Research Projects

On Track is a Victorian Government initiative designed to ensure that Year 10 to 12 government and non government school students are on a pathway to further education, training or employment after leaving school.  ACER is pleased to be involved with On Track beginning in 2008.

On Track builds on the Managed Individual Pathways (MIPs) program available in Government schools. MIPs assists 15-19 year-old students with individual career and education plans and support to implement those plans.

On Track ensures that Year 10-12 students are contacted after leaving school and assisted with further advice if they are not studying or in full time employment. Contact is made by a telephone interview in April or May in the year after leaving school.  Interviews are conducted by the Social Research Centre of Melbourne.

Young people who are not studying or in full-time employment and request assistance when surveyed are referred to relevant local agencies, which provide appropriate advice and services regarding further education, training or employment.

On Track includes a research component to provide a comprehensive picture of what happens to young people after they leave school.  ACER is working with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development in conducting this research.

A sample of students from the 2007 school leavers will also be asked to participate in a longitudinal component of the On Track project.  They will be interviewed each year for the following three years to help understand how young people negotiate the pathways from school through further study and initial employment, and begin to settle into careers.

The On Track web site of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development provides more information, answers to Frequently Asked Questions for students participating in On Track, and Destination Data for school leavers surveyed by On Track, with explanatory notes.