All Year 12s in SA to be targeted for survey about their tertiary education choices

ALL Year 12 students in SA will be targeted for a survey about how they choose what they want to study after high school, in a bid to help them make better choices and reduce university dropout rates.

Latest federal Education Department figures show 20 per cent of South Australian university students dropped out during or after their first year in 2013.

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EVERY Year 12 student in the state will be targeted for a landmark survey about how they choose what they want to study after high school, in a bid to help them make better informed choices and reduce university dropout rates.

All three South Australian universities are partners in the project, which will also seek the views of principals and teachers.

Project manager Andrea Parks, from UniSA’s School of Natural and Built Environments, said researchers were approaching every secondary school, both public and private. If all schools took part then the survey in August could reach more than 15,000 students.

Latest federal Education Department figures show 20 per cent of South Australian university students dropped out during or after their first year in 2013 — or 15 per cent when students moving between universities were accounted for.

Ms Parks said Year 12s would be asked how and why they decided to apply for their preferred tertiary courses, how much time they spent on the decision, how much they knew about the course they wanted to get into, and what more help or information they needed.

Flinders University Professor Martin Westwell.

She said schools began preparing students for future study choices in Year 10 or even earlier, but there was a “gap” of research into what happens between the start of Year 12 and the transition to university.

“It’s a huge turning point in people’s lives (and) it’s deeply attached to your career options,” she said, adding some university dropouts never returned to higher education.

Principals will have to agree to the survey and parents will be given an “opt-out” choice.

In addition, 60 students across six schools will be interviewed three times — firstly in June, then in September before the cut-off for university applications, and finally in the period between receiving their Year 12 results and university course offers.

Project leader UniSA Professor Julie Mills said when students dropped out in their first year of university “it comes at a cost to that student, perhaps their family and more broadly, to the institutions, government and society”.

“This project will provide evidence-based recommendations on how we respond to help students improve choices, based on the advice and experiences of education professionals and students who are about to leave secondary school,” she said.

The state Education Department, the SACE Board, Career Development Association of Australia, high schools and university recruitment staff have all helped design the Commonwealth-funded research project.

Flinders University Professor Martin Westwell said a better understanding of students’ decision-making would lead to better support for them both at school and university.