Region 10% below on study

By Cherie Donnellan
THE NUMBER of Geelong region high school graduates starting bachelor degrees this year is more than 10 per cent below the state average, according to new figures.
State Government’s On Track survey of first-year enrollments for local government areas recorded a rate of 41.5 per cent for Geelong students in university bachelor courses. The survey recorded a state average of 52 per cent.
The figures also suggested that most successful VCE students in the Geelong region turned their backs on tertiary education, with 98 per cent receiving offers of tertiary places compated to the 41.5 per cent who enrolled.
Seventeen per cent of the offers were for TAFE and VET courses.
Five schools in the region had 100 per cent of tertiary applicants receiving places, including Corio’s Northern Bay Secondary College and Belmont’s Oberon High School.
The results showed private schools recording a higher rate of students applying for bachelor studies. Ninety-eight per cent of Geelong Grammar students were offered tertiary places but a third of them deferred.
Kardinia International College had the most students enrolled in a bachelor degree this year, 71 per cent. Nearly half of The Geelong College students deferred studies.
About a sixth of the region’s students chose to enter the workforce.
Victorian Education Minister Peter Hall said a statewide increase in applications demonstrated significant improvements in transitions to tertiary education.