successful completers are awarded a senior certificate of education giving access to both general and vocational programmes there is a well established flexible qualification system that provides autonomy and innovation underpinned with data and research current reforms have aimed to shape a more demanddriven vet system see spotlight introducing more flexibility in the length of apprenticeships and ensuring support through a common procedure for assessing them it has the sixth highest graduation rate among oecd countries in academic programmes tertiarytype a and the eighth highest graduation rate in vocationally oriented programmes tertiarytype b about of all tertiary students are foreign the highest rate of foreign tertiary students among oecd countries in the participation of aboriginal and torres strait islander people in higher education is below that of the australian population as a whole