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AustraliaCommunity profile

Greater Capital Cities

Qualifications

30.6% of people in Greater Capital Cities had a Bachelor or Higher degree qualification in 2021, higher than Australia. This represents an increase of 951,200 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, Greater Capital Cities'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
Greater Capital Cities - Persons aged 15+ (Usual residence)20212016Change
Qualification levelNumber%Australia %Number%Australia %2016 to 2021
Bachelor or Higher degree4,135,71730.626.33,184,51725.822.0+951,200
Advanced Diploma or Diploma1,311,6499.79.41,144,1679.38.9+167,482
Vocational2,274,80616.819.12,075,44716.818.8+199,359
No qualification4,778,16435.336.84,775,40038.739.9+2,764
Not stated1,018,1257.58.51,170,9479.510.5-152,822
Total persons aged 15+13,518,461100.0100.012,350,478100.0100.0+1,167,983
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 Greater Capital Cities in 2021 compared to Australia shows that there was a higher 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, 57.1% of the population aged 15 and over held educational qualifications, and 35.3% had no qualifications, compared with 54.7% and 36.8% respectively for Australia.

The major differences between qualifications held by the population of Greater Capital Cities and Australia were:

  • A larger percentage of persons with Bachelor or Higher degrees (30.6% compared to 26.3%)
  • A smaller percentage of persons with Vocational qualifications (16.8% compared to 19.1%)
  • A smaller percentage of persons with No qualifications (35.3% compared to 36.8%)

Emerging groups

The largest changes in the qualifications of the population in Greater Capital Cities between 2016 and 2021 were in those with:

  • Bachelor or Higher degrees (+951,200 persons)
  • Vocational qualifications (+199,359 persons)
  • Advanced Diploma or Diplomas (+167,482 persons)
  • No qualifications (+2,764 persons)

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