LOOKING TO THE FUTURE REPORT OF THE REVIEW OF SENIOR SECONDARY PATHWAYS INTO WORK, FURTHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING JUNE 2020 The world is moving at a tremendous rate; going no one knows where. We must prepare our children, not for the world of the past, not for our world, but for their world – the world of the future. John Dewey, radio broadcast, early 1940s. LOOKING TO THE FUTURE REPORT OF THE REVIEW OF SENIOR SECONDARY PATHWAYS INTO WORK, FURTHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING JUNE 2020 Review Panel: Professor Peter Shergold AC (Chair), Professor Tom Calma AO, Ms Sarina Russo, Ms Patrea Walton PSM, Ms Jennifer Westacott AO, Dr Don Zoellner, Mr Patrick O’Reilly. ISBN 978-1-76051-935-3 Looking to the future – Report of the review of senior secondary pathways into work, further education and training [PDF] 978-1-76051-936-0 Looking to the future – Report of the review of senior secondary pathways into work, further education and training [DOCX] 978-1-76051-937-7 Looking to the future – Report of the review of senior secondary pathways into work, further education and training [PRINT] © Education Services Australia, as the legal entity for the Council of Australian Governments Education Council. With the exception of any photographs, logos or material protected by a trade mark and where otherwise noted, all material presented in this document is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/). 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CONTENTS Letter from the Chair 6 Terms of Reference 8 Executive summary 12 Findings 17 Recommendations 20 Introduction: The education and employment context of this report 23 Educational attainment 24 Post-school destinations 25 The labour market of the future 27 Chapter 1: Essential skills 29 Chapter findings 30 Literacy, numeracy and digital literacy 31 Essential skills 35 Australian Tertiary Admission Rank 42 Alternative entry to universities 45 Learner Profiles 47 Chapter 2: Exercising informed choice 55 Chapter findings 56 Pathway influencers 57 Senior secondary subject choices 60 Pathways decisions 63 High-quality career information 67 Career advice in schools 69 Career hubs 71 Chapter 3: VET and the world of work 75 Chapter findings 76 The importance of language 77 Career education and work exploration 78 Vocational education and training 82 Chapter 4: Building school-industry partnerships 93 Chapter findings 94 The benefits of school–industry partnerships 95 What should industry do? 97 Systematising industry involvement 99 Chapter 5: Building more flexible pathways from school 103 Chapter findings 104 Early school leavers 105 Youth guarantee 107 Micro-credentialing 109 Education Passport 114 Chapter 6: Ensuring all students have an equal chance of success 119 Chapter findings 120 Engagement and wellbeing 121 Flexible learning approaches 121 Supporting all students 125 Support beyond Year 12 133 A systemic approach to overcoming disadvantage 135 Chapter 7: Creating evidence-based policy 139 Chapter findings 140 Longitudinal studies 141 Unique Student Identifier 144 Data integration projects 145 Afterword – Reform in a time of pandemic 149 Abbreviations and acronyms 152 Glossary 153 Review process 156 Consultations 157 Public submissions 164 References 168 FIGURES Figure 1: What the future student pathways journey would look like across a life cycle 16 Figure 2: Post-school destinations, May 2019 25 Figure 3: Labour force participation rates by highest qualification level, May 2019 26 Figure 4: Projected employment growth to May 2024, by skill level and occupation 28 Figure 5: Capability descriptions across education and employment sectors 36 Figure 6: Example of a Learner Profile 52 Figure 7: Where do youth get their most trustworthy career advice from? 58 Figure 8: Proposed career ecosystem 73 Figure 9: Benefits of school–industry partnerships 95 Figure 10: Example of an Education Passport 116 CASE STUDIES Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment, Western Australia 34 Universities Admissions Centre and DeakinCo framework for measuring skills 41 Australian National University entry criteria 46 :The Rooty Hill High School Learning Portfolio, New South Wales 51 A South Australian learner profile 54 HSC SmartTrack at St Philip’s Christian College, Newcastle, New South Wales 62 An alternative schooling model at RMIT Urban School, Melbourne, Victoria 66 Comprehensive and Universal Career Services in Scotland 68 Transforming Career Education in Victoria 70 CSIRO Virtual Work Experience Program 81 St Patrick’s Technical College in South Australia 87 Australian Government’s Pathways in Technology (P-TECH) program 91 Try-a-Trade program in Western Australia 96 Master Builders Tasmania educational program 98 The Australian Government’s Industry Training Hubs 98 Gateway to Industry Schools program in Queensland 101 New Zealand Youth Guarantee 109 Micro-credentials in New Zealand 113 The Australian Government’s Tertiary Learning Repository 115 Toowoomba Flexi School in Queensland 124 Wuyagiba Regional Study Hub, Northern Territory 126 CCCares at Canberra College, Australian Capital Territory 132 SunnyFutures program, Sunnybank State High School, Queensland 134 National Technical Assistance Center on Transition, United States of America 136 Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth 143 The Australian Government’s Jobs and Education Data Infrastructure (JEDI) project 146 Pathways for the Future research project, New South Wales 147 LETTER FROM THE CHAIR Dear Ministers On behalf of my fellow panel members, I am pleased to submit the Report of the Review of Senior Secondary Pathways into Work, Further Education and Training. This review, as you are aware, is one of eight national policy initiatives under the National School Reform Agreement. It is informed by an explicit recommendation from the 2018 report, Through Growth to Achievement: Report of the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools. Borrowing a quote from the eminent American philosopher and educator, John Dewey, we have entitled our report Looking to the Future. The Panel’s view is that we have to design our education system to prepare young people for their future rather than for our past. The interests of our students must be front and centre. We need to reconceive how they can best be prepared for employability in a fast-changing labour market and for active citizenship in a democratic society. Our deliberations have been informed by reading over 200 submissions and meeting over 700 people at consultations. We have listened carefully to experts but learned even more from talking directly to students and their teachers. We discern a mood for transformation that presents COAG Education Council with an impetus for national reform. There is a need for the council’s collaborative leadership to drive change, while ensuring that educational jurisdictions and school authorities each have the level of autonomy necessary to respond in particular ways that can take account of place, circumstance and context. The present transition pathways presented to young adults at school are too often framed in a manner that they perceive to narrow choice. The dominance of a ranking score, the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR), privileges academic capability over the value of vocational education and training. Many students believe that those headed for university are accorded higher status at school than those who prefer to pursue a trade apprenticeship or traineeship. More profoundly, the heavy focus on scholastic performance is seen by students to pay too little regard to the other skills and attributes that they require for successful adulthood. The general characteristics of students need to be given greater weight in the final years at school. The ATAR should be regarded as just one important measure of success. We need to educate for and assess the diverse learnings that make the whole person. We need to open doors, not narrow pathways. This imperative is increasingly recognised by governments, schools and industry bodies. The panel has been inspired by many great demonstrations of how senior secondary education can be delivered differently. We have captured some of those innovative approaches in our case studies. Education Council can now give greater impetus to such creativity by authorising and encouraging new approaches to vocational learning, career guidance, broader assessment of educational achievement and stronger partnerships with employers. As our afterword emphasises, it is the Panel’s strong view that the disruptive impact of COVID-19