Have you got a reference for that Taily? In my experience, the figure is more like 50%.
Unfortunately most of the kids who do their six or twelve month pre-trade course go on to do the CASA exams because the new system is too difficult to get their (and their employers) heads around.
In the end, the one year spent in a classroom pressing the auto dump button every few weeks counts for nothing except to get a foot in the door. If I could of had it my way, I would have just done the CASA basics and got the SOE I needed and I would have been licenced 12 months before I eventually was.
It's a poorly thought out system, designed for the airlines to be able to import engineers. Unfortunately, the old CAR31 system wasn't much better, being designed for Tigermoths, Wirraways and Hillers where back in the day the CASA inspector who issued the licence, whilst knowing that they still had a lot to learn, took a little initiative and actually wanted the applicant to get a LAME licence.