Smoother pathways from TAFE to higher education

This paper reports on the Smoother Pathways Project at Victoria University of Technology (VU). The project investigated the reasons for the diversity in student experiences of articulation at VU, with a view to providing students with the best possible support for this transition. The project focused upon one particular pathway involving areas where certain students were known to have difficulty. This was the articulation of TAFE Business students into the VU Bachelor of Business degree, in the course of which many gained exemption from the usual HE first-year Law subject, Business Law 1, and in many cases proceeded to the second Law subject, Corporate Law. Through interviews with students and staff and an examination of the curriculum in both TAFE and HE, the main factors affecting the ease of transition were investigated. The picture that emerged was more complex than anticipated, with changes in the student body, flexibility in TAFE curriculum and increasing student numbers as major factors.