Kaylee Stoffels believes that she and her VCAL classmates were viewed as the "dumb ones" at her old school.
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"I would say the school didn't value VCAL like it did the VCE," she says. "They see us as people taking the easier road."
The 17-year-old says she loved studying the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning - the vocational alternative to the VCE - last year, and praises her "passionate" teachers.
A VCAL graduate at another school, Denzel, had a similar experience last year. He and his VCAL peers felt invisible.
"The kids who do the program think they're not as good as everyone else."
A two-tiered system has engulfed schools offering both the VCE and VCAL, with many students in the latter program believing they have been shunted in a system obsessed with the ATAR.
While some schools offer VCAL with pride, others are treating the program like a "second rate certificate", depriving it of resources and high-quality teachers, says Bronwyn Harcourt, principal at Croydon Community School.
VCE graduates are twice as likely to pursue study or full-time work compared to VCAL graduates, government data shows.
The picture is more alarming for girls. Recent data shows just 8 per cent of female VCAL graduates secured apprenticeships, compared with nearly 40 per cent of boys.
State government funding for VCAL was cut in 2011, putting a strain on schools still offering the program, says Professor John Polesel, director of Melbourne University's Centre for Vocational and Educational Policy.
It meant schools were forced to stump up the cost of the resource-heavy program.
"Anything in the vocational sector will require facilities and resources … yet we still work in a model where we think we can fund it in the same way as we fund the teaching of English and maths," Professor Polesel said.
Vocational education has been linked with lower crime rates in Victoria, and is an important option for disadvantaged students.
But Mr Polesel says the program needs to better support girls, and offer students easier access to university.
Insiders also warn that VCAL work placements are either unsuitable, or not properly pursued, with one source claiming that students who should be at work placement are at home "twiddling their thumbs".
A recent Hume Whittlesea Local Learning and Employment Network program found 80 per cent of 170 local VCAL students were deemed not job ready by 40 employers in late 2015.
Executive officer Nicky Leitch says students' mock resumes submitted as part of the program were riddled with errors, while they struggled in job interviews.
"Most of the employers walked away with quite severe concerns ... we have a lot of young people who are a long way from being employment-ready."
There has also been a push away from VCAL by some mainstream schools eager to rebrand as elite institutions, placing enormous pressure on schools left to pick up the slack.
Ms Leitch says two independent schools in her region cut the program this 2017.
Mildura Senior College's acting principal Belinda Hudak said the school "highly values" both the VCE and VCAL.
She acknowledges there is "a misconception from some students that it [VCAL] doesn't have the same rigour and challenges" as the VCE.
The VCAL is a high-quality and rigorous program, that "really prepares students for entering the workplace", she says.
An education department spokesman says VCAL was "a well-established pathway" leading to fulfilling careers, while the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority has a "robust quality assurance process" to ensure VCAL providers meet the standards.
