In 1995, there were 269,000 school leavers of whom three-quarters were in the labour force. Leaving school is a major change in the lives of young people. The choices they make at this time affect their future working lives. Recent government policies such as Working Nation 1 have focused on employment and training opportunities for young people. However, the government has also sought to provide opportunities for young people to continue their education with tertiary studies.
Many young people go directly from school to the full-time labour force.
However, they may also choose to combine work and further education or to go on to further education before entering the full-time labour force for the first time. Year 12 apparent retention rates represent the percentage of full-time students of a given cohort group who continue from the first year of secondary schooling to Year 12. Completing secondary education Increasingly school students have been completing the highest level of secondary education. The rate increased more for girls than for boys over this period. This increase in the proportion of students completing Year 12 is due partly to government initiatives to improve the relevance of schooling.