Victoria Career Readiness Assessment
How prepared is your school for Transforming Career Education? Answer 10 questions across 5 categories to get an instant readiness score — plus tailored recommendations for career practitioner staffing, VET alignment, and employer engagement.
Assess Your Career Readiness
Answer each question honestly based on your school's current state. Your score and personalised recommendations will appear instantly once all questions are answered.
0 of 10 questions answered
Career Practitioner Staffing
2 questions in this category
Does your school have a qualified career practitioner with a Graduate Certificate or higher in career development?
Transforming Career Education requires all government secondary schools to employ a qualified career practitioner. Professional Standards for Career Practitioners (CICA) set minimum qualification at Graduate Certificate level.
Does your career practitioner have dedicated time for career education (not shared with other duties)?
Best practice allocates a minimum 0.6 FTE to career education in schools with 500+ students. Career practitioners should not be required to cover general teaching loads that reduce career program delivery.
Structured Career Education
2 questions in this category
Do you deliver a whole-school career education program from Year 7 to Year 12?
Transforming Career Education mandates career education across all secondary year levels — not just senior school. Programs should be developmental, building career management competencies progressively.
Is career education embedded in the curriculum beyond standalone career classes?
Leading practice integrates career learning across subject areas. For example, a maths class contextualising problems in engineering careers, or English classes developing interview and application skills.
Employer & Industry Engagement
2 questions in this category
Does your school have active partnerships with local employers for structured workplace learning?
The Victorian Skills Plan emphasises industry-led training. Schools with active employer partnerships can offer richer work experience, Head Start placements, and industry mentoring.
Do students have access to industry immersion experiences (e.g., site visits, guest speakers, taster days)?
Exposure to workplaces before choosing pathways is a key Transforming Career Education principle. Industry immersions help students make informed decisions about VCE Vocational Major, VET, and Head Start options.
Data-Informed Pathways
2 questions in this category
Does your school use regional workforce data (e.g., VSA Employment Projections) to inform pathway offerings?
The Victorian Skills Authority publishes free regional employment projections. Schools using this data can align VET offerings and career guidance to local labour market demand.
Do you track post-school destination data for your graduates (e.g., via On Track Survey results)?
The On Track Survey provides school-level data on what Year 12 completers do after school. Using this data to evaluate and improve pathway programs is a hallmark of mature career education practice.
VET & Applied Learning
2 questions in this category
Are your VET offerings aligned with VSA priority qualifications and regional skills needs?
The Victorian Skills Plan identifies priority qualifications by region. Schools should review whether their VET programs match local demand, especially in health, construction, digital, and early childhood sectors.
Does your school actively promote the VCE Vocational Major and Head Start as valued pathways (not just VCE)?
Transforming Career Education challenges the perception that university is the only successful outcome. Schools should present vocational pathways with equal status and visibility to academic pathways.
Why Career Readiness Matters Now
Victoria's workforce is transforming. Schools that act on these signals will give their students a significant advantage.
new workers needed by 2027
The Victorian Skills Authority projects 392,000 new workers needed across priority industries in just three years. Schools that align VET offerings to these sectors give students a head start.
Free TAFE priority courses
Over 80 qualifications are available tuition-free through Free TAFE. Schools connected to Skills First pathways — through Head Start, VCE Vocational Major, and employer partnerships — help students access these opportunities.
care sector growth rate
Health Care & Social Assistance is Victoria’s fastest-growing major industry. Schools with VET pathways into aged care, disability, and early childhood are meeting the state’s most critical workforce need.
Download the Full Report (PDF)
Get the complete Career Readiness Gap Analysis with all data tables, methodology, and downloadable charts.
Sources & Methodology
This assessment is aligned to publicly available Victorian Government education and workforce strategy documents.
- Victorian Skills Plan 2025 into 2026VSA's annual strategic roadmap identifying priority workforce needs, skills shortages, and VET reform priorities.
- Employment Projections Dashboard 2024-343-year and 10-year employment projections by region, industry, and occupation. Downloadable CSV on Data.Vic.
- State of the Victorian Labour Market Report 2024Comprehensive annual analysis of Victoria's labour market conditions, 143 occupations in shortage, and regional trends.
- Snapshot of the Victorian Labour Market 2025Updated labour market snapshot covering latest trends and insights on future workforce needs.
- Employment Projections Dashboard Dataset (Data.Vic)Downloadable CSV of employment projections by region, industry, and occupation.
- Transforming Career EducationVictoria's major career education reform — comprehensive career education from Year 7, career action plans, practitioner training.
- Victorian Careers Curriculum Framework (VCCF)VCAA's scaffolded career education model: Self Development → Career Exploration → Career Management.
- On Track SurveyAnnual survey of Year 12 completers' post-school destinations — school-by-school data, downloadable on Data.Vic.
- VCAA Senior Secondary Certificate Statistical Information 2024Grade distributions, VCE VET results, enrolment numbers, and completion rates.
- Senior Secondary Completion and Achievement Information (SSCAI)School-level VCE/VET performance: studies offered, VET participation rate, median study score.
- Regional Economic Development Strategies (REDS)Evidence-based strategies with interactive dashboards for Victoria's 9 Regional Partnership regions.
- Victorian Budget 2025-26$459M skills investment, 20,000 Free TAFE places, 9,600 Learn Local places.
- Clean Economy Workforce Development Strategy 2023-203310-year framework for net-zero workforce transition — five strategic priorities for clean economy skills.
- Jobs and Skills Australia — Employment ProjectionsNational 5-year and 10-year employment projections by occupation, industry, and state. CC BY 4.0.
- Jobs and Skills Australia — NEROMonthly employment estimates for 355 occupations across 88 SA4 regions. CC BY 4.0.
- NCVER — VET in SchoolsAnnual VET participation by school students — state-filterable via DataBuilder.
- Apprenticeships Victoria85,000+ apprentices/trainees, 500+ occupations, 90% employed post-completion.
This self-assessment tool is published by TEX for informational and educational purposes. Questions are aligned to the Transforming Career Education in Victorian Government Schools initiative and the Victorian Skills Plan 2025 into 2026. Scores are indicative and do not represent an official government assessment. For corrections or updates, contact hello@tex.inc.