Shock stats: Rate of high school dropouts reaches 10-year high

The number of Qld students finishing Year 12 is at a decade low, prompting warnings the education system must offer more non-academic pathways to keep teens engaged.

• Editor’s view: Degree not the only option

The number of Queensland students finishing year 12 has drastically dropped in the past three years, with current rates now below those seen a decade ago.

Experts believe the disruption of the Covid pandemic played a big role in questioning the focus on academic results and a shift towards finding a career earlier.

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics schools data shows just 82.2 per cent of year 12 students in 2022 – who would have begun high school in year 7 in 2017 - made it to their final year of schooling.

In 2012, 83.7 per cent of the year 12 cohort who commenced year 8 in 2008 – the beginning of high school at that time – made it to their senior year.

That equates to 11,180 fewer students finishing their secondary schooling now compared to a decade ago, with most of those dropping out male.

The height of high school retention peaked in 2019 just ­before Covid when 91.3 per cent of students remained until year 12.

University of Southern Queensland senior education lecturer Dr Tania Leach said the pandemic likely played a part in retention rates falling away after some improvement.

“It created the notion that they (students) don’t know what is coming, so they may have decided to look at what they loved in that moment as a potential career,” she said.

Dr Leach said the value of vocational education needed to be increased.

“What we have seen in this data is students choosing different pathways,” she said. “At the moment, it could be that our education system is one-size-fits-all due to such a focus on academic and ATAR results. We need a balance and range; one career pathway should not be privileged over another.”

Construction Skills Queensland CEO Brett Schimming (left) with Hutchinson Builders team leader Peter Lee (right) during building of the North Queensland Cowboys' Centre of Excellence at Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville in 2020. Photo: Matt Taylor.

Tertiary offers to school-leavers show a small shift away from the traditional university path. Queensland’s Class of 2012 received about 49,500 QTAC offers during the two major rounds, but Class of 2022 graduates got only about 45,117.

Construction Skills Queensland chief executive Brett Schimming said in the face of a 10-year high work demand in the state, his organisation changed tack in 2019.

“Today’s young people are the Instagram generation … we started to turn the conversation around and invest in new ways of talking about the industry,” he said.

“We now use virtual reality to demonstrate what it is like on a construction site … put the goggles on and you’re driving a high-tower crane, or on the ground as a carpenter.”

The federal government announced last week it will negotiate with states and territories about a potential $4.1bn investment in TAFE and VET pathways over five years.

A Department of Education spokeswoman said that Queensland’s all schools’ year 7/8 to year 12 apparent retention rate remains above the national average.

LEAVING WAS JUST THE JOB

A high school dropout used his two-year head start in the workforce to earn enough for a house deposit by the time his former classmates graduated.

Cory Still, 24, worked for his parents’ Gold Coast business – Don’s Removals and Storage – instead of finishing years 11 and 12.

Gold Coast high school dropout Cory Still now runs his family's removal business – Dons Removals and Storage. He also owns a cafe, and two homes. Photo: Nigel Hallett.

Mr Still has since taken over the business with his sister, owns two homes and another business.

“Towards the end of year 10, I did some sums – what could I earn on minimum wage, working full-time for two years, with tight budgeting?” he said. “I worked out that by the time my friends graduate, I could buy a house.”

Mr Still did 10 to 12-hour days, six days a week for two years at his parents’ business. At 17, he put a deposit on a townhouse.

“A lot of my friends are now graduating from university and are about to start their careers, but I’m already seven years into mine,” he said.

“For me, dropping out was a massive acceleration for my pathway … but I strongly feel that decision is very individual and dependent on the person.

“Now that I reflect on my decision, I think there may have been other pathways available … but I don’t think my school discussed them with me. I feel I was told ‘stay in, or leave’.”