While some will be pleased with their outcomes, others might feel disappointed. However, education providers across the region have stressed that ATAR scores are not everything.

Horsham College careers adviser Caroline O’Donnell said the college had more than 60 students sit VCE exams this year, while others chose VCAL as a pathway.

“Most who sat exams will apply for university or TAFE, and will accept an offer. Then the others who aren’t looking at higher education will have already gone into the workforce, or have jobs or apprenticeships,” she said.

Ms O’Donnell said teaching and nursing were always popular career pathways for students to pursue because jobs were often available in those fields locally.

“Regional students know that they can get jobs back in the Wimmera with careers like that. We also have a lot looking at allied health, law, criminology and psychology,” she said.

Related: Western Victorian Careers Expo 2018

She said the school had a lot of students that chose to study in Melbourne, Bendigo or Geelong.

“The difficulty is that they have find money in order to relocate, so they are at a significant disadvantage compered to city students. A lot of students decide to do gap years to join the workforce and get some financial security,” she said.

“The cost of living is so much more expensive in Melbourne or Geelong, so it’s a very reasonable concern that they have that I think isn’t well enough address at a legislative levels.”

Although online courses are available for most courses, Ms O’Donnell said many Horsham students didn’t choose to study online.

“When they’re 18, life on campus is a really big protector and help them find motivation to study. They can build up networks and get face-to-face time with people. Students who are isolated and don’t have those connections can find that it’s harder to stay engaged with their learning,” she said.

She said it was important students remembered that a number of pathways were available for them if they didn’t get the ATAR result they desired.

“They just have to think about their pathways. It's not life or death, it’s just another step in their career. We are here to support them and offer services to help them choose a pathway,” she said.

The college starts discussing career pathways and electives in Year 9.

Murtoa College principal Tony Goodwin said his students experienced slightly different challenges due their isolation from major regional centres.

“The biggest one is that they aren’t aspirational, and it’s difficult to get them to want to move away from home. We have a great careers program here that helps them find what pathways they are interested in,” he said.

“We do try to give some advice about where they can go, but the bottom line is that once they step out of the school, they are out of our hands.”

The college had 23 students undertake Year 12 this year. He said usually about 60 per cent chose to continue their education.

Related: Wimmera students choose to pursue a variation of career paths

“Some to TAFE and university, and rarely would they be doing that in Horsham,” he said.

“You can’t get away from getting an ATAR, and unfortunately the whole process is very stressful – it doesn’t matter how many times we say that this is just the start of the next phase of their lives.”

Nhill College pathways co-ordinator Susan Hedt said the school had 24 Year 12 students this year.

“It’s been the smallest one we’ve had in a while, but that will probably be the way forward into the future. We have a lot of students who want to take a year off, others have jobs or apprenticeships lined up. They will head off to Melbourne, Bendigo or even Adelaide,” she said.

“We talk to the students then, and each year we talk to them about pathways and their future. A lot of them think that jobs come out of thin air, so we need to get it into their heads that they have to work for them and plan ahead,” she said.

“There are so many pathways out there, so if they don’t get the score they want, there are plenty of options to get into exactly what they want.”

Ararat College senior school co-ordinator Jessica Erhardt said location and limited options were the biggest hurdles students faced.

“We have such a spread this year it’s hard to identify one pathway as popular. We have Isabell Kettle who commenced her further educational pathway studying a Diploma in Sports Management with the Simon Black Academy half way through the year while still completing Year 12,” she said.

“We also have a number of students interested in pursuing a university degree in education. Our students this year have been very diverse.”

Related: Wimmera schools question how they can maintain student numbers despite population pressures

Mrs Erhardt said location and limited options were the biggest hurdles faced by the college’s students.

“The obvious struggle for rural students is the location, with limited further educational options in the local area. Our students are faced with this extra hurdle to overcome, and of course there is significant financial pressures,” she said.

“We have been very proactive this year with trying to overcome these barriers for our students, with a number of them securing significant scholarships to assist with financing some of the costs associated with further education.”

Career pathway programs and counselling with students start as early as Year 8.

“It might seem very early to start this process at the end of Year 8, but next year the state government is funding an initiative that will see expert career practitioners working with every Year 9 student in career mentoring. By starting in Year 8 we are preparing our students for this,” she said.

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