The beginnings of the Australian TAFE system can be traced back to the early 19th century when the first Mechanics Institutes were established in Tasmania and New South Wales. Since then, a growing population and the increasing need for a skilled workforce have led to an expanding network of modern TAFE institutes across Australia. Constraints on the public purse, stakeholder demands for transparency and accountability and the ever increasing availability of data have in recent decades seen a growing trend for performance measurement in public institutions, including TAFE institutes. In this study, we investigate aspects relating to the measurement of effectiveness and efficiency in the Australian TAFE system, using predominantly publicly available data. The empirical analyses are presented in a portfolio-based format composed of three separate, but interrelated papers. Our portfolio seeks to make a contribution to the development of quantitative methods in the field of vocational education research, with a strong emphasis on practical usability of such methods.

Budgetary constraints on the public purse have led Australian Federal and State governments to focus increasingly on the efficiency of public institutions, including Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes. In this study, we define efficiency as the relationship between financial and administrative inputs and educational outputs. We employ stochastic frontier analysis in determining the efficiency of Australian TAFE institutes using data sourced from institutional annual reports, the Student Outcomes Survey and administrative databases. We found significant economies of scale effects and conclude that increasing institutional size for very small institutions may result in increased efficiencies.

Background: Completion rates in Australian vocational education and training (VET) are notoriously low. While there are conventional reasons such as issues with course, health, institutional factors, financial and family problems and dissatisfaction with the training experience, more VET specific explanations have included that students may discontinue their studies when they have obtained the specific skills they were seeking or they have gained employment. This present study seeks to examine whether the original intention of students at the time of enrollment along with satisfaction and the benefit that could be obtained from completion have any bearing on completion patterns. Methods: We model the probability of intending to complete from the 2011 Student Intentions Survey and the perform an out of sample prediction of students' intention on respondents to the 2011 Student Outcomes Survey. Subsequently a logistic regression model predicting actual completion is developed utilising student intentions, various components of satisfaction, completion pay-offs and some demographic and educational variables. Results and Conclusions: Main findings of this study include that while students' initial intentions to complete increase actual completion probabilities, the overwhelming determinants of completion are high annual hours of enrollment and the enrollment in higher VET qualifications. Furthermore, the benefits to completion and satisfaction with the training play only minor roles in shaping completion patterns. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge about completions in VET by including the original completion intention of students in the examination of completion patterns.