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 2016 & 2021 – by place of work
Current industry:
Current benchmark:
Sex:
| Local workers qualifications | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellingen Shire - All industries | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||||
| Qualification level | Number | % | New South Wales | Number | % | New South Wales | 2016 - 2021 | ||
| Bachelor or Higher degree | 1,078 | 26.8 | 38.4 | 826 | 23.0 | 32.6 | +252 | ||
| Advanced Diploma or Diploma | 498 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 417 | 11.6 | 11.1 | +81 | ||
| Certificate I and II Level | 56 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 65 | 1.8 | 1.2 | -9 | ||
| Certificate III & IV Level | 957 | 23.8 | 18.1 | 877 | 24.4 | 18.7 | +80 | ||
| Certificate Level, nfd | 90 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 90 | 2.5 | 2.3 | -- | ||
| No qualification | 1,222 | 30.4 | 27.0 | 1,197 | 33.3 | 31.1 | +25 | ||
| Inadequately described or not stated | 116 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 118 | 3.3 | 2.9 | -2 | ||
| Total Persons | 4,017 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 3,590 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +427 | ||
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 in Bellingen Shire in 2021 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, 66.7% of the workers who held educational qualifications, and 30.4% had no qualifications, compared with 70.7% and 27.0% 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 (26.8% compared to 38.4%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with Certificate III & IV Level (23.8% compared to 18.1%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with No qualification (30.4% compared to 27.0%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with Advanced Diploma or Diploma (12.4% compared to 11.0%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the qualifications held by the workforce in Bellingen Shire between 2016 and 2021 were:
- Bachelor or Higher degree (+252 local workers)
- Advanced Diploma or Diploma (+81 local workers)
- Certificate III & IV Level (+80 local workers)
- No qualification (+25 local workers)