ATP levels up Aaron’s life

While being home-schooled from prep to year 10, Aaron’s studying was largely self-directed and seemingly optional, with little to no social interactions with peers or other adults outside his immediate family and other home-schooled children.

“When I was 16, I took the opportunity to attend college for years 11 and 12; this came with many unforeseen caveats, such as poor social skills and a lack of knowledge on academic writing, assignments, time management and career path knowledge,” said Aaron.

“Ultimately, I was expelled in the first term of Year 12 due to the large number of absenteeism across all classes.”

At 14, he secured full-time work in the fast-food industry, so once he was expelled from college, he returned to work – spending four years of his life in the industry.

“By the time I was 18, I had obtained a wealth of knowledge on how to be a highly effective employee, able to secure good-paying jobs, and rarely failing an interview,” he said.

However, during his adult years, Aaron found it challenging to maintain a job with any one company, with constant issues surrounding attendance, resulting in being fired from two jobs for lack of commitment.

Years later, his lack of desire to work was due to his inability to move to higher roles within any organisation, not for lack of trying.

“Ultimately, I left the workforce at 22 and worked as a tradesman and small business owner for ten years. In the final years of my trade, it became apparent I couldn’t maintain the physical requirements of a trade, so I decided to look for a career that would provide financial security,” he explained.

“My nearly 15 years of work experience would be seemingly useless in helping me secure a new job in a new industry, as all the fields I was interested in required academic competency or experience that I could not obtain due to being ‘mature-aged,’” he explained.

“This reality influenced my decision to enrol in the Certificate IV in Adult Tertiary Preparation (10765NAT) (ATP) at TAFE Queensland’s Redcliff Campus.”

ATP is ideal for people who have been away from formal education for several years, like Aaron, who want to learn and develop essential study skills and the academic and assignment writing skills he was missing in high school.

Facilitated by industry-recognised, expert teaching staff, Aaron is now developing the skills relevant to tertiary education, including advanced literacy, numeracy and digital literacy skills.

Recognised as a Year 12 alternative, Aaron can apply to the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC) for a ranking on completion, gaining access to university or other tertiary education institutions.

“The ATP program has helped me in ways I could never imagine. It has opened pathways to me that I previously thought impossible. I have a new outlook on life, my social circles have grown, and the path to my future is clear.”

“This decision has been and will continue to be my best choice ever, and because it was paid for through Fee-Free TAFE Funding, I’m not incurring any debt during my studies,” said Aaron.

Fee-Free TAFE funding is part of the Queensland Government's Good People. Good jobs: Queensland Workforce Strategy 2022–2032. It aims to connect, educate and attract the people needed to meet the state's workforce demand in existing and new industry sectors to support continued economic growth.

With approximately 37,000 Fee-Free TAFE and vocational education and training places available in 2023, the program supports Queenslanders to skill up to meet the state's current and future workforce needs by enabling them to complete selected qualifications at no or low cost.

“If I had not returned to study, I cannot say with any certainty how my life would have turned out – however, I am sure that I would not be able to support myself or my children for any foreseeable amount of time,” concluded Aaron.