Vocational Education and Training Delivered to School Students (Reference 143)
Vocational Education and Training (VET) Delivered to School Students (VDSS) is a key component of the Victorian Government's strategy to support high-quality vocational pathways, increase student retention, and improve Year 12 or equivalent completion rates by providing options for all students.
Core Student Learning Allocation Funding is the primary source of funding for Vocational Education and Training (VET). Supplementary VET Funding alleviates the additional costs of participation in VET, compared to participation in academic school-based curriculum.
Supplementary VET Funding is provided in 3 components:
- VET Delivered to School Students
- Materials
- Small Scale Core Funding Supplement.
Eligibility
Training at Certificate II or III level is eligible for Supplementary VET Funding, unless undertaken:
- as an apprenticeship or traineeship outside of school
- outside of the timetabled school curriculum and not contributing to senior secondary education
- in Certificates in General Education and School-based Support
- by students from overseas and at non-government schools
- by students outside of the age range 15 to 20 years.
Training at Certificate IV level or above is eligible for funding if it does not meet any of the above criteria, and it has been pre-approved for delivery to VCE students by the VCAA. For more information on VCAA approval, refer to High level qualifications undertaken as part of the .
School-based apprenticeships or traineeships (including those supported by Head Start) are only eligible for Materials funding.
Allocation
Supplementary VET Funding is provided in quarterly lump sum payments through the Student Resource Package (SRP). A school’s annual allocation of funding is determined by the student VET enrolments entered into the Victorian Assessment Software System (VASS) by the census date. Schools must ensure they have the correct enrolment in VASS by the census date to receive funding.
The census date is usually at the end of April or beginning of May each year. For this year’s date, refer to: Administrative dates and scored assessment .
Schools receive 25% of their annual allocation of funding each term. Funding in Term 1 and 2 is indicative, calculated from the previous year’s enrolments. Following final enrolment at the census date, a school’s annual allocation is recalculated and Term 3 and 4 funding is adjusted accordingly.
Funding calculations
Schools are encouraged to treat VET funding holistically by allocating a pool of funding to VET for all students that includes:
- tuition funding, including VET Delivered to School Students funding and 15% of each VET student’s Core Learning Allocation Funding
- materials funding, which supplements this funding for consumable items
- Small Scale Core Funding Supplement, for schools with 400 or fewer enrolments in years 7 to 12.
The cost of VET varies between providers and delivery models. Schools have discretion to use their overall pool of VET funding flexibly to give all students access to appropriate VET.
Tuition funding
One full-time equivalent (FTE) enrolment in VET is 180 hours of delivery over the year. For each FTE enrolment in VET, schools are encouraged to allocate 15% of a student’s Core Student Learning Allocation funding toward VET. For a 1.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) course enrolment in 2025, this equals $1,293 in mainstream schools and $1,077 in specialist schools.
All eligible VET courses are categorised into 1 of 6 funding bands for VET Delivered to School Students Funding, with different amounts for mainstream and specialist schools. A list of certificates in each of the 6 funding bands is available on the VET Delivered to School Students PAL page. Together with 15% of the Core Student Learning Allocation, the VET Delivered to School Students funding will approximately cover tuition costs.
| Band | Mainstream schools – funding | Mainstream schools – 15 % of Core Student Learning Allocation | Specialist schools – funding | Specialist schools – 15 % of Core Student Learning Allocation | Intended total funding allocation for VET tuition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | $27 | $1,293 | $243 | $1,077 | $1,320 |
| B | $417 | $1,293 | $633 | $1,077 | $1,710 |
| C | $697 | $1,293 | $913 | $1,077 | $1,990 |
| D | $1,027 | $1,293 | $1,243 | $1,077 | $2,320 |
| E | $1,357 | $1,293 | $1,573 | $1,077 | $2,650 |
| F | $1,717 | $1,293 | $1,933 | $1,077 | $3,010 |
Each enrolment in a VET course can receive VET Delivered to School Students funding of up to 1.0 FTE, applied pro rata to the hours of enrolment for the year (for example 0.6 FTE for 108 hours). One student can enrol in and attract funding for enrolment in multiple VET courses. Schools can use the SRP budget planner (available through the SRP ) to estimate VET Delivered to School Students funding.
Exceptions
While all eligible training is allocated pro-rata funding for an FTE enrolment of 180 hours per year, there are some exceptions:
- Certificate III in Music: The VCE VET program for this course is equivalent to 4 VCE units per year, and so attracts funding for 2.0 FTE (360 hours per year), applied pro rata to enrolments of less than 360 hours.
- Certificate II in Cookery: The VCAA has determined that 170 hours of delivery equates to 180 hours of VCE credit, and so funding for this course is calculated as 170 hours equating to 1.0 FTE.
Materials funding
Each eligible enrolment in VET receives funding for the cost of materials. Funded materials are consumable items that are expended during training.
All eligible VET courses are grouped into two funding bands:
- high-cost certificate band: $450
- low-cost certificate band: $250.
Small-scale core funding supplement
Additional funding is provided for schools that do not have enough student enrolments to offset VET costs. Schools with 400 or fewer total enrolments in years 7 to 12 are eligible for this funding.
Mainstream schools receive funding for each eligible FTE enrolment in VET of $1,293, up to a maximum of 15 enrolments. For schools with more than 200 enrolments in years 7 to 12, the rate of $1,293 is reduced by the excess over 200 multiplied by 6.43.
Specialist schools receive funding for each eligible FTE enrolment in VET of $1,077, up to a maximum of 15 enrolments. For schools with more than 200 enrolments in years 7 to 12, the rate of $1,077 is reduced by the excess over 200 multiplied by 5.35.
For example, if Local Mainstream College has 211 students in years 7 to 12, and 30 FTE enrolments in VET, funding is calculated as: 15 × (1293 − (6.43 × (211 − 200)).
Parent payments
Schools may ask parents to make a general voluntary financial contribution towards VET. Schools cannot tie a student’s participation in a VET course to this contribution, but may decide to not offer a course with tuition costs that significantly exceed tuition funding.
For some VET certificates, students may be required to have certain equipment, tools, or clothing. Schools may invite families to purchase these items. If a parent does not provide or purchase the necessary items, the school must give the student access to the required items without cost. Schools are not required to provide students with items to own or keep.
For further information, refer to: Parent Payments.
Reviewed 27 March 2025