Tasmanian Council of Social Services believes providing years 11 and 12 in all parts of the state would be an important step in addressing access and equity issues.

TasCOSS chief executive Tony Reidy said urgent action was needed to address Tasmania's poor retention rate which, at 70 per cent, was almost 10 per cent lower than the national average.

Retention rates are even worse for the state's Aboriginal students at 41.6 per cent, compared to 53.5 per cent of their peers across the country who stay in school.

"This is an issue that just isn't going away and the recent changes and moves made in education have failed to address this significant problem, so let's talk about other ways to tackle it," Mr Reidy said.

"I'm not making a radical call to abolish colleges, but the move towards extending high schools to offer years 11 and 12 is welcome and we need to examine the effects of that to see what works and what doesn't."

TasCOSS hopes the state will set aside enough money to make it happen in next year's budget - and considers the move a key priority.

It is one of a handful of new projects that key lobby groups want the state to fund.

The Examiner has found most submissions being made to Treasury are likely to be a repeat of requests made last year - many of which were not funded as cuts were made across the board.

The government released a discussion paper on improving year 11 and 12 results last month, and is accepting submissions until Christmas.

Education Minister Nick McKim has said all responses to the paper would feed into a new policy drawn up in time for next year's budget.

The release of the paper prompted Liberal education spokesman Michael Ferguson to accuse the government of copying the opposition's plan to extend high schools.

The Liberals released its year 7-12 policy in January, which called for all high schools to be extended, and the colleges now offering post-year 10 to be retained.