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 City of Newcastle.
Data source
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) – Census 2016 & 2021 – by place of work
Current industry:
Current benchmark:
Sex:
| Local workers qualifications | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Newcastle - All industries | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||||
| Qualification level | Number | % | New South Wales | Number | % | New South Wales | 2016 - 2021 | ||
| Bachelor or Higher degree | 36,752 | 33.3 | 38.4 | 28,001 | 28.8 | 32.6 | +8,751 | ||
| Advanced Diploma or Diploma | 12,435 | 11.3 | 11.0 | 11,294 | 11.6 | 11.1 | +1,141 | ||
| Certificate I and II Level | 1,538 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 1,292 | 1.3 | 1.2 | +246 | ||
| Certificate III & IV Level | 24,798 | 22.5 | 18.1 | 22,097 | 22.7 | 18.7 | +2,701 | ||
| Certificate Level, nfd | 2,006 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 2,235 | 2.3 | 2.3 | -229 | ||
| No qualification | 30,637 | 27.8 | 27.0 | 30,043 | 30.9 | 31.1 | +594 | ||
| Inadequately described or not stated | 2,056 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 2,365 | 2.4 | 2.9 | -309 | ||
| Total Persons | 110,222 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 97,327 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +12,895 | ||
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 City of Newcastle in 2021 compared to New South Wales shows that there was a similar proportion holding formal qualifications (Bachelor or higher degree; Advanced Diploma or Diploma; or Vocational qualifications), and a similar proportion with no formal qualifications.
Overall, 70.3% of the workers who held educational qualifications, and 27.8% 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 the City of Newcastle and New South Wales were:
- A smaller percentage of local workers with Bachelor or Higher degree (33.3% compared to 38.4%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with Certificate III & IV Level (22.5% compared to 18.1%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with No qualification (27.8% compared to 27.0%)
- A smaller percentage of local workers with Inadequately described or not stated (1.9% compared to 2.3%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the qualifications held by the workforce in the City of Newcastle between 2016 and 2021 were:
- Bachelor or Higher degree (+8,751 local workers)
- Certificate III & IV Level (+2,701 local workers)
- Advanced Diploma or Diploma (+1,141 local workers)
- No qualification (+594 local workers)