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 Unley.
Data source
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) – Census 2016 & 2021 – by place of work
Current industry:
Current benchmark:
Sex:
Local workers qualifications | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
City of Unley - All industries | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||||
Qualification level | Number | % | South Australia | Number | % | South Australia | 2016 - 2021 | ||
Bachelor or Higher degree | 9,268 | 42.8 | 30.6 | 7,196 | 37.1 | 25.9 | +2,072 | ||
Advanced Diploma or Diploma | 2,873 | 13.3 | 10.3 | 2,684 | 13.9 | 10.6 | +189 | ||
Certificate I and II Level | 188 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 195 | 1.0 | 1.5 | -7 | ||
Certificate III & IV Level | 3,393 | 15.7 | 21.6 | 3,109 | 16.0 | 21.4 | +284 | ||
Certificate Level, nfd | 371 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 384 | 2.0 | 2.2 | -13 | ||
No qualification | 5,165 | 23.9 | 32.2 | 5,330 | 27.5 | 35.8 | -165 | ||
Inadequately described or not stated | 386 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 478 | 2.5 | 2.7 | -92 | ||
Total Persons | 21,644 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 19,376 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +2,268 | ||
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 Unley in 2021 compared to South Australia 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, 74.4% of the workers who held educational qualifications, and 23.9% had no qualifications, compared with 65.8% and 32.2% respectively for South Australia.
The major differences between the qualifications held by the workforce of the City of Unley and South Australia were:
- A larger percentage of local workers with Bachelor or Higher degree (42.8% compared to 30.6%)
- A smaller percentage of local workers with No qualification (23.9% compared to 32.2%)
- A smaller percentage of local workers with Certificate III & IV Level (15.7% compared to 21.6%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with Advanced Diploma or Diploma (13.3% compared to 10.3%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the qualifications held by the workforce in the City of Unley between 2016 and 2021 were:
- Bachelor or Higher degree (+2,072 local workers)
- Certificate III & IV Level (+284 local workers)
- Advanced Diploma or Diploma (+189 local workers)
- No qualification (-165 local workers)