The literature on the relationship between socioeconomic background (SES) and university education is inconsistent. Some studies conclude SES is important to university entry and course completion, others find trivial SES effects, net of students' prior performance, and a third group concludes that SES effects are important and policy relevant…

One of the more persuasive arguments for school sector differences in students' educational performance is the role of the senior school curriculum, which is stratified, socially selective, and has an important bearing on educational outcomes. In addition, the stratified curriculum may also contribute to socioeconomic inequalities in education by…

Modernization theory argues that, as societies industrialize and further develop, the influence of social background and other ascribed characteristics on educational and socioeconomic outcomes declines, while achievement in the education system becomes more important. The purpose of this research is to investigate propositions derived from…

The paper examines the influences on, and consequences of, low achievement defined as scores within the lowest achievement quartile. Low achievement is moderately associated with socioeconomic background and Indigenous status and the relationships with gender, ethnicity, region, family type, state and region differ for reading and mathematics. Low…

It is often assumed that schools themselves play an important role in students not completing school. However, the literature is inconsistent on what school characteristics influence school leaving, and identified school effects may be spurious due to the absence, or poor measurement, of appropriate individual-level influences. The importance of…

This report focuses on the transition to full-time employment of young people who do not go to university. The majority of Australia's school leavers do not enroll in university, and it is important to better understand the pathways that they follow. The report uses a substantial longitudinal dataset to map the dynamics of the youth labour market,…

This report focuses on Year 12 students who apply to go to university but are not offered a place. This group is commonly referred to as indicating a level of unmet demand for university. The size and nature of the group are potentially important considerations in planning higher education. The report compares the Applied, no offer group with…