How Beacon’s Work-Based Learning is Transforming Tasmania’s Students
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Career Readiness Project calls for stronger alignment between education and employment systems, ensuring young people develop transferable skills, gain meaningful workplace exposure, and build the confidence and clarity needed to navigate their futures. While these recommendations are global in scope, Tasmania already has a model delivering on them.
Through its Work Based Learning Services (WBLS) contract with the Department of Education, Children and Young People (DECYP), Beacon Foundation (Beacon) is translating global best practice into local impact by connecting students with real employers, real workplaces, and real career pathways.
The OECD Career Readiness Project, provides evidence-based advice to governments, schools, employers, and other stakeholders on how to best enable young people to be prepared for the world of work in an ever-changing environment. The application of this global evidence in a local context, is moving the dial for young Tasmanians.
Bridging the Gap Between Education and Employment
One of the key recommendations from the OECD Project is that education systems must provide authentic learning experiences that develop employability skills while fostering confidence and career clarity. WBLS does exactly this. Students are not just learning about careers, they are engaging with workplaces, applying skills in real contexts, and developing a mindset aligned with lifelong learning and adaptability.
Evaluation data from Beacon’s delivery of WBLS shows significant up-lift in key outcomes:
- 76% of students report increased career confidence
- 74% improve their skills through workplace exposure
- 72% strengthen their mindset, approaching learning and career decisions with resilience and clarity
- 68% gain meaningful exposure to industries, roles, and career pathways they had not previously considered
These figures reflect a program that aligns strongly with OECD principles, particularly the emphasis on career readiness, active engagement, and the development of transferable skills. By combining structured preparation, hands-on workplace experience, and mentoring from employers, WBLS supports students to build the capabilities and attitudes necessary for success beyond school.
One educator reflected on the value of these experiences:
“Young people definitely need to see more options… they’re in their little bubble… they can only see what their neighbours or family have done. So having these opportunities through Beacon opens their eyes up to opportunities.”
This insight echoes OECD findings that exposure to diverse career pathways broadens aspirations and strengthens transitions.
Employers as Partners in Learning
OECD research consistently highlights the value of partnerships between education and industry. This Project specifically identifies employer engagement as a critical factor in improving student outcomes.
WBLS leverages this principle by positioning employers as active contributors to learning. Employers provide mentorship, guidance, and insight into workplace expectations, giving students authentic exposure to the world of work. For schools, this partnership provides a bridge to industry knowledge and insight that would otherwise be difficult to access. For employers, it is an opportunity to shape future talent and contribute to the development of a skilled, motivated workforce. For students, it transforms possibility into tangible opportunity.
Skills, Mindset and Exposure
WBLS doesn’t just provide work experience and work readiness activities, it actively develops students’ skills, mindset and exposure, all areas identified by the OECD as critical for successful school-to-work transitions.
Through industry engagement, and structured activities, students build confidence, learn to navigate challenges, and see a clearer connection between education and meaningful employment.
Student reflections bring this impact to life. After participating in the “Beyond the Game: Careers in Sport” WBLS multi-school collaboration at Cricket Tasmania, Jayden shared:
“Maybe I do want to grow and grow… and who knows in a couple of years I could be doing social media for Australian cricket.”
That shift, from uncertainty to aspiration, is exactly what the OECD describes as a key marker of career readiness.
Translating Global Insights into Local Impact
While OECD frameworks provide global guidance, WBLS demonstrates that these concepts are not just theoretical, they can be implemented successfully at a local level. When activities are informed by best practice and then contextualised to meet the needs of students, educators and industry, relevance, connection and real outcomes are achieved.
Tasmania’s students are proof that when education and industry work together, the outcomes are tangible: higher engagement in learning, more informed career choices, strengthened confidence, and improved readiness for work.
Beacon’s delivery of WBLS, in partnership with DECYP, is more than just a program; it is a pathway to opportunity, a bridge between school and meaningful careers, and a model showing what is possible when global best practice is applied locally.
At a time when Australia is focused on productivity, participation and future skills, Beacon’s delivery of WBLS shows that aligning with international frameworks like the OECD Career Readiness Project is not just aspirational, it is achievable. And in Tasmania, it is already making a real difference.
