KEY CONCEPTS
AUSTRALIAN STANDARD CLASSIFICATION OF EDUCATION (ASCED)
Education data are coded to the Australian Standard Classification of Education, 2001 (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. The ASCED comprises two classifications: Level of Education and Field of Education.
Level of Education is defined as a function of the quality and quantity of learning involved in an educational activity. There are nine broad levels, 15 narrow levels and 64 detailed levels.
Field of Education is defined as the subject matter of an educational activity. Fields of education are related to each other through the similarity of subject matter, through the broad purpose for which the education is undertaken, and through the theoretical content which underpins the subject matter. There are 12 broad fields, 71 narrow fields and 356 detailed fields.
For definitions of these fields see the Australian Standard Classification of Education, 2001 (cat. no. 1272.0).
LEVEL OF EDUCATION OF CURRENT STUDY
Since 2014, persons who are identified in the Labour Force Survey as currently studying a school level qualification were asked in SEW whether they are currently studying for any non-school qualifications. If the respondent was still attending school, their level of study was recorded as their current year of schooling, not their non-school qualification.
LEVEL OF HIGHEST EDUCATION ATTAINMENT
Level of highest educational attainment identifies the highest achievement a person has attained in any area of formal study. Level of highest educational attainment was 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 is 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.
There are two types of measures used in this publication, 'Non-School Priority' and 'Standard Education Priority'.
Non-School Priority
Non-school priority is where all non-school qualifications are considered of higher ranking than secondary education. For example, a person whose highest year of school completed was Year 12, and whose level of highest non-school qualification was a Certificate I, would have their level of highest education attainment output as Certificate I. This concept is used in Table 10 of this publication.
Standard Education Priority
Standard Education Priority is where some school qualifications are ranked higher than some non-school qualifications. For example, years 10, 11 and 12 are ranked higher than Certificates I, II and n.f.d. The Standard Education Priority was designed for the purpose of obtaining a single value for level of highest educational attainment and is not intended to convey any other hierarchy.
The following decision table shows 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) is regarded as the highest. 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 their level of highest educational attainment output as Certificate III. However, if the same person answered 'certificate' to the highest non-school qualification question, their level of highest educational attainment would be output as Level not determined.
DECISION TABLE: LEVEL OF HIGHEST EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
|
 | Level of highest non-school qualification |
|
|
| Highest year of school completed | Cert IV | Cert III | Cert III & IV n.f.d. | Cert II | Cert I | Cert I & II
n.f.d. | Cert n.f.d. | Inadequately
described
L.n.d. | Not Stated |
|
| Year 12 | Cert IV | Cert III | Cert III & IV n.f.d. | Year 12 | Year 12 | Year 12 | L.n.d. | L.n.d. | N.S. |
| Year 11 | Cert IV | Cert III | Cert III & IV n.f.d. | Year 11 | Year 11 | Year 11 | L.n.d. | L.n.d. | N.S. |
| Senior Sec. Education n.f.d | Cert IV | Cert III | Cert III & IV n.f.d. | Senior Sec. n.f.d. | Senior Sec. n.f.d. | Senior Sec. n.f.d. | L.n.d. | L.n.d. | N.S. |
| Year 10 | Cert IV | Cert III | Cert III & IV n.f.d. | Year 10 | Year 10 | Year 10 | L.n.d. | L.n.d. | N.S. |
| Year 9 and below | Cert IV | Cert III | Cert III & IV n.f.d. | Cert II | Cert I | Cert I & II n.f.d. | Cert n.f.d. | L.n.d. | N.S. |
| Sec. Education n.f.d | Cert IV | Cert III | Cert III & IV n.f.d. | L.n.d. | L.n.d. | L.n.d. | L.n.d. | L.n.d. | N.S. |
| Junior Sec. Education n.f.d | Cert IV | Cert III | Cert III & IV n.f.d. | L.n.d. | L.n.d. | L.n.d. | L.n.d. | L.n.d. | N.S. |
| Not stated | Cert IV | Cert III | Cert III & IV n.f.d. | N.S. | N.S. | N.S. | N.S. | N.S. | N.S. |
| Never attended school | Cert IV | Cert III | Cert III & IV n.f.d. | Cert II | Cert I | Cert I & II n.f.d. | Cert n.f.d. | L.n.d. | N.S. |
|
Cert = Certificate
L.n.d. = Level not determined
n.f.d. = not further defined
N.S. = Not Stated
Sec. = Secondary
For ease of interpretability, the layout of this table has been modified from last year and from
Education Variables, June 2014 (cat. no. 1246.0) however the ranking of different levels of attainment has not changed.
Engagement in Employment and Education
The term engagement is used when assessing a person's level of participation in employment and education. The following table describes the different scenarios by which people can be 'Fully engaged', 'Partially engaged', or 'Not engaged'.
|
Education Status |
| Employment Status |
|
| Full-time study | Part-time study | Not Studying |
|
| Full-time employment | Fully engaged | Fully engaged | Fully engaged |
| Part-time employment | Fully engaged | Fully engaged | Partially engaged |
| Unemployed looking for full-time work | Fully engaged | Partially engaged | Not engaged |
| Unemployed looking for part-time work | Fully engaged | Partially engaged | Not engaged |
| Not in the labour force | Fully engaged | Partially engaged | Not engaged |
|
Quality Declaration 
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