New report calls for school-to-work pathway overhaul

A new report argues that New Zealand’s senior secondary education system is still failing to provide clear, structured pathways for the majority of young people leaving school, with university remaining the dominant and most clearly defined route.

 

Published by Skills Group, Multiple Pathways to Success calls for a major shift in how schools, employers, and tertiary providers work together to support transitions from education into work.

 

It argues that while many students are achieving academically, too many are leaving school without access to equivalent vocational or work-based pathways that are consistent, structured, and nationally supported.

 

Rosanne Graham, chief executive of Skills Group, says the current system remains heavily weighted toward university entrance as the default measure of success, even though all students must eventually transition into work or further training.

 

“At the same time, structured tertiary-based opportunities or work experience programmes are only offered to a small minority,” she says.

 

She points to programmes such as Gateway and Trades Academies as evidence that structured vocational learning works when it is available.

 

“Evidence shows that they improve employment outcomes and earnings. However, they have limited student places and are treated as add-ons, rather than as a normal part of senior secondary education. As a result, most students never gain access to them.”

 

The white paper argues that for decades, senior secondary schooling has largely been structured around academic progression into university, with vocational pathways operating on the margins.

 

While programmes such as Gateway placements, Trades Academies, and STAR courses do exist, they are often dependent on local school capacity, staffing, and funding flexibility.

 

The result, the report suggests, is a system that offers alternatives in theory, but not equivalent pathways in practice.

 

A student progressing toward university study typically follows a clear, sequenced and nationally recognised route. By contrast, students pursuing trades, technical training, or employment pathways often rely on fragmented access to short-term placements, variable employer engagement, or limited programme availability that differs widely between schools and regions.

 

That inconsistency is a central concern of the report. It argues that vocational learning opportunities are not embedded as a universal entitlement, but instead operate as optional add-ons within a system still primarily designed around in-school academic achievement.

 

Graham says this is reinforced by how the system is funded.

 

“At the moment, funding is largely tied to the time young people are inside the school gate. This can lead to too many disengaged students making it harder for schools to support real-world or tertiary learning at scale.”

 

She says this creates structural pressure for schools to retain learning within the classroom, even when external learning environments may better support some students.

 

“Supporting young people on a productive and successful pathway to their next step beyond school is the core purpose of the final years of schooling. However, schools cannot do that alone and we shouldn’t expect them to.”

 

The white paper argues that work-integrated and vocational learning opportunities are currently fragmented across multiple schemes, each with different rules, capacity limits, and funding arrangements.

 

It also notes that while there are examples of strong practice across the country, these are not consistent or system-wide.

 

As a result, access to structured vocational pathways remains uneven, with participation often depending on geography, school resourcing, and local partnerships rather than universal availability.

 

This is reflected in broader system outcomes. The report highlights concerns around skills mismatch, uneven transitions into employment, and persistent inequities in outcomes for Māori and Pasifika learners.

 

It also points to the scale of young people not transitioning smoothly into further education, training, or employment, alongside comparatively lower numbers entering apprenticeships directly from school.

 

At the centre of the white paper’s recommendations is a shift away from what it describes as a “scheme-based” model of vocational education toward a universal dual enrolment entitlement.

 

Under this approach, any student over the age of 16 would be able to combine school learning with tertiary study or workplace-based training as part of a normalised senior secondary pathway.

 

The report also calls for funding settings to be redesigned so that student achievement is recognised across school, tertiary, and employment settings — without penalising schools when learning occurs outside the classroom.

 

It further recommends embedding partnerships between schools, employers, and tertiary providers directly into curriculum design and delivery, rather than relying on informal or locally developed arrangements.

 

Graham says this shift is essential if vocational learning is to be treated as equal rather than supplementary.

 

“Tertiary providers, and employers need to join with secondary educators at the curriculum design table, working in partnership to build and deliver the multiple pathways system that our young people and our economy need.”

 

She adds that new industry-led subjects could play an important role in strengthening vocational pathways, but only if system design supports them properly.

 

“The introduction of new industry-led subjects could be a key vehicle for more proactively delivering vocational options and pathways through partnerships between secondary schools, tertiary providers and employers.”

 

The release of Multiple Pathways to Success comes as broader changes to the secondary school curriculum and the replacement of NCEA qualifications are underway.

 

Sector research, including the Working Knowledge report by the New Zealand Initiative, has also highlighted opportunities to better align curriculum design with a wider range of post-school destinations.

 

The white paper argues that this moment of reform presents an opportunity to embed vocational and academic pathways within a more coherent system — but warns that changes to qualifications alone will not be sufficient.

 

“These are young people on the cusp of the rest of their lives,” Graham says. “That means achieving University Entrance cannot be the only goal of 13 years of school – the new senior curriculum needs to genuinely recognise and deliver multiple pathways.”

 

She cautions that without structural change, reform risks repeating existing problems in a new form.

 

“If we focus only on changing subjects and qualifications, without fixing how the system supports students to access real-world learning and experience, we risk repeating the mistakes of the past.”

 

The white paper’s central argument is not that vocational pathways are absent, but that they are not consistently visible, accessible, or treated as equal to academic routes.

 

It calls for a system where post-school options are not only available in principle, but structurally embedded in the final years of schooling.

 

“This is about making all post-school options visible, accessible, and achievable for every student.”