Technical colleges offer SA students a career-ready pathway
Five state-of-the-art technical colleges – established by the Government of South Australia in partnership with industry – will equip today’s students with the skills needed for the careers of tomorrow.
South Australia’s innovative technical colleges are proving a huge hit with students keen on securing a hands-on career.
Clare Feszczak, executive director of student pathways and careers at the Department for Education, says there is strong demand for places across the five purpose-built centres.
“In terms of enrolment numbers we’ve been inundated,” she says of the level of interest in the industry‑centred technical colleges. “We’ve had to put in place a waiting list for next year because we’ve got demand exceeding the available places.”
Part of a $208 million SA Government plan to equip students with workplace skills for high‑demand jobs in defence, building and construction, and health and social support, the program is delivering five state-of-the-art campuses.
Two – at Findon and Port Augusta – are already operating, with three more, at Tonsley, The Heights (Modbury) and the Limestone Coast Technical College in Mount Gambier, opening in January.
Each college focuses on industry specialisations, with training designed and delivered in partnership with employers who offer real career pathways for the “job-ready” graduates.
Feszczak says the colleges provide a place for Years 10–12 students to complete their SACE requirements “while learning technical skills and employability skills that take them on a pathway to a career”.
“The technical colleges are designed around industries in South Australia that have high workforce needs,” she says.
“For example, advanced manufacturing and engineering for defence and building and construction skills to help meet the needs of the state’s housing plan and the priority of the construction projects in the state. And with the government’s focus on early years education, we also have pathways into early childhood and teaching.”
Facilities replicate real workplaces – right down to equipment – rather than traditional classrooms.
“You go to a tech college, it feels and it looks like a workplace – students are even in a workplace uniform, they swipe in and they go around the tech college like they would as if they were in the workplace.”
Programs and facilities have been designed with about 40 employer partners, from BAE Systems, BHP and Master Builders SA to the Motor Trade Association, Southern Cross Care and Australia’s submarine company, ASC.
This deep employer input helps align learning with workforce needs and underpins pathways into apprenticeships, traineeships and further study. Targeted mentoring supports students who need extra help.
“For those students that don’t get it straight away and need some extra support, there’s a mentoring function in the tech colleges where the students get the support they need,” Feszczak says.
She says the reaction from students – and their parents – has been immensely gratifying. “At Findon we’ve got our first graduating cohort this year,” she said. “These are those who joined in Year 11 last year. There are just over 30, and right now there’s a story about every one of them – they’ve either ended up in BAE Systems or they’re in an apprenticeship with another company, or they’ve finished their first year of university. Considering it’s all new, they’ve all done tremendously well.
“And I’ve had some amazing feedback from parents. I spoke to a parent of an advanced manufacturing and engineering student there several weeks ago and he said his child had been absolutely lost (before enrolling at Findon Technical College).
“In fact, his words to me were ‘we didn’t think that they were going to get through Year 10 and then we stumbled across the tech college’. He said what a transformation it had been to them and their life and they’ve now got a traineeship next year with Boeing. They’re so engaged, so committed and absolutely loves it.”
Feszczak says there are many reasons why students should consider enrolling at a technical college.
“If the student enjoys practical learning and a less structured timetable and an adult-type environment where they’re a bit more independence and can be a bit more in charge of their own learning, it might really suit them,” she says. “Especially if they’ve got a clear idea of the industry they want to work in.”
Helping students hit new Heights
South Australia’s next generation of aircraft maintenance workers will have a unique opportunity to develop their skills at a new education facility that simulates the underbelly of a plane.
The Heights Technical College, which will open to students next year, will address a critical shortage of aero skills workers through a hands-on training program developed in partnership with industry leaders Boeing Defence Australia and Aerotech.
The college, which is co-located with The Heights School at Modbury, has been designed to feel like a workplace to help students obtain the necessary skills and experiences to transition to work.
Key to the design is a 270-degree wrap-around projection screen, covering three entire walls, that will give students an immersive experience by simulating what it is like to fix the underside of an aircraft.
The Heights Technical College lead Tess McGrath, says the projection room will open learning opportunities previously off limits to young people.
“For example, 360-degree imagery can be used to take students to a site that has age and qualification restrictions,” McGrath says. “This allows them to experience and gain understanding of what it is like onsite at a prestart meeting or learn to identify hazards in situ.
“Other types of content that can be experienced include 3D environments such as virtual reality experiences and building information modelling allowing students to walk through and interact with 3D models, enhancing their knowledge and understanding of how complex systems are assembled and operate.’’
Welding simulators, 3D printers and an IT suite with industry-standard software and equipment will also be available for student use.
The aero skills sector is an important component of South Australia’s defence industry but, until now, there has been limited vocational pathways to entry-level roles within the state.
The Heights Technical College’s aero skills focus, one of four industry specialisations, will fill this gap, offering experience in aircraft electrical systems, hydraulics and mechanical systems and engines and engine system components, McGrath says.
Other industry pathways on offer include advanced manufacturing and engineering, building and construction and early childhood and education.
College students undertaking the advanced manufacturing and engineering or early childhood and education specialisations will be eligible to undertake the first year of an aligned degree at Flinders University, in conjunction with their Year 12 studies, McGrath says.
Individual learning key at Tonsley
Every student attending Tonsley Technical College will receive an individual learning program tailored to their desired employment outcome, says college lead Shannon Lim.
The ability to receive customised training and skills development will guarantee future career opportunities for students and is the key benefit of attending a technical college, Lim says.
“In some traditional schools, learning is driven by textbooks and assessments are often rigid, leaving little room to adapt to a student’s genuine interests,’’ he says.
“But we can say (to students), ‘Why not shape your learning around the technical skills you’re excited to develop or the career path you’re aiming for? Then you can keep extending those skills as you move through each new learning opportunity’.
“We are prepared to be flexible and to pivot with our students. If you want to be a carpenter then we support you to develop the numeracy skills you need to be a carpenter.
“The challenge in the standard school system is that it can be too restrictive (for teaching to have an industry-specific focus). What’s exciting is that this (Tonsley Technical College) is a place where we can be really innovative.’’
Tonsley Technical College, which will open to students in January next year, will centre around three industry specialisations – advanced manufacturing and engineering, automotive and energy and building and construction.
All are industries experiencing a high demand for workers and the college has partnered with leading employers, including ASC (formerly the Australian Submarine Corporation), the Motor Trades Association, Redarc, Climate Impact Corporation, Master Builders SA and Sarah Constructions to ensure graduates are workplace-ready.
“We have gone out directly to the industries that are looking for a future workforce to ... understand the technical skills and dispositions they are looking for and we have built our curriculum around that,’’ Lim says. “
With industry helping us build our programs, we are producing young adults who are exactly the employees they are looking for and that they are hiring.’’
Students attending Tonsley Technical College will spend 20 per cent of their school time out on work placements and will graduate with both SACE and vocational education qualifications, Lim says.
Tap into a career pipeline
Technical colleges offer an ideal opportunity for young South Australians to tap into a “generational pipeline of trades work”.
That’s the view of Georgette Elston, Head of Resourcing and Early Careers at employer partner BAE Systems Australia, the country’s largest defence company, who says enrolling in one of the colleges could be the first step towards establishing a career for life.
At Osborne Naval Shipyard, where BAE Systems Australia is building the first of six Hunter class frigates, Elston says technical colleges will be key to a steady supply of skilled workers across the project and beyond.
The program will support a workforce of about 2800, with close to 400 trades roles still to be recuited in the coming years.
“We’re not at peak yet,” Elston, right, says. “So it’s full steam ahead, with several shifts running a day and on the weekend, to keep that project moving.”
As an employer partner, BAE Systems Australia has shaped workshop design and course content so students are job‑ready.
“We have been working with the Education Department on the tech college initiative since 2023,” Elston says. “So, even before the classes were set up, we were involved in initial workshop design and promotion of the opportunities that a tech college could lead to.
“We’ve been working with Findon Technical College on bringing their students on to the site, – particularly at Osborne but also at Edinburgh Parks – so they can explore what manufacturing and advanced manufacturing engineering looks like.”
Elston describes the colleges as a “growing and important” pathway for BAE Systems Australia. “Obviously while it’s still pretty new, it’s proving successful,” she says. “We work across Australia on schools engagement, and this model is very different from any other we see in other states.
“We’re embedding shipbuilding as part of the work that they do in curriculum. The workshops look exactly like they do in the yard. It’s not like they’re doing trade school, students are fundamentally learning how to work in our shipyards and other manufacturing sites.”
Long-term projects, she says, build confidence – for the state to invest in technical colleges, for employers to take on apprentices and for people willing to follow that career path.
“We’ve got a generational pipeline of trades work here in South Australia,” Elston says.
“We cover all sorts of trades disciplines – boiler-making, welding, pipe-fitting, fitters and turners, electricians, electronic assemblers, machinists; all of those have annual apprentice intakes for us.”
And an apprenticeship can be a launchpad to a “long and quite varied career”.
“Even if kids are just thinking about apprenticeships, they don’t need to think about whether they want to be in that trade for life,” Elston says.
“They just need to do that for the next four years and then work out their next steps.”
Training local job-seekers for local jobs
From farming and trades to health and education, the Limestone Coast has myriad and growing job opportunities for its young people.
The Limestone Coast Technical College opens to Year 10 and 11 students in Term 1 next year to fast track their progress into these jobs as well as further study.
It aims to help them start fulfilling careers locally as well as meet regional skill shortages, while discovering the different employment opportunities that specifically exist in their region.
College principal Lynette Corletto says it will also provide supervised short-stay accommodation for students who live in communities more than an hour’s drive from its Mount Gambier campus – such as Meningie, Karoonda and Lameroo – to better help them access this style of secondary schooling.
“It opens up a whole world of opportunities that they didn’t necessarily have (before),” Corletto says.
“It also means that country kids can study in the country and don’t have to relocate to Adelaide or another township to access their learning at that age. It’s keeping kids connected to their communities, which I think is super-powerful.”
The college’s industry training programs are tailored so students gain emerging or currently in-demand skills but they also tie into SACE subjects.
“(For example) young people can specialise and deep dive through Industry Connections, a SACE-based subject which is highly influenced by our supporting and major partners across the sectors,” she says.
The college’s AgriTech stream will focus on emerging technology, including artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, and how to apply it in the agriculture, horticulture and viticulture industries.
Students can obtain a drone pilot licence and entry-level skills to work in forestry or on farms. The Early Childhood Education stream equips students with a Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and employment and study pathways to work in childcare centres or junior primary schools.
The Health and Social Support stream will give students skills to pursue pathways ranging from physiotherapy and speech pathology to social work and psychology.
It includes a Certificate III in Individual Support to immediately work in the aged care or community care sectors.
The Multi-trades stream covers training to pursue a school-based apprenticeship in such trades as carpentry, construction, electrotechnology, plumbing and engineering.
Limestone Coast Technical College’s industry partners are helping to design its curriculum as well as provide placements, work experience and employment transitions to help students realise what is possible.
The college is now taking enrolments for students entering Year 10 or Year 11 in 2026.
Teacher’s hint sparks career drive
For Lahni Von Senden, 17, trying her hand at welding at high school sparked an interest in pursuing a metal fabrication career.
She has been able to kickstart this career early, accessing hands-on training at Port Augusta Technical College in Year 11 this year.
On the suggestion of a teacher, she enrolled in its Multi-Trades industry training program, which provides students with skills and work experience to get apprenticeships in metal fabrication as well as carpentry, electrotechnology and plumbing.
While metal fabrication skills can apply to a variety of industries that experience worker shortages in the Upper Spencer Gulf region, Lahni is particularly keen to work in the railways industry.
“I like welding and want to be a metal fabricator,” she says. “(The college) is pretty good – I do like it there a lot.
“The staff are good to get along with and I like the way they work.”
Lahni and her classmates attend the technical college for two week-long blocks each term. During that time, they train at TAFE SA’s facilities, as well as workshops at the college, gaining the practical skills that employers are looking for.
It means she does not have to choose between completing her SACE and starting to get the skills for her desired career.
Lahni is hoping to gain a school-based apprenticeship, which provides on-the-job training while working for an employer and attending school.
From there, she can go on to complete a full apprenticeship to become a qualified tradesperson.
Applications are now open for Year 10 and 11 students to access part-time training in Multi- Trades as well as Cookery and Tourism, Health and Social Support, and Civil Resources and Infrastructure at Port Augusta Technical College in 2026.
Kassie on fast-track to uni success
Finishing Year 12 is a double celebration for Kassie Nasane, who is also marking the end of her first year at university.
The dual milestones were made possible by Kassie’s decision to undertake her senior schooling as a Health and Social Support student at Findon Technical College.
College students who qualify in specific areas can start a degree at Flinders University while still in Year 12.
The initiative not only provides the students with greater teacher support during their first year of tertiary study, it also fast-tracks their careers.
Kassie, 18, who this year received distinction grades towards her psychological science degree and hopes to ultimately work as a psychologist, says combining Year 12 with university has propelled her above other school leavers.
“Right now, some of my peers in mainstream schools are doing exams and waiting for their (ATAR) scores (to see if they are eligible to study at university),’’ she says.
“I’ve never really felt that (anxiety around waiting for a university offer) – I just have the relief of finishing my first year (of uni study).’’
As part of her studies, Kassie has already completed 300 hours of industry placement. Alongside her SACE, she has obtained a Certificate III in Individual Support, enabling her to this year start employment as a community care worker and a children’s therapy assistant.
What’s on offer
Findon Technical College (opened January 2024) offers students hands-on industry training in one of three specialist industry training programs – early childhood and education, health and social support, and advanced manufacturing and engineering.
Port Augusta Technical College (opened August 2025) is tailored to meet regional skills needs, providing students with direct pathways into jobs such as electricians, engineers, boilermakers, and gas fitters through the multi-trades program, as well as offering training for careers in health and social support, cookery and tourism and civil resources and infrastructure.
The Heights Technical College (opens January 2026) – co-located and run in conjunction with The Heights School in Modbury – will train students in aeroskills such as aviation maintenance, along with advanced manufacturing and engineering, building and construction and early childhood and education.
Tonsley Technical College (opens January 2026) will focus on the building and construction industry, in addition to advanced manufacturing and engineering for careers in defence and other growing sectors, and automotive and energy.
Limestone Coast Technical College (opens January 2026) industry training programs include agri-tech – for careers in forestry, agriculture and manufacturing – multi-trades, early childhood and education, as well as health and social support. Like at Port Augusta, the focus is on meeting the needs of the local community.
To learn more about technical colleges, industry training programs and how to apply, visit technicalcolleges.sa.gov.au
