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 2011 (experimental imputed) & 2016 – by place of work
Current industry:
Current benchmark:
Gender:
Local workers qualifications | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sunshine Coast - All industries | 2016 | 2011 | Change | ||||||
Qualification level | Number | % | Queensland | Number | % | Queensland | 2011 - 2016 | ||
Bachelor or Higher degree | 25,698 | 23.2 | 25.1 | 18,368 | 19.2 | 21.5 | +7,330 | ||
Advanced Diploma or Diploma | 13,774 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 10,312 | 10.8 | 9.3 | +3,462 | ||
Certificate I and II Level | 1,566 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1,631 | 1.7 | 1.5 | -65 | ||
Certificate III & IV Level | 26,620 | 24.0 | 23.0 | 21,731 | 22.7 | 21.6 | +4,889 | ||
Certificate Level, nfd | 2,562 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 1,824 | 1.9 | 1.7 | +738 | ||
No qualification | 37,703 | 34.0 | 35.0 | 38,047 | 39.7 | 40.6 | -344 | ||
Inadequately described or not stated | 2,928 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 3,919 | 4.1 | 3.8 | -991 | ||
Total Persons | 110,851 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 95,832 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +15,019 | ||
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2011 and 2016. 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 2016 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, 63.3% of the workers who held educational qualifications, and 34.0% had no qualifications, compared with 62.3% and 35.0% 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 (23.2% compared to 25.1%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with Advanced Diploma or Diploma (12.4% compared to 10.9%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with Certificate III & IV Level (24.0% compared to 23.0%)
- A smaller percentage of local workers with No qualification (34.0% compared to 35.0%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the qualifications held by the workforce in Sunshine Coast between 2011 and 2016 were:
- Bachelor or Higher degree (+7,330 local workers)
- Certificate III & IV Level (+4,889 local workers)
- Advanced Diploma or Diploma (+3,462 local workers)
- Certificate Level, nfd (+738 local workers)