Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth, 2006 cohort (Version 10.1)

In 2006 a nationally representative sample of about 14,000 15 year-old students was selected to participate in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). This group of young people became the fourth cohort of the LSAY program (LSAY Y06). As part of PISA, assessments in mathematical literacy, reading literacy and scientific literacy were administered in schools to provide information on student achievement. Students also completed a background questionnaire about themselves, their families, their views on a range of science-related issues, the environment, educational and vocational plans, attitudes to school and learning, work experience, workplace learning, and part-time work. In 2007, members of the Y06 cohort were contacted for the first of their annual LSAY telephone interviews. The questionnaire for their 2007 interview included questions on school, transitions from school, post-school education and training, work, job history, job search activities, health, living arrangements, finance and general attitudes. Subsequent surveys asked similar questions, but with the emphasis changing from school to post-school education, training and work, depending on the young person’s circumstances. Since 2012, respondents were given the option to complete their interviews online. The final wave of interviewing (wave 11) took place in 2016 when respondents were, on average, 25 years of age.