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 the Canberra Region.
Data source
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) – Census 2016 & 2021 – by place of work
Current area:
Current industry:
Current benchmark:
Sex:
Local workers qualifications | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Canberra Region - All industries | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||||
Qualification level | Number | % | NSW | Number | % | NSW | 2016 - 2021 | ||
Bachelor or Higher degree | 26,779 | 24.0 | 38.4 | 19,390 | 20.0 | 32.6 | +7,389 | ||
Advanced Diploma or Diploma | 11,720 | 10.5 | 11.0 | 10,180 | 10.5 | 11.1 | +1,540 | ||
Certificate I and II Level | 1,737 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 1,660 | 1.7 | 1.2 | +77 | ||
Certificate III & IV Level | 28,602 | 25.7 | 18.1 | 24,774 | 25.5 | 18.7 | +3,828 | ||
Certificate Level, nfd | 2,512 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 2,621 | 2.7 | 2.3 | -109 | ||
No qualification | 37,290 | 33.4 | 27.0 | 35,087 | 36.2 | 31.1 | +2,203 | ||
Inadequately described or not stated | 2,848 | 2.6 | 2.3 | 3,285 | 3.4 | 2.9 | -437 | ||
Total Persons | 111,488 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 96,997 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +14,491 | ||
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 the Canberra Region in 2021 compared to NSW 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, 64.0% of the workers who held educational qualifications, and 33.4% had no qualifications, compared with 70.7% and 27.0% respectively for NSW.
The major differences between the qualifications held by the workforce of the Canberra Region and NSW were:
- A smaller percentage of local workers with Bachelor or Higher degree (24.0% compared to 38.4%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with Certificate III & IV Level (25.7% compared to 18.1%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with No qualification (33.4% compared to 27.0%)
- A smaller percentage of local workers with Advanced Diploma or Diploma (10.5% compared to 11.0%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the qualifications held by the workforce in the Canberra Region between 2016 and 2021 were:
- Bachelor or Higher degree (+7,389 local workers)
- Certificate III & IV Level (+3,828 local workers)
- No qualification (+2,203 local workers)
- Advanced Diploma or Diploma (+1,540 local workers)