6206.0 - Labour Force Experience, Australia, Feb 2003  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 09/09/2003   
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CLASSIFICATION OF EDUCATION

In 2001, the ABS Classification of Qualifications (ABSCQ) (cat. no. 1262.0) was replaced by the Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED) (cat. no. 1272.0). The ASCED is a national standard classification which can be applied to all sectors of the Australian education system including schools, vocational education and training and higher education. ASCED replaces a number of classifications previously used in administrative and statistical systems, including the ABSCQ. The ASCED comprises two classifications: Level of Education and Field of Education.

Level of Highest Educational Attainment can be derived from information on Highest Year of School Completed and Level of Highest Non-school Qualification. The derivation process determines which of the 'non-school' or 'school' attainments will be regarded as the highest. Usually the higher ranking attainment will be self-evident, but in some cases some Secondary Education is regarded, for the purposes of obtaining a single measure, as higher than some Certificate level attainments.

The following decision table is used to determine which of the responses to questions on Highest Year of School Completed (coded to ASCED Broad Level 6) and Level of Highest Non-school Qualification (coded to ASCED Broad Level 5) will be regarded as the highest. It is emphasised that this table was designed for the purpose of obtaining a single value for the output variable Level of Highest Educational Attainment and is not intended to convey any other ordinality.


DECISION TABLE: ASCED LEVEL OF EDUCATION

Certificate not
further
defined (500)
Certificate III
or IV not
further
defined (510)
Certificate IV
(511)
Certificate III
(514)
Certificate I or
II not further
defined (520)
Certificate II
(521)
Certificate I
(524)

Secondary
Education not
further defined
(600)
Certificate not
further defined
Certificate III or
IV not further
defined
Certificate IVCertificate IIICertificate II or I
not further
defined
Certificate IICertificate I
Senior Secondary
Education not
further defined
(610)
Senior
Secondary not
further defined
Certificate III or
IV not further
defined
Certificate IVCertificate IIISenior
Secondary not
further defined
Senior
Secondary not
further defined
Senior
Secondary not
further defined
Year 12 (612)Year 12Certificate III or
IV not further
defined
Certificate IVCertificate IIIYear 12Year 12Year 12
Year 11 (613)Year 11Certificate III or
IV not further
defined
Certificate IVCertificate IIIYear 11Year 11Year 11
Junior Secondary
Education not
further defined
(620)
Certificate not
further defined
Certificate III or
IV not further
defined
Certificate IVCertificate IIICertificate I or II
not further
defined
Certificate IICertificate I
Year 10 (621)Year 10Certificate III or
IV not further
defined
Certificate IVCertificate IIIYear 10Certificate IIYear 10
Year 9 (622)Certificate not
further defined
Certificate III or
IV not further
defined
Certificate IVCertificate IIICertificate I or II
not further
defined
Certificate IICertificate I
Year 8 (623)Certificate not
further defined
Certificate III or
IV not further
defined
Certificate IVCertificate IIICertificate I or II
not further
defined
Certificate IICertificate I
Year 7 (624)Certificate not
further defined
Certificate III or
IV not further
defined
Certificate IVCertificate IIICertificate I or II
not further
defined
Certificate IICertificate I



The decision table is also used to rank the information provided in a survey about the qualifications and attainments of a single individual. It does not represent any basis for comparison between differing qualifications. For example, a person whose Highest Year of School Completed was Year 12, and whose Level of Highest Non-school Qualification was a Certificate III, would have those responses crosschecked on the decision table and would as a result have their Level of Highest Educational Attainment output as Certificate III. However, if the same person answered 'Certificate' to the highest non-school qualification question, without offering any further detail, it would be crosschecked against Year 12 on the decision table as 'Certificate not further defined'. The output would then be 'Year 12'. The decision table, therefore, does not necessarily imply that one qualification is 'higher' than the other.