The first year experience : the transition from secondary school to university and TAFE in Australia.

Kylie Hillman, ACER

Longitudinal surveys of Australian youth research report ; n.40

Abstract

This report examined the experiences of young people during their first year of tertiary education. The data used in this report are drawn from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY), which study the progress of cohorts of young Australians as they make the transition from secondary school to work and further education and training, beginning in Year 9. The group of young people who were in Year 9 in 1998, and who first entered tertiary education during 2002, are the focus of this report. Three sets of questions form the basis of the report. How satisfied are university and TAFE (non-Apprenticeship) students with their initial experiences of tertiary education? What areas of their transitions have been difficult? Who is the most likely to change course, or institution, or defer study or withdraw? What are their reasons for doing so? Are the outcomes and experiences of the 'equity target groups' - those students from backgrounds that historically have been under-represented in higher education - different from the experiences of other students? [p.vii]