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 NSROC Region.
Data source
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) – Census 2016 & 2021 – by place of work
Current industry:
Current benchmark:
Sex:
Local workers qualifications | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NSROC Region - All industries | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||||
Qualification level | Number | % | New South Wales | Number | % | New South Wales | 2016 - 2021 | ||
Bachelor or Higher degree | 195,404 | 57.4 | 38.4 | 157,581 | 49.6 | 32.6 | +37,823 | ||
Advanced Diploma or Diploma | 37,468 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 37,235 | 11.7 | 11.1 | +233 | ||
Certificate I and II Level | 2,338 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 2,350 | 0.7 | 1.2 | -12 | ||
Certificate III & IV Level | 30,812 | 9.0 | 18.1 | 33,037 | 10.4 | 18.7 | -2,225 | ||
Certificate Level, nfd | 5,722 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 6,309 | 2.0 | 2.3 | -587 | ||
No qualification | 61,699 | 18.1 | 27.0 | 72,986 | 23.0 | 31.1 | -11,287 | ||
Inadequately described or not stated | 7,275 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 8,233 | 2.6 | 2.9 | -958 | ||
Total Persons | 340,718 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 317,731 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +22,987 | ||
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 NSROC Region in 2021 compared to New South Wales shows that there was a higher proportion holding formal qualifications (Bachelor or higher degree; Advanced Diploma or Diploma; or Vocational qualifications), and a lower proportion with no formal qualifications.
Overall, 79.8% of the workers who held educational qualifications, and 18.1% 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 NSROC Region and New South Wales were:
- A larger percentage of local workers with Bachelor or Higher degree (57.4% compared to 38.4%)
- A smaller percentage of local workers with Certificate III & IV Level (9.0% compared to 18.1%)
- A smaller percentage of local workers with No qualification (18.1% compared to 27.0%)
- A smaller percentage of local workers with Certificate I and II Level (0.7% compared to 1.2%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the qualifications held by the workforce in the NSROC Region between 2016 and 2021 were:
- Bachelor or Higher degree (+37,823 local workers)
- No qualification (-11,287 local workers)
- Certificate III & IV Level (-2,225 local workers)
- Certificate Level, nfd (-587 local workers)