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 Sunshine Coast.
Data source
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) – Census 2016 & 2021 – by place of work
Current industry:
Current benchmark:
Sex:
| Local workers qualifications | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunshine Coast - All industries | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||||
| Qualification level | Number | % | Queensland | Number | % | Queensland | 2016 - 2021 | ||
| Bachelor or Higher degree | 37,169 | 27.3 | 29.3 | 25,698 | 23.2 | 25.1 | +11,471 | ||
| Advanced Diploma or Diploma | 17,263 | 12.7 | 11.3 | 13,774 | 12.4 | 10.9 | +3,489 | ||
| Certificate I and II Level | 2,184 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1,566 | 1.4 | 1.3 | +618 | ||
| Certificate III & IV Level | 33,455 | 24.6 | 23.2 | 26,620 | 24.0 | 23.0 | +6,835 | ||
| Certificate Level, nfd | 2,757 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 2,562 | 2.3 | 2.0 | +195 | ||
| No qualification | 40,382 | 29.6 | 30.7 | 37,703 | 34.0 | 35.0 | +2,679 | ||
| Inadequately described or not stated | 3,059 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2,928 | 2.6 | 2.7 | +131 | ||
| Total Persons | 136,269 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 110,851 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +25,418 | ||
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 Sunshine Coast in 2021 compared to Queensland 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, 68.1% of the workers who held educational qualifications, and 29.6% had no qualifications, compared with 67.1% and 30.7% respectively for Queensland.
The major differences between the qualifications held by the workforce of Sunshine Coast and Queensland were:
- A smaller percentage of local workers with Bachelor or Higher degree (27.3% compared to 29.3%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with Certificate III & IV Level (24.6% compared to 23.2%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with Advanced Diploma or Diploma (12.7% compared to 11.3%)
- A smaller percentage of local workers with No qualification (29.6% compared to 30.7%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the qualifications held by the workforce in Sunshine Coast between 2016 and 2021 were:
- Bachelor or Higher degree (+11,471 local workers)
- Certificate III & IV Level (+6,835 local workers)
- Advanced Diploma or Diploma (+3,489 local workers)
- No qualification (+2,679 local workers)