Five new technical colleges have been built across South Australia – 3 in metropolitan Adelaide and 2 in regional South Australia. The technical colleges support students in years 10 to 12 to complete their SACE while undertaking vocational education and training (VET) in specialist state-of-the-art facilities.
Why SA needs technical colleges
South Australia has experienced a mismatch between the skills needed by industry and the amount of skilled people in the population.
Completing school is a crucial first step for getting work and going on to further study. A large proportion of students were not completing their secondary school – yet 9 out of 10 new jobs require a post-secondary school qualification.
South Australia has a relatively high youth unemployment rate. At the same time, we’re experiencing a skills shortage. Many students have expressed interest in pursuing a vocational career and starting that while in school, but the options were limited.
The design and development of the technical colleges were informed by industry and employer input. The purpose-built facilities and training programs developed with industry partners provide a new pathway to start a career. Graduates from the technical colleges will have the skills that employers need for careers in key industries.
Find out more about industry engagement and feedback (PDF 311 KB) .
A new option for high school students – go from in school to in-demand
The technical colleges provide a new option for high school students in South Australia. They equip students with workplace skills and provide a pipeline of workers to growing industry sectors.
They provide a bridge between the world of education and the world of work. Students that complete our industry training programs leave with the training, technical know-how and employability skills that local industry needs.
Partnering with local industry
Each technical college has a network of local industry and employer partners helping to design and deliver the industry training programs. These programs cover both the essential curriculum, and also sought-after technical qualifications and workplace learning. They are taught by specialist staff using state-of-the-art equipment.
We consulted widely to identify the industry sectors for each technical college to make sure that:
- students graduate with the qualifications and skills that local industries need
- our technical colleges are equipped with the right workplace learning equipment
- our training programs reflect the reality of today’s workplaces.
Five state-of-the-art technical colleges now open
The colleges are evenly spread throughout the metropolitan area, and in the larger regional areas.
Locations include:
These are the areas with the greatest need for skilled workers in entry-level positions.
An investment in our future
The total cost for all 5 technical colleges was $208.8 million. This includes around $30 million in operating costs for the colleges across 3 years.
Looking for more info?
Contact a technical college or submit a general enquiry to find out more.
