3 October 2018

Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for Education and Training

Education reforms working

The Hodgman Liberal Government’s plan for education is working. Educational outcomes are improving and the evidence clearly demonstrates this.

It is too simplistic to compare retention and attainment data from a decade ago with now.

Scrutiny of year on year results paints a much clearer picture and takes into account the decline that occurred under the disastrous Tasmania Tomorrow reforms implemented by Labor and the Greens.

Since 2014, under this Government, we’ve made those gains back, and achieved even more.

Because of our plan, more students are staying in school longer and achieving better results.

These are the facts:

• 38 Tasmanian schools have now extended to year 12, with 5 more ready to extend in 2019.
• The Apparent Retention rate of students to year 12 now stands at 74.1 per cent, up by almost six per cent since we came to office.
• The direct retention rate of students, which tracks individual students from Year 10 to 12, is the highest on record at 71.6 per cent.
• Year 12 attainment, measured through the attainment rate of the Tasmanian Certificate of Education is also the highest on record, at 58.9 per cent, up more than 10 per cent since Labor were in government.

These figures confirm we are on track to reach our ambitious target of reaching the national average for retention of students to year 12 and having 75 per cent of students complete their TCE by 2022.

However, we know there is more to be done to keep the momentum going. That is why it’s important that we continue providing access to Year 11 and 12 education so that all our young people can complete their education to Year 12.

A link to a graph of the latest retention and attainment data can be found here:   http://www.premier.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/377766/085_18_Education_Retention_and_Attainment_Graph_D004.pdf

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