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 57% in May 2011, with the proportion of people with a Bachelor Degree or above increasing from 17% in May 2001 to 24% in May 2011. 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 56% in May 2011 (Table 8).

Among the 8.4 million people aged 15-64 years in May 2011 with a non-school qualification, the most commonly reported main fields of education for the highest non-school qualification were Management and commerce (2.0 million or 24%) and Engineering and related technologies (1.4 million or 17%). In May 2011, slightly more males than females aged 15-64 years had a non-school qualification (4.2 million and 4.1 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, 17% had a Certificate III or IV and almost one in four (24%) had a highest level of attainment of Bachelor Degree or above. Compared with all Australian states and the Northern Territory, a higher proportion of people in the ACT reported Bachelor Degree and above levels of educational attainment. Two-fifths (40%) of people in the ACT had a Bachelor Degree or above as their highest level of educational attainment (Table 14).

In May 2011, of the 1.7 million people aged 65-74 years, 323,600 (19%) were in the labour force or marginally attached to the labour force. Of these, 22% had a Bachelor Degree or above. Almost two-fifths (38%) reported their level of highest educational attainment as Year 11 or below (Table 15).