The Benefits of Heading to TAFE After High School

When uni just isn’t for you.

If you’ve recently graduated from high school and you're tossing up your future career pathway, you may have considered TAFE as an option. 

And why not? It’s a great pathway that can open a heap of doors, help you discover passions you didn’t know you had, and get you a step closer to that dream job you’ve always wanted.

So—if you’re still not sold on TAFE just yet—here are the benefits of choosing a TAFE pathway after high school.

Course diversity.

The beauty of TAFE is that it’s just like any other educational institution. It has a huge amount of options! 

You have an abundance of choice when it comes to course and qualification type. At TAFE, qualifications start with basic skill set courses or you can go all the way up to a higher level diploma.

TAFE also allows you to pursue courses that might not be available at a university, like food services, hairdressing or even tourism.

So, if you already know your passion and uni doesn’t offer a course on it, TAFE is your go-to.

Lower entry requirements.

TAFE is a much more accessible option for so many people. If you didn’t get the grades that you were hoping for in Year 12, that’s okay!

You can still enter tertiary education, including university, with lower grades or fewer qualifications.

You don’t need to have a tonne of training or be able to prove that you have all the experience in the world. In most cases, VET course entry requirements are as simple as finishing high school.

Most TAFEs in Australia allow entry into high-level certificates with satisfactory completion of Year 10, Year 11 or equivalent. Plus, diploma entry is accessible with satisfactory completion of Year 12 or equivalent.

Short study lengths.

As the courses offered at Australian TAFE institutions are skills courses, certificates and diplomas, you will often find that the courses aren’t too lengthy, so you’ll have some spare time for other important things in your life.

Compared to uni, TAFE is quite a bit more time effective. A lot of short courses may only run for a few weeks and certificates and diplomas completed at a full-time workload can generally last anywhere from just a few months to about three years.

Up against an undergraduate uni degree that takes a minimum of three to four years to complete, and then another one to two for postgrad studies (or even more for a PhD), TAFE is the winner here.

Practical skills.

One of the reasons why uni takes so much longer than TAFE is because there is often so much theoretical information that students need to absorb in a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree.

While TAFE also teaches their students theoretical skills, there is also often a lot of effort put into practical skills that you will need to know on the job. And sure, uni offers practical skills too, just in conjunction with a lot more theory.

Practical and hands-on skills are essential for on the job knowledge. It looks great on your resume and you will be able to move into a new role a lot more comfortably.

Online learning options.

An essential part of learning in the 21st century is access to remote or online learning, and VET institutions are no exception to this.

Whether you need to stay at home to take care of a family member, the travel costs are too expensive or you just work better from your bedroom, most VET institutions should offer your course—or at least some units—via online delivery.

Get in contact with your preferred TAFE to find out exactly what courses are flexible with their learning styles and if it will work with your dream career.

Extra one on one attention with teachers.

With a TAFE education comes smaller classrooms, and with smaller classrooms comes a lot more one-on-one time and assistance from teachers and tutors.

Unlike university lectures, most VET classrooms have strictly smaller numbers, which means it’s a lot easier for you to get to know your classmates and your tutor on a more personal level.

This is really beneficial, as tutors can get more acquainted with your learning style, strengths, weaknesses. That way, they can assist you with any study struggles you might come across. With this personal approach, you get extra assistance and more personalised solutions to suit your study needs.

Lower costs.

One of the best benefits of choosing a TAFE pathway is that it'll be a bit kinder to your bank account.

Education can get expensive, but VET courses are almost always more affordable than university degrees.

Exact costs vary based on course and education provider but TAFE courses usually cost anywhere from a couple of hundred dollars to a few thousand.

In some territories and states in Australia, governments have heavily reduced the cost of heaps of courses due to the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Some are even free, so now is the best time to get qualified.

If your preferred course is slightly on the pricier side, you can always apply for a VET FEE-HELP loan from the Australian government.

Basically, if you’re eligible the government will pay your education provider the cost of your degree or certificate, which you will pay back to the government in the form of tax over a number of years once you reach a certain income threshold.

At the moment, the compulsory repayment threshold for the 2020-21 income year is AUD$46,620. So, until you earn that amount in a financial year, you won’t pay anything.

The burden of paying back your HELP debt isn’t all that scary either. You will pay an amount based on your total income for the year, so it may take you a few years to finally pay off, but it won’t send you broke in the process.

Pathway into uni.

While TAFE is great on its own, it’s also a really awesome way to get a leg up into university.

If your dream career requires some form of Bachelor’s, Master's or PhD, you don’t need to follow a high school pathway straight into uni. You can always get qualified through TAFE.

A pathway into uni might not be something you need for your ideal career or even be interested in right now, but it could be something you want to try out later in life, so it’s good to know that your TAFE education will have your back.

While TAFE is an incredible pathway that so many people find success through, it’s important to choose a pathway that best suits your needs, dreams and accessibly, so check out all the options available to you.

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