More South Australians are finishing their vocational education and training qualifications, with new national data showing the state recorded the biggest year-on-year increase in completion rates in the country.
The latest National Centre for Vocational Education Research figures show 51 per cent of South Australian residents who began a nationally recognised VET qualification in 2021 had completed it within four years.
That was up 2.3 percentage points on the previous commencing cohort, giving South Australia the largest increase of any state or territory.
It also represents South Australia’s highest completion rate since NCVER’s current reporting series began in 2016. Western Australia and the Northern Territory also recorded their highest levels over the same period.
The South Australian result bucks the national trend, with the overall Australian four-year completion rate edging down from 49.5 per cent for students commencing in 2020 to 48.9 per cent for those commencing in 2021.
Trade-related training was among the strongest areas of improvement locally.
The State Government says completion rates for government-funded trade qualifications rose 7.4 percentage points to 60.5 per cent, while government-funded qualifications overall increased 4.4 percentage points and remained above the national average.
“Completion rates continue to climb under our government and it’s pleasing to see South Australia recording the highest growth anywhere in the country,” shared Minister for Education, Training and Skills Lucy Hood.
“More South Australian students are finishing their training, particularly in high demand areas across trades and early childhood.”
Early childhood education recorded improvements, with South Australia reporting the second-highest government-funded completion rates nationally for both Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care and the related Diploma.
The figures are particularly relevant as South Australia expands its early childhood workforce to support the staged rollout of universal three-year-old preschool.
NCVER notes that completion rates can be influenced by a range of factors, including students’ personal circumstances, job requirements, training quality, timetable flexibility, economic conditions and available learner support. The report itself does not determine what caused individual states’ rates to rise or fall.
The latest data also shows improvement among several groups of South Australian learners, including people aged 15 to 24, women and students with disability.
“A higher completion rate is critical to tackling skills shortages and has been a key focus since we came to office, which this data reflects,” added Hood.
“Many factors influence whether a qualification is completed, including personal circumstances, so providing extra support can be the step needed to ensure a student succeeds and enters the industry.”
The Australian and South Australian governments previously committed $37 million under the National Skills Agreement to improve VET completion rates, including additional mental health, financial and peer support for apprentices and trainees.
Other measures include expanded assistance for apprentices who need to travel for training, with travel and accommodation allowances increased from July this year.
The latest NCVER figures track nationally recognised qualifications started in 2021 and completed within four years, rather than simply counting the number of qualifications issued during 2025.
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