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 Shire of Northam.
Data source
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) – Census 2016 & 2021 – by place of work
Current industry:
Current benchmark:
Sex:
| Local workers qualifications | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shire of Northam - All industries | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||||
| Qualification level | Number | % | Western Australia | Number | % | Western Australia | 2016 - 2021 | ||
| Bachelor or Higher degree | 1,035 | 21.5 | 31.1 | 839 | 19.2 | 27.4 | +196 | ||
| Advanced Diploma or Diploma | 426 | 8.8 | 10.9 | 428 | 9.8 | 10.8 | -2 | ||
| Certificate I and II Level | 141 | 2.9 | 1.8 | 111 | 2.5 | 1.4 | +30 | ||
| Certificate III & IV Level | 1,109 | 23.0 | 21.8 | 1,001 | 22.9 | 21.9 | +108 | ||
| Certificate Level, nfd | 96 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 105 | 2.4 | 2.1 | -9 | ||
| No qualification | 1,866 | 38.7 | 30.1 | 1,727 | 39.5 | 33.6 | +139 | ||
| Inadequately described or not stated | 145 | 3.0 | 2.5 | 162 | 3.7 | 2.8 | -17 | ||
| Total Persons | 4,818 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 4,373 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +445 | ||
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 Shire of Northam in 2021 compared to Western Australia 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, 58.3% of the workers who held educational qualifications, and 38.7% had no qualifications, compared with 67.4% and 30.1% respectively for Western Australia.
The major differences between the qualifications held by the workforce of the Shire of Northam and Western Australia were:
- A smaller percentage of local workers with Bachelor or Higher degree (21.5% compared to 31.1%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with No qualification (38.7% compared to 30.1%)
- A smaller percentage of local workers with Advanced Diploma or Diploma (8.8% compared to 10.9%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with Certificate III & IV Level (23.0% compared to 21.8%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the qualifications held by the workforce in the Shire of Northam between 2016 and 2021 were:
- Bachelor or Higher degree (+196 local workers)
- No qualification (+139 local workers)
- Certificate III & IV Level (+108 local workers)
- Certificate I and II Level (+30 local workers)