Since 2005, the Queensland Government has conducted an annual survey of Year 12 completers from state, independent and Catholic schools across Queensland. The survey was commissioned by the department as part of the Schools Reporting initiative and supported the Queensland Government's Education and Training Reforms for the Future (ETRF), which aimed to have every school leaver either learning or earning.
The State School Leavers survey was designed to closely align with the Year 12 Completers survey and provide complementary results about the destinations of school leavers who did not complete Year 12. Many items exploring main destinations, work and study choices are shared between the 2 surveys. From 2023, the survey has been expanded to also include senior students who left a state school to enrol in a non-state school. These former students are asked why they left their school.
The surveys are carried out by Department of Education through the Queensland Government Statistician's Office (QGSO) under the authority of the
Statistical Returns Act 1896 (Qld).
Objectives
The objectives of the surveys are to help:
- parents and the wider public to know the pathways of school leavers after leaving school and to appreciate the range of options available to students
- schools to review and plan their services for students, especially in the senior years of schooling
- school systems to review their education policies as they affect the transition from school to further study and employment
- training bodies, universities, business and industry, local government and regional planners to plan their services.
Survey methodology
The Next Step post-school destination surveys are undertaken by the Department of Education through the QGSO, in accordance with the provisions of the
Statistical Returns Act 1896 (Qld). Each survey follows the methodology outline.
The survey frame (or source material) for the Year 12 Completers survey comes from administrative records maintained by the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority. The frame for the State School Leavers survey comes from departmental enrolment records.
Before carrying out the Year 12 Completers and State School Leavers surveys, a letter is sent to respondents on the survey frame advising them of the upcoming survey.
The QGSO collects survey responses mainly through computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). For the Year 12 Completers and State School Leavers surveys, students are also offered the opportunity to complete the survey online.
All survey respondents go into a draw for a chance to win 1 of several prizes offered as incentives to encourage survey participation.
The QGSO cleans the CATI and online responses and provides the department with a de-identified unit record file.
The department creates, validates and releases reports.
The department evaluates and reviews the end-to-end survey process, and works to improve future processes.
Questions asked in the surveys
The surveys ask questions about work and further study.
- If you are working, we'll ask for your occupation, industry, weekly hours worked, if you are casual and if you are doing an apprenticeship or traineeship.
- If you're not working, we'll ask about any previous work and if you are looking for work. We'll also ask what challenges you are facing in finding work or why you are not looking for work at the moment.
- If you are studying, we'll ask for the name of your course, level of the qualification, where you are studying and if it is full-time or part-time.
- If you are not studying, we'll ask why you are not doing further study at the moment. We'll also ask if you are taking a gap year or deferred tertiary study and what your priorities are afterwards.
- If you left a state school before completing year 12, we'll ask you why you left (State School Leavers Survey only).
Download the full questionnaires:
Results
The results of each survey are shared in the following ways:
- a statewide summary report analysing statewide trends and patterns
- an interactive report builder that allows users to customise a report for their selected geography and topics of interest
- statewide main destination data in Microsoft Excel format.
Individual school reports are also provided to each school (that has 5 or more responses to the Year 12 Completers survey).
The Year 12 Completers survey complements schools' own surveys by providing statewide data that allows schools to match local trends with statewide trends. It also provides schools with the option of relying upon Next Step survey data for destination information at no cost to the school.
Note on survey findings
It is important to note that the post-school destinations of all school leavers are influenced by the environment and available employment opportunities. This can limit their options and change their intended post-school pathways.
For example, in a tight labour market a school leaver may choose an education or training pathway rather than their initially preferred employment pathway.
Proxies
The survey methodology allows for responses to be provided by a proxy. Allowable proxies include parents, siblings and other household members able to respond on behalf of the respondent.
Some answers supplied by proxies may be different from what the school leaver would have stated. Although we estimate that this error is small, we have not quantified its impact.
Response rates
Historically, the response rates for the Year 12 Completers survey have consistently been around 75–80%.
The response rate for the State School Leavers survey is typically around 50–60%. This lower response rate results from an inability to contact the targeted individuals (due to out-of-date contact details) rather than their lack of willingness to participate in the survey.
Caveats
The 2011 Early School Leavers survey was the first year to include early school leavers from non-state schools. In 2012, the survey was expanded to include early school leavers who were undertaking secondary studies at a non-secondary school. In 2023, the survey no longer included early school leavers from non-state schools. The official name for the survey was updated to State School Leavers survey in 2024.
These changes in survey methodology constitute breaks in the time-series and data should be interpreted in this context. Care should also be taken when interpreting these results due to the varying response rates achieved across the years.
All survey respondents who leave schooling are assigned to a main destination. This data is presented in a structured grouping which outlines the main study and labour market destinations of respondents. Respondents are grouped as follows:
- former students are assigned to the education categories regardless of their labour force status
- apprentices and trainees are assigned to their respective training categories
- those grouped in a labour market destination (employed or seeking work) are not in education or training
- those who are not in the labour force, education or training.
A detailed breakdown of the
main destination categories is available.
Effects of rounding
Percentages in Next Step reports have been rounded to 1 decimal point. This may cause discrepancies between the sum of component items and their totals.
Data editing
Data editing is performed throughout data entry and after each survey closes. Examples of data editing include checking for invalid entries (e.g. entries which were out of range), as well as checking the accuracy of manually-entered data.
Reporting references
The following appendices include information on commonly used terms and categorisations used in the Next Step reports.
Main destination categories
Main destination categorisation system prioritises education related destinations over other destinations. For example, survey respondents who were both studying and working are reported as studying for their main destination. Refer to
main destination categorisations for details.
Fields of study
Survey respondents who are continuing in further study or training are asked for information on their study course. Field of study categories are based on the
Australian Standard Classification of Education
Industry categories
Survey respondents who are participating in paid employment are asked for information about their main job. Industry categories are based on the
Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification
Occupations
Survey respondents who are participating in paid employment are asked for information about their main job. Occupations are based on the
ANZSCO—Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations
Glossary and abbreviations
Refer to
glossary and abbreviations for abbreviations and common terms used throughout Next Step reports.
Statistical Area Level 4—Queensland, ABS, 2021
Some data in Next Step reports is presented at a Statistical Areal Level 4 (SA4) level. SA4s are geographical areas built from whole Statistical Areas Level 3 (SA3s). The SA4 regions are the largest sub-state regions in the main structure of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS). They have been designed for the output of a variety of regional data, including data from the 2021 Census of Population and Housing. Refer to
Australian Bureau of Statistics website for a map outlining Queensland's SA4s.