Qualification levels help to evaluate the economic opportunities and socio-economic status of local workers in a particular industry.
The level of qualifications in a workforce relate to a number of factors including:
- The age of the workforce;
- The skill and qualification level required to enter an industry;
- The professional or working ambitions of people (to seek education as youth or retraining as adults);
- The opportunities afforded to people to continue studying beyond compulsory schooling.
Educational Qualification statistics should be looked at in conjunction with Field of qualification and Occupations data for a full education analysis for Bellingen Shire.
Data source
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) – Census 2011 (experimental imputed) & 2016 – by place of work
| Local workers qualifications | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellingen Shire - All industries | 2016 | 2011 | Change | ||||||
| Qualification level | Number | % | New South Wales | Number | % | New South Wales | 2011 - 2016 | ||
| Bachelor or Higher degree | 826 | 23.0 | 32.6 | 671 | 18.5 | 27.9 | +155 | ||
| Advanced Diploma or Diploma | 417 | 11.6 | 11.1 | 368 | 10.2 | 10.5 | +49 | ||
| Certificate I and II Level | 65 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 58 | 1.6 | 1.4 | +7 | ||
| Certificate III & IV Level | 877 | 24.4 | 18.7 | 908 | 25.1 | 18.8 | -31 | ||
| Certificate Level, nfd | 90 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 71 | 2.0 | 1.9 | +19 | ||
| No qualification | 1,197 | 33.3 | 31.1 | 1,398 | 38.6 | 34.9 | -201 | ||
| Inadequately described or not stated | 118 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 145 | 4.0 | 4.5 | -27 | ||
| Total Persons | 3,590 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 3,619 | 100.0 | 100.0 | -29 | ||
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2011 and 2016. Compiled and presented by .id informed decisions Please refer to specific data notes for more information | |||||||||
Dominant groups
Analysis of the qualifications of the in Bellingen Shire in 2016 compared to New South Wales shows that there was a lower proportion holding formal qualifications (Bachelor or higher degree; Advanced Diploma or Diploma; or Vocational qualifications), and a higher proportion with no formal qualifications.
Overall, 63.4% of the workers who held educational qualifications, and 33.3% had no qualifications, compared with 65.9% and 31.1% respectively for New South Wales.
The major differences between the qualifications held by the workforce of Bellingen Shire and New South Wales were:
- A smaller percentage of local workers with Bachelor or Higher degree (23.0% compared to 32.6%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with Certificate III & IV Level (24.4% compared to 18.7%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with No qualification (33.3% compared to 31.1%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with Certificate I and II Level (1.8% compared to 1.2%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the qualifications held by the workforce in Bellingen Shire between 2011 and 2016 were:
- No qualification (-201 local workers)
- Bachelor or Higher degree (+155 local workers)
- Advanced Diploma or Diploma (+49 local workers)
- Certificate III & IV Level (-31 local workers)