This study investigated ways in which Australian vocational education and training (VET) students in the 1990s combined study and work to prepare for future long-term career paths. The study was conducted throughout 1998 in three technical and further education (TAFE) institutes in three states, using the following methods: a survey of about 1,400 students; interviews with about 50 students at each institute; a follow-up survey with other students; and meetings with staff for feedback on findings. The introductory survey indicated that males were focused in engineering and apprenticeships and tended to be more vocationally focused; females took courses in various areas. Despite contrasting circumstances, courses provided, and employment opportunities in the three regions, the majority of students regarded the study and work combination as a fact of life but saw little formal connection between the two. Their TAFEs and employers promoted this lack of formal connection as a fact of life. Many students reported involvement in paid and unpaid work as necessary to establishing a work record to complement their eventual training qualifications. Most students were in paid or unpaid employment and worked 2 or more days per week. Local staff and management personnel in the TAFEs were frustrated with the current system and were willing to rethink the role of VET. Current training arrangements still treated study and work as sequential rather than complementary elements of training and lagged behind student assessments of market demands. (Contains 13 references and 2 questionnaires.) (YLB)