Thousands of high school students shun ‘two years of hell' in favour of vocational VCE
High school students are shunning the 'hell' of ATAR-scored final exams and flocking to the vocational VCE in their thousands, with the alternative stream experiencing a surge in enrolments of almost 20 per cent last year.
The growth of the Vocational Major VCE (VM) looks set to continue, with more than 26,600 students now combining job-ready vocational training with their high school studies.
But the state government is facing calls to do more to promote the option to year 11 and 12 students seeking an alternative to the stress of pursuing an ATAR score and university place.
The VM was introduced in 2023 to replace the Victorian Certificate of Higher Learning (VCAL) which had developed a serious image problem, and was often described as the 'poor cousin' to an ATAR-scored VCE.
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The government worried that the stigma attached to the VCAL discouraged schools from offering the stream, leaving too many students with no choice but an unscored VCE.
But nearly all government schools are mandated to offer the VM, a move intended in part to address the patchy availability that dogged the VCAL.
The state government says the growing numbers of Year 12 completions of vocational majors – from 6454 in 2023 to 8290 students last year – has helped boost overall year 12 completion rates, which were at just 91.7 per cent in 2021, to 97.5 per cent in 2024.
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USA Today
19 minutes ago
- USA Today
French Open men's final 2025: Time, TV and more for Jannik Sinner vs. Carlos Alcaraz
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North Wales Chronicle
19 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Weight-loss jabs may need to be taken for life, experts warn
The drugs are sold under brand names like Mounjaro and Wegovy and work by reducing food cravings. Obese patients can currently be prescribed the jabs on the NHS after being referred to specialist weight loss clinics, which are usually located in hospitals. Hundreds of thousands of people also access the medication privately at pharmacies. There have been warnings about buying potentially unsafe jabs online from unregulated retailers and potentially missing out on wraparound support. Experts said the jabs should not be seen as the first option in weight loss and should be used in conjunction with lifestyle changes, such as eating more healthily and increasing exercise. Professor Graham Easton, a GP who has been using weight loss jabs himself, said: 'I think it's a major issue about the proper funding and resourcing of not only the GPs in the surgeries but also the wraparound care we talked about. 'I think the other issue is that so far, to my knowledge, the NHS and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence have talked about this being something you take for two years, and that's probably related to data from research studies. 'But as we discussed, this is likely to be a lifelong commitment if it is going to be worthwhile to the NHS. 'There's no point in most people taking it for a couple of years and then have the weight bouncing back. 'You can argue possibly you're about to prepare for surgery or something, but in most cases it doesn't make any sense. 'Then I think there's a big issue around access. Most obesity occurs in poorer populations as wealthier populations tend to not be so affected. 'There's a massive sort of socio-economic inequality and there is a worry about this driving that inequality even further. 'Unless the NHS makes sure that these are available across the board equally, I think that's a major risk.' Prof Easton said recent studies had shown people who stopped taking the drugs had put the weight they lost back on within around a year. 'That's often true of any diet, people would say, and that's certainly my experience of having wrestled with my weight in diets over the years,' he said. 'All I would say that I found interesting from that review was that they were suggesting perhaps that weight returns even quicker after having been on GLP-1 drugs. 'Then speculating, because there was no way of knowing from that review, that perhaps it's because people are not changing the behaviours we've been talking about like exercise and other lifestyle changes, just relying on the drugs. 'When you stop them, of course, you're going to put weight back on. The switch is turned back off, or whatever it was. 'I mean very similar to, for example, statins or anti-hypertensive blood pressure medications, if you want lifelong effects, you have to keep on them lifelong.' Prof Easton was speaking at an event at the Cheltenham Science Festival discussing the growing use of weight loss drugs with neurophysiologist Dr Simon Cork and consultant endocrinologist and obesity expert Dr Tony Goldstone. Dr Cork said the jabs have an important role to play in losing weight but are part of wider changes to diet and lifestyle. 'I think we have to understand that diet is always limited. People will tend to lose on average around 5% of their body weight on a diet,' he said. 'But you're hungry, you're miserable, you're tired, your wife hates you because you're so grumpy, you're not going to continue with that. 'But we should absolutely all be looking at our diet and all changing our diet, and doing something.' Dr Goldstone said weight loss drugs had been used in the treatment of diabetes for over a decade and had benefits of reducing the risk of developing other conditions. 'We're now in the third and fourth generation of these drugs, but the first generation of these drugs we've been using for 15 years for diabetes,' he said. 'There is nothing of concern that has emerged. In fact, all we're seeing are benefits. I'm not too worried about longer term side effects coming out. 'There is no real biological reason why there should be dangerous side-effects in the way that we know these drugs work. 'The benefits of the weight loss improvement in the diabetes are actually by themselves helping health and preventing other diseases, like cancer, heart attacks, renal failure, and potentially even reducing the risk of Alzheimer's disease. 'All those benefits, even if there was something that we hadn't really thought of that emerged down the line, I suspect that the harm of that is outweighed by the potential benefits of weight loss improvement in diabetes control.' Dr Cork said no drug is without side-effects and previous weight loss medications had failed because of them. 'There are side-effects, there are some concerning side-effects that tend to be very rare, but then you can monitor for those side-effects,' he said. 'As long as you're getting the correct care, as long as your GP is aware that you're taking them, then those should be identified. 'If you do find those side-effects, you can stop taking the drug.'
Leader Live
20 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Spending review: Schools to get more funding but police warned to ‘do their bit'
Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said the Government will commit to investing 'the most we've ever spent per pupil' next week, but declined to rule out the prospect of a real-terms squeeze on areas such as policing. Facing questions from broadcasters on Sunday about which public services will be prioritised, Mr Kyle said 'every part of our society is struggling' and numerous sectors had asked Chancellor Rachel Reeves for more money. 'On the fact that the police have been writing to the Chancellor, they have,' the Cabinet minister told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme. 'We also have letters from the universities, we have letters from doctors about the health service, we have letters from campaigners for child poverty writing to us, and other aspects of challenges in Britain at the moment. 'Every part of our society is struggling because of the inheritance that we had as a country and as a Government.' He pointed to the £1.1 billion extra funding already earmarked for police this year, warning that public services would be expected to 'do their bit' alongside Government as he defended Ms Reeves' stewardship of the country's finances. 'We expect the police to start embracing the change they need to do, to do their bit for change as well. We are doing our bit,' Mr Kyle said. 'You see a Chancellor that is striving to get investment to the key parts of our country that needs it the most… You will see the priorities of this Government reflected in the spending review, which sets the departmental spending into the long term. 'But this is a partnership. Yes, the Treasury needs to find more money for those key priorities, but the people delivering them need to do their bit as well.' The Department of Health is set to be the biggest winner in Ms Reeves' spending review on Wednesday, with the NHS receiving a boost of up to £30 billion at the expense of other public services. Economists have said the expected 2.8% annual increase in its day-to-day budget, which amounts to a rise of about £30 billion by 2028, or £17 billion in real terms, will see other departments squeezed. Speaking on Sunday, Mr Kyle said the schools system, along with an £86 billion funding package for research and development, would be top priorities as the Government seeks to 'invest in the future.' 'You will see in this spending review that we are investing the most we've ever spent per pupil in our school system,' he told Sky News. Mr Kyle said Labour was 'absolutely laser-focused' on delivering manifesto pledges amid questions about how competing commitments will be balanced with little room for manoeuvre amid narrow fiscal headroom. For too long, communities across the country have been locked out of the investment they deserve. That's why on Wednesday, we announced funding worth £15.6bn, helping to drive cities, towns, and communities forward. — HM Treasury (@hmtreasury) June 6, 2025 Asked about the Government's plan to build 1.5 million new homes by the end of the Parliament, the minister declined to guarantee Housing Secretary Angela Rayner's department would not face cuts. But he added: 'We made a manifesto commitment. We are absolutely laser-focused on delivering that.' He said the Government was also 'on the way' to delivering 13,000 new police officers, another manifesto pledge. Ms Reeves has acknowledged that she had been forced to turn down requests for funding in a sign of the behind-the-scenes wrangling over her spending review. She blamed the former Conservative government's stewardship of the economy rather than her self-imposed fiscal rules, which include a promise to match day-to-day spending with revenues. It comes after the Government announced science and technology sectors would receive new funding as part of an £86 billion package set to be confirmed next week. Mr Kyle's Department for Science, Technology and Innovation (DSIT) said the money would help research into new drug treatments and microchips used to power mobile phones and electric cars. The Tories accused Labour of copying their own plans in office over the commitment. Shadow technology secretary Alan Mak said: 'Labour's central budget announcement seems to be a reheat of Conservative plans just showing this Chancellor will copy and paste anyone's ideas to get out of the mess that she's put herself in. 'As Labour and Reform squabble over how to spend more taxpayers money, only the Conservatives are creating a serious plan for government to deliver growth and give you your country back.'
