For the fifth consecutive year, the number of students enrolled in the national publicly funded training system increased, with 1.943 million students studying last year, up 3.3% from 2011.

The Australian vocational education and training statistics: Students and courses 2012 – preliminary data, published by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), provide a snapshot of training activity taken from an annual collection of student enrolments.

Student numbers increased in South Australia (15.5%), Victoria (8.2%), Australian Capital Territory (2.1%) and in New South Wales (2.0%).

Just over half (51.4%) of all students were enrolled in Certificates III and IV in 2012.

Increases in hours of delivery and full-year training equivalents in 2012 reflected the growth in student numbers, with both measures increasing 9.0% compared with 2011.

NCVER will release detailed data on public training activity in July.

Copies of Australian vocational education and training statistics: Students and courses 2012 – preliminary data are available from www.ncver.edu.au/publications/2630.html