The department is using the insights from the Pathways for the Future Program to improve the education to employment experience for students and learners across NSW.

First launched in 2017, the Pathways pilot program linked and studied de-identified data on young people in NSW between 1996 and 2016. This analysis explored different ways that young people, aged 15-24, moved through education into work.

Initial findings from the pilot, including key pathways from study to successful employment, were published in last year’s Summary Report. This report identified the most common pathways from education to work and the circumstances that influence employment and earning outcomes.

The Pathways program will continue this work to help the department to identify barriers and drivers of effective education and employment outcomes, shape policy development, and support students and learners to make better informed decisions about their studies and careers.

A refresh of the de-identified data is planned to occur annually, to ensure insights remain relevant to current and future student cohorts in NSW.

The upcoming 2022 refresh will include de-identified data from a broad spectrum of people. These people may have attended a NSW secondary school, undertaken a vocational education and training qualification, or completed an apprenticeship, traineeship or higher education qualification in NSW from 1996 to 2021.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and the Centre of Health Records Linkage (CHeReL) are the authorised linkage authorities who will link and de-identify the data. The NSW Department of Education and its partners are committed to meeting all legal, privacy, ethical and data security requirements while maintaining the confidentiality and security of the data. Read more on how the project is protecting personal privacy.

Students and learners can ask for their data to be withdrawn from the 2022 refresh of datasets through the Pathways for the Future webpage by 30 November 2022.

If you have previously asked to have your data withdrawn from the Pathways dataset, you do not need to complete this form again.

For more information, visit the Pathways for the Future Program webpage.