In the context of international consensus that the knowledge economy requires more highly educated people, the Australian federal, state and territory governments agreed on a set of policies and targets for lifting the minimum level of educational attainment of young people, which are analysed in Part 1 of this paper. This Compact with young Australians will have the most impact on the quarter of young people who in the past would have left school early. The second part of the paper explores the transition experiences of early leavers who move on to a ‘second chance’ school. Based on their experiences, the paper concludes that to genuinely enable more young people to complete senior secondary education requires recognition of a broad range of benefits, rather than focusing mainly on economic outcomes, and support for re-entry through second chance education rather than coercing young people to remain in mainstream schooling.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	educational outcomes, marginalised students, non-linear pathways, school completion policy
Research Division:	Studies in Human Society
Research Group:	Policy and Administration
Research Field:	Education Policy
Objective Division:	Education and Training
Objective Group:	Other Education and Training
Objective Field:	Equity and Access to Education
UTAS Author:	te Riele, K (Professor Kitty te Riele)
ID Code:	113834
Year Published:	2011
Web of Science® Times Cited:	15
Deposited By:	Peter Underwood Centre for Educational Attainment
Deposited On:	2017-01-24
Last Modified:	2017-04-20
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