6227.0 - Education and Work, Australia, May 2013 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 29/11/2013   
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All
MEDIA RELEASE
29 November 2013
Embargo: 11:30 am (Canberra Time)
213/2013

People born overseas more likely to have a qualification

The proportion of people born overseas that have a non-school qualification such as a degree or certificate is higher than for people born in Australia, a report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows.

ABS Director of Education and Training Statistics, Myles Burleigh, said that while overall attainment rates have increased, the proportion of people born overseas that had a non-school qualification was 63 per cent, compared with 55 per cent for those born in Australia.

"Overall, 25 per cent of people had a Bachelor degree or above, which is up from 17 per cent in 2001," Mr Burleigh said.

"27 per cent of women have a Bachelor degree or above compared to 22 per cent for men."

The survey also found that nearly 3 million Australians aged 15 to 64 were enrolled in a course of study.

"Of these, over half are female, and students born overseas make up around a quarter of those studying."

"In addition, 58 per cent of students were working while studying, with 25 per cent working full time."

"The proportion of people studying Information Technology has decreased since 2001, while Management and Commerce remained the most popular field of study," Mr Burleigh said.

Of those people who had left school in the last year, 59 per cent were enrolled in further study.

Further details are available in Education and Work, Australia, May 2013 (cat. no. 6227.0), available for free download from the ABS website (www.abs.gov.au).

Media note:
When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.