SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
PARTICIPATION
In May 2010, there were 14.5 million people aged 15-64 years (Table 2) and 302,400 people aged 65-74 years in the labour force or marginally attached to the labour force (Table 15) who were in the scope of the survey.
Of those aged 15-64 years, 2.8 million (20%) were enrolled in a course of study. Approximately 1.1 million (39%) of these enrolled people were attending a higher education institution, 755,700 (27%) were at school, 598,500 (21%) were at Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutions, and 383,800 (14%) were at other educational institutions (Table 1).
In May 2010, 53% of people aged 15-64 years enrolled in a course of study were female, 41% were aged 15-19 years, 64% were studying full-time, and 26% were born overseas (Table 1).
Study for a qualification
Approximately 96% (2.7 million) of people aged 15-64 years who were enrolled in formal or non-formal learning were enrolled in formal learning (Table 1). The proportion of people aged 15-64 years who were enrolled in formal learning, that is study that is likely to lead to a recognised qualification, increased from 17% in 2001 to 19% in 2010. For females aged 15-64 years, approximately 17% were enrolled in formal learning in 2001, compared to 20% in 2010. Male enrolments in formal learning were 17% in 2001 and 18% in 2010 (Table 2).
Over one-third (38%) of people aged 15-64 years who were enrolled in a non-school qualification were studying for a Bachelor Degree. Almost half of these people (48%) were aged 20-24 years and 26% were aged 15-19 years. Of the 1 million females aged 15-64 years enrolled in a non-school qualification, 55% were completing a Bachelor Degree or higher qualification, compared to 49% of 904,100 males (Table 3).
More females than males were enrolled in most non-school qualifications, however for Certificates III and IV, there were 253,400 males enrolled compared to 195,800 females. Over one-quarter (28%) of males enrolled in a non-school qualification were studying for a Certificate III or IV (Table 3).
As in 2009, the most commonly reported main field of education of current study for people aged 15-64 years enrolled in a non-school qualification in 2010 was Management and commerce (25%), followed by Society and culture (19%). The fields of Health and Education both recorded an increase in the proportion of people enrolled in 2010, 12% and 7% respectively, up from 10% and 6% in 2009. One-fifth (20%) of males aged 15-64 years enrolled in a non-school qualification were studying in the main field of Engineering and related technologies, compared to 1% of females aged 15-64 years. Of the 362,600 people aged 15-64 years enrolled in the field of Society and culture, 69% were female (Table 4). People studying in the main field of Health increased from 9% of persons aged 15-64 years enrolled in a non-school qualification in 2001 to 12% in 2010 (Table 7). Of the 234,400 people aged 15-64 years enrolled in the field of Health, 76% were females and over three-quarters (75%) of people enrolled in Information technology were males (Table 4).
ATTAINMENT
Level of highest non-school qualification
The proportion of people aged 15-64 years with a non-school qualification increased from 47% in May 2001 to 56% in May 2010, with the proportion of people with a Bachelor Degree or above increasing from 17% in May 2001 to 23% in May 2010. Over the same period the proportion of people whose highest non-school qualification was an Advanced Diploma or below increased from 29% to 31%. The proportion of people aged 55-64 years with a non-school qualification increased from 42% in May 2001 to 54% in May 2010 (Table 8).
Proportion of people aged 20-64 years with a non-school qualification, May 2001 to May 2010
Among the 8.1 million people aged 15-64 years in May 2010 with a non-school qualification, the most commonly reported main fields of education for the highest non-school qualification were Management and commerce (1.9 million or 24%) and Engineering and related technologies (1.4 million or 17%). In May 2010, more males than females aged 15-64 years had a non-school qualification (4.1 million and 4.0 million respectively) (Table 12)..
Level of highest educational attainment
Almost one-third (29%) of people aged 15-64 years reported their level of highest educational attainment as Year 11 or below and 21% reported Year 12. Additionally, almost one in four (23%) had a highest level of attainment of Bachelor Degree or above and 17% had a Certificate III or IV. Compared to all Australian states and the Northern Territory, a higher proportion of people in the ACT reported Bachelor Degree and above levels of educational attainment. Almost two-fifths (38%) of people in the ACT had a Bachelor Degree or above as their highest level of educational attainment (Table 14).
In May 2010, of the 1.6 million people aged 65-74 years, 302,400 (19%) were in the labour force or marginally attached to the labour force. Of these, 23% had a Bachelor Degree or above. Over two-fifths (41%) reported their level of highest educational attainment as Year 11 or below (Table 15).
TRANSITION FROM EDUCATION TO WORK
Completing a non-school course of study
In May 2010, there were 971,500 people aged 15-64 years who were enrolled in a non-school qualification in 2009 but were not enrolled in May 2010. These people were more likely to be employed full-time in May 2010 than the general population (59% compared with 52%) (Table 10 and Table 16).
School leavers
In May 2010, there were 351,200 people aged 15-24 years who were enrolled in secondary school in 2009 but were not in May 2010. Of these school leavers, about half (57%) were enrolled at a non-school institution in 2010 and 25% were employed and not studying. In 2010, 10% of school leavers aged 15-24 years were unemployed and not enrolled at a non-school institution with a further 8% not in the labour force and not enrolled at a non-school institution (Table 19).
APPRENTICES
In May 2010, there were 171,600 people aged 15-64 years who were employed as apprentices and part of the Australian Apprenticeship Scheme. Of these, 66,300 people had commenced their apprenticeship in the last 12 months.
In 2010, the majority of apprentices (88%) were males. The highest number of apprentices, 41,200 were working within the Construction field of trade followed by the Automotive and engineering field of trade with 39,400 persons (Table 21).
There were 20,200 people who gained a place for an apprenticeship/traineeship but were not undertaking it in May 2010, while 40,300 people who applied for an apprenticeship/traineeship in 2010 were unsuccessful in gaining a place (Table 22).
Quality Declaration 
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