to changes to VET sector policy in the last two years (to 15 November 2016) in the form of the Government's 'Smart and Skilled' changes?
Answer -

(1) Enrolment data from 2012 is not comparable to 2016 as TAFE NSW moved to reporting data externally using the National Centre for Vocational Education Research counting rules in mid-2015. As at October 2016, Hunter Institute had seen a 35 per cent increase in year-to-date enrolments.

(2) 2015 was a disappointing year for all vocational education enrolments across both public and private providers. TAFE NSW student enrolments decreased between 2014 and 2015 by 19.6 per cent for all students.

Changes in the higher education sector such as the uncapping university enrolments increased the number of students commencing university studies, a drop in the unemployment rate from 5.9 to 5.1 per cent, and TAFE NSW facing significant challenges with the introduction of new IT systems all impacted enrolments.

However, a number of NSW Government policy changes throughout 2015 have led to strong growth in enrolments in 2016. As at 9 October, TAFE NSW had over 500,000 enrolments since January 2016. This is an increase of 122,000 enrolments when compared with the same time last year and an excellent result for TAFE NSW.

Question asked on 16 November 2016 (session 56-1) and printed in Questions & Answers Paper No. 101
Answer received on 21 December 2016 and printed in Questions & Answers Paper No. 103

The Parliament of New South Wales acknowledges and respects the traditional lands of all Aboriginal people, and pays respects to all Elders past and present. We acknowledge the Gadigal people as the traditional custodians of the land on which the Parliament of New South Wales stands.