In fact the differences within individual schools is about eight times more significant than the differences between schools. This means that it is very important for parents to consider the differences associated with teaching and particular year groups and programs within individual schools. The major implication of this is that strategies for choosing schools and improving schools need to focus on the differences within each school, rather than the differences between schools. Overseas research has shown that schools that are strong in one area are typically less strong in other areas. For example, some NSW high schools are highly successful in terms of finding employment for students, even though their TER results are not high.
Parents are vitally interested in the question of what schools have to offer for less able students.
Even today, much less than half of all students go on to university studies. If a student is not planning to go to university the TER result may be an irrelevant outcome of their schooling. There are a number of government schools where many students get a TER result of 30 or less out of 100. Often these students live a life that is socially in turmoil and may be quite dysfunctional. The non-academic outcomes of schooling are critical to the future for these students.