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AustraliaCommunity profile

New South Wales

Qualifications

27.8% of people in New South Wales had a Bachelor or Higher degree qualification in 2021, lower than Victoria. This represents an increase of 413,789 people since 2016.

Educational Qualifications relate to education outside of primary and secondary school and are one of the most important indicators of socio-economic status. With other data sources, such as Employment Status, Income and Occupation, New South Wales's Educational Qualifications help to evaluate the economic opportunities and socio-economic status of the area and identify skill gaps in the labour market.

Learn more about planning education provision here.

Q:

Derived from the Census question:

'What is the level of the highest qualification the person has completed?'

Highest qualification achieved
New South Wales - Persons aged 15+ (Usual residence)20212016Change
Qualification levelNumber%Victoria %Number%Victoria %2016 to 2021
Bachelor or Higher degree1,838,50227.829.21,424,71323.424.3+413,789
Advanced Diploma or Diploma616,3229.39.8543,1408.99.2+73,182
Vocational1,197,11918.116.71,100,95518.116.9+96,164
No qualification2,370,68535.936.52,383,80539.139.6-13,120
Not stated579,5358.87.9641,28510.510.0-61,750
Total persons aged 15+6,602,163100.0100.06,093,898100.0100.0+508,265
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Please refer to specific data notes for more information

Dominant groups

Analysis of the qualifications of the population in New South Wales in 2021 compared to Victoria shows that there was a similar proportion of people holding formal qualifications (Bachelor or higher degree; Advanced Diploma or Diploma; or Vocational qualifications), and a lower proportion of people with no formal qualifications.

Overall, 55.3% of the population aged 15 and over held educational qualifications, and 35.9% had no qualifications, compared with 55.6% and 36.5% respectively for Victoria.

The major differences between qualifications held by the population of New South Wales and Victoria were:

  • A larger percentage of persons with Vocational qualifications (18.1% compared to 16.7%)
  • A smaller percentage of persons with Bachelor or Higher degrees (27.8% compared to 29.2%)

Emerging groups

The largest changes in the qualifications of the population in New South Wales between 2016 and 2021 were in those with:

  • Bachelor or Higher degrees (+413,789 persons)
  • Vocational qualifications (+96,164 persons)
  • Advanced Diploma or Diplomas (+73,182 persons)
  • No qualifications (-13,120 persons)

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