This variable records a single measure of a person’s overall highest level of educational attainment, whether it be a school or non-school qualification. It helps to build a picture of educational attainment and qualifications across Australia and can be used to:
compare with data collected in previous Censuses to help understand the changes of educational achievement in Australia over time
determine the general level of educational achievement of the Australian population and of specific groups in Australian society
investigate the relationship between levels of education and employment outcomes, income and other socioeconomic variables.
Scope
Persons aged 15 years and over
Categories
Categories for Level of highest educational attainment (HEAP)
1
Postgraduate Degree Level
10
Postgraduate Degree Level, nfd
100
Postgraduate Degree Level, nfd
11
Doctoral Degree Level
110
Doctoral Degree Level, nfd
111
Higher Doctorate
114
Professional Specialist Qualification, Doctoral Degree Level
12
Master Degree Level
120
Master Degree Level, nfd
2
Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate Level
20
Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate Level, nfd
200
Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate Level, nfd
21
Graduate Diploma Level
211
Graduate Diploma
22
Graduate Certificate Level
221
Graduate Certificate
3
Bachelor Degree Level
31
Bachelor Degree Level
310
Bachelor Degree Level, nfd
4
Advanced Diploma and Diploma Level
40
Advanced Diploma and Diploma Level, nfd
400
Advanced Diploma and Diploma Level, nfd
41
Advanced Diploma and Associate Degree Level
411
Advanced Diploma
413
Associate Degree
42
Diploma Level
420
Diploma Level, nfd
421
Diploma
5
Certificate III & IV Level
51
Certificate III & IV Level
510
Certificate III & IV Level, nfd
511
Certificate IV
514
Certificate III
6
Secondary Education - Years 10 and above
61
Secondary Education - Years 10 and above
611
Year 12
613
Year 11
621
Year 10
7
Certificate I & II Level
72
Certificate I & II Level
720
Certificate I & II Level, nfd
721
Certificate II
724
Certificate I
8
Secondary Education - Years 9 and below
81
Secondary Education - Years 9 and below
811
Year 9
812
Year 8 or below
Supplementary Codes
9
Supplementary Codes
90
Level of education inadequately described
001
Inadequately described
91
No educational attainment
998
No educational attainment
&
Not stated
&&
Not stated
&&&
Not stated
@
Not applicable
@@
Not applicable
@@@
Not applicable
V
Overseas visitor
VV
Overseas visitor
VVV
Overseas visitor
Not applicable (@@@) comprises: • Persons aged under 15 years
Number of categories: • 1 digit - 12 • 2 digit - 20 • 3 digit - 31
What is the highest year of primary or secondary school the person has completed?
Image
Description
What is the highest year of primary or secondary school Person 1 has completed?
For people currently at school, select the highest year of schooling they have completed, not the year they are currently undertaking.
More information
Person's highest year of school completed
Year 12 or equivalent
Year 11 or equivalent
Year 10 or equivalent
Year 9 or equivalent
Year 8 or below
Did not go to school
More information
Image
Description
What is the highest year of primary or secondary school Person 1 has completed?
For people currently at school, select the highest year of schooling they have completed, not the year they are currently undertaking.
More information
Select 'Year 12 or equivalent' if the person has completed:
• Year 13
• 6th form
• Matriculation
• Highest year of school available.
If the highest year of schooling the person has completed was in primary school, select 'Year 8 or below'.
For persons who left school and then returned after a break, select the highest year of schooling they have completed irrespective of when it was completed.
Include school level education undertaken at other institutions (e.g. at a TAFE).
Has the person completed any educational qualification?
Image
Description
Has Person 1 completed any educational qualification?
More information
Person's completed qualification
No
No, still studying for first qualification
Yes, trade certificate/apprenticeship
Yes, other qualification (certificate, diploma or degree)
More information
Image
Description
Has Person 1 completed any educational qualification?
More information
If the person completed any vocational qualifications as part of their secondary schooling, select 'Yes, other qualification'.
If the person has completed any other qualifications, select the appropriate 'Yes' response. Non-school or higher education qualifications include Certificates I-IV; Trade Certificates; Diplomas and Advanced Diplomas; Bachelor Degrees; Graduate Certificates and Graduate Diplomas; and higher degrees such as a Masters or Doctorate.
What is the level of the highest qualification the person has completed?
Image
Description
What is the level of the highest qualification Person 1 has completed?
For example: Trade Certificate, Bachelor Degree, Associate Diploma, Certificate II, Advanced Diploma.
More information
Level of qualification
More information
Image
Description
What is the level of the highest qualification Person 1 has completed?
For example: Trade Certificate, Bachelor Degree, Associate Diploma, Certificate II, Advanced Diploma.
More information
If the person has two or more qualifications, only state the highest qualification obtained. For example, if the person has a Graduate Diploma of Education and a Bachelor Degree in Economics, the Graduate Diploma should be reported as the higher qualification.
Qualification levels listed from highest to lowest:
• Doctorate
• Master Degree
• Graduate Diploma
• Graduate Certificate
• Bachelor Degree with Honours
• Bachelor Degree
• Associate Degree
• Advanced Diploma
• Diploma
• Associate Diploma
• Advanced Certificate
• Certificate IV (or Post-trade)
• Certificate III (or Trade)
• Certificate II
• Certificate I
What is the main field of study for the person’s highest qualification completed?
Image
Description
What is the main field of study for Person 1's highest qualification completed?
For example: Plumbing, Primary school teaching, Accounting, Hairdressing, Psychology, Hospitality.
More information
Field of study
More information
Image
Description
What is the main field of study for Person 1's highest qualification completed?
For example: Plumbing, Primary school teaching, Accounting, Hairdressing, Psychology, Hospitality.
More information
The main field of study is in relation to the highest qualification entered in the previous question.
If the person has two or more qualifications and they are at the same level, provide the field of the one obtained most recently.
If the person has two qualifications of the same level, completed at the same time (for example, double degrees), select the qualification considered the most important to them.
How this variable is created
Level of highest educational attainment (HEAP) is derived using a combination of two variables:
Non-school qualification: level of education (QALLP)
These variables are sourced from the Census questions.
The derivation process determines which of the 'non-school' and 'school' attainments will be regarded as the highest. Usually the higher-ranking attainment is self-evident, but in some cases Secondary education is regarded as higher than some Certificate level attainments. The following decision table describes how Certificate levels and Highest year of school completed are coded.
Table 1. Derivation of level of Highest educational attainment decision table
Note: the number in brackets refer to the classification code used for Highest year of school completed (HSCP) and Non-school qualification: level of education (QALLP).
While questions regarding educational qualifications in general have been asked for every Census since 1911, Level of highest educational attainment, which combines measures of school and non-school education, was first reported in 2006.
In 2011, people in the following categories were assigned a Level of highest educational attainment the same as their highest year of school completed:
Highest Year of School Completed of Year 8 or below to Year 12
Certificate not further defined
In 2016, people with ‘Highest Year of School Completed of Year 8 or below to Year 12’ and a ‘Certificate not further defined’ were assigned a Level of highest educational attainment as 'Inadequately described'.
For 2021, Undergraduate certificates are a new qualification and will be coded to category '420 Diploma level, nfd'. In previous Censuses, nothing has been coded to this category. See also Non-school qualification: level of education (QALLP).
Data use considerations
This variable can be used to provide data on Target 6 for the National Agreement for Closing the Gap.
By 2031, increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25-34 years who have completed a tertiary qualification (Certificate III and above) to 70 per cent.
This variable does not have a non-response rate as it is created during Census processing by using responses from more than one question on the Census form.
