Students with a disability are a key equity group in vocational education and training (VET) because of their lower participation levels, slower progression rates through VET studies and employment outcomes achieved after completion. See VET statistics for students with a disability for further information.

The patterns of participation across qualification levels also differ for students reporting a disability compared with the general VET population. For more detail see Cavallaro et al. (2005), who separated students with a disability into nine sub-groups: physical disability; medical condition; vision disability; learning disability; hearing disability; intellectual disability; mental illness; acquired brain impairment; other/unspecified disability. Of these sub-groups, students reporting a hearing or vision impairment report the highest pass rates and employment outcomes.

Conversely, students reporting an intellectual or learning disability experience lower pass rates and employment outcomes than the general VET population. Again, participation varies among the sub-groups of students reporting a disability. For more statistical information please refer to NCVER statistics.