Education in Queensland (Census 2001 Bulletin no. 12)
Contents
- Key points
- Non-school qualifications
- Highest non-school qualification
- Non-school qualification by age
- Proportion of local government area populations with non-school qualifications
- Non-school qualification by field of study
- Schooling
- Highest level of schooling
- Type of school attending
- Retention rates
- Unemployment
This bulletin contains information on education in Queensland and covers non-school qualifications, schooling and retention rates. Most of the data come from the 2001 Census of Population and Housing carried out by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). However, it also draws on another ABS publication Schools, cat. no. 4221.0. Unless otherwise indicated, census data are provided on a place of enumeration basis. All data refer to Queensland unless otherwise stated.
- About a third (32.3 per cent) of Queensland’s population aged 15 years and over had a non-school qualification, according to the 2001 census, up from 27.6 per cent at the 1996 census.
- A bachelor degree or higher was held by 11.5 per cent of females compared with 10.1 per cent of males in 2001.
- Almost three times as many males as females held a certificate qualification as their highest level of education.
- About a third (33.9 per cent) of the non-Indigenous population had a non-school qualification compared with 14.6 per cent of the Indigenous population.
- For all age groups, a certificate qualification was the
highest non-school qualification achieved by the largest
number of people with a qualification. - Local government areas with the greatest proportion of
population with a non-school qualification were Brisbane,
Bulloo, Douglas, Whitsunday, Noosa and Pine Rivers. - The main area of study for males with non-school qualifications was engineering and related technologies followed by architecture and building. For females, the main area of study was management and commerce, followed by health.
- At the time of the 2001 census, 37.0 per cent of the population aged 15 years and over had completed year 12 as their highest level of schooling, with a further 28.4 per cent having completed year 10 as their highest level of schooling.
- Just over 40 per cent of non-Indigenous persons had completed year 12 compared with 24.5 per cent of Indigenous persons.
- More people aged 15-34 years had completed year 12 as their highest level of schooling than any other year. For those aged 35-64, completion of year 10 was the norm.
- For primary schools, student to teacher ratios were higher in non-government schools than in government schools. For secondary schools, the ratios were similar.
- The apparent retention rate for students from year 10 to year 12 rose from 38.9 per cent in 1976 to 64.3 per cent in 1987 and 81.1 in 2002. The rate for non-government schools remains higher than for government schools.
- About a fifth (21.0 per cent) of Queensland’s 15-19 year olds were not in education or employment but were unemployed in 2001.
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A total of 913,154 persons enumerated in Queensland (32.3 per cent of the population aged 15 years and over, excluding overseas visitors) stated that they had a non-school qualification, according to the 2001 Census of Population and Housing. About two-fifths (39.3 per cent) of males in Queensland held a non-school qualification compared with 25.6 per cent of females.
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Highest non-school qualification
Figure 1 shows non-school qualifications by sex for Queensland at the 2001 census. A total of 305,628 persons enumerated in Queensland (10.8 per cent of the population aged 15 years and over) held a bachelor degree or higher qualification.
Figure 1: Highest non-school qualification by sex, Queensland, 2001
More females in Queensland than males held a bachelor degree
or higher at the time of the census – 165,333 females (11.5 per cent
of females aged 15 years and over) compared with 140,295 males (10.1 per
cent of males aged 15 years and over). However, more males than females
had a postgraduate degree (1.7 per cent of males compared with 1.0 per
cent of females).
More females than males held an advanced diploma or diploma at the time
of the 2001 census. Six per cent of females in Queensland (86,818) held
an advanced diploma or diploma as their highest post-school qualification
compared with five per cent of males in Queensland (69,183).
Conversely, almost three times as many males in Queensland
(334,965, or 24.2 per cent of males aged 15 years and over) held a certificate
qualification as their highest post-school qualification compared with
females (116,560, or 8.1 per cent of females aged 15 years and over) at
the time of the 2001 census.
Figure 2 shows the highest non-school qualification by census year for
Queensland. There has been an increase in the proportion of persons with
non-school qualifications over the past three censuses. At the 1991 census
24.1 per cent of persons aged 15 years and over held a non-school qualification,
compared with 27.6 per cent at the time of the 1996 census and 32.3 per
cent at the 2001 census.
Figure 2: Highest non-school qualification by sex, Queensland,
1991 to 2001
The proportion of Indigenous persons with a post-school qualification
compared with non-Indigenous persons in Queensland in 2001 is shown in
Figure 3. About a third (33.9 per cent) of the non-Indigenous population
had a non- school qualification compared with 14.6 per cent of the Indigenous
population. Sixteen per cent of Indigenous males had a non-school qualification
compared with 13.3 per cent of Indigenous females.
Figure 3 Highest non-school qualification by Indigenous
status, Queensland, 2001
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Non-school qualification by age
Figure 4 shows the highest non-school qualification by age group in Queensland
at the time of the 2001 census. For all age groups, a certificate qualification
was the highest non- school qualification achieved by the greatest number
of people. A bachelor degree was the second greatest, except for those
aged 65 years and over where an advanced diploma or diploma was the second
greatest non-school qualification.
Figure 4 Highest non-school qualification by age group, Queensland, 2001
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Proportion
of local government area populations with non-school qualifications
The local government areas with the highest proportion of persons with non-school qualifications (over 35 per cent of the population aged 15 years and over) in Queensland in 2001 were Brisbane City, followed by the shires of Bulloo, Douglas, Whitsunday, Noosa and Pine Rivers (see Figure 5). Less than 10 per cent of the populations of Mornington Shire and Aurukun Shire had non-school qualifications.
Figure 5 Proportion of the population with a nonschool
qualification by local government area, Queensland, 2001
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Non-school qualification by field of study
Figure 6 shows the main area of study for those persons with a non-school qualification in Queensland in 2001. For males the main area of study was engineering and related technologies (41.5 per cent), followed by architecture and building (14.8 per cent) and management and commerce (11.7 per cent). For females the main area of study for those with post-school qualifications was management and commerce (23.7 per cent), followed by health (20.7 per cent), education (17.3 per cent) and society and culture (13.9 per cent).
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Figure 6 Non-school qualification by field of study by sex, Queensland, 2001
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At the time of the 2001 census, 37.0 per cent of Queensland’s
population aged 15 years and over had completed year 12 as their highest
level of schooling. A further 7.5 per cent had completed year 11 and 28.4
per cent had completed year 10 as their highest level of schooling. Year
9 or below was the highest level of schooling for 16.5 per cent of the
population.
Indigenous persons left school earlier than non-Indigenous persons (see
Figure 7).
Figure 7 Highest level of schooling by Indigenous status, Queensland, 2001
Just over 40 per cent of non-Indigenous persons had completed year 12 (excluding those who didn’t state their highest level of schooling completed) compared with 24.5 per cent of Indigenous persons. About the same proportion of Indigenous and non-Indigenous persons had completed year 10 as their highest level of schooling completed.
People in younger age groups were more likely to have completed year
12 compared with older age groups (see Figure 8). Most (55.0 per cent)
persons aged 25-34 years had completed year 12 as their highest level
of schooling. For persons aged 35-64 years, completion of year 10 was
the norm, whereas for those aged 65 years and over, year 8 or below was
typical. Among 15-24 year olds, 16.5 per cent were still at school.
Figure 8: Highest level of schooling completed by age group, Queensland, 2001
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About three-quarters (75.8 per cent) of infant/primary aged school children
in Queensland were attending a government school at the time of the 2001
census, while 15.4 per cent attended a Catholic school and a further 8.8
per cent attended another non-government school. Of students attending
secondary school in 2001, 64.1 per cent attended a government school,
18.5 per cent attended a Catholic school and 17.4 per cent attended another
non-government school.
Student to teacher (full-time equivalent) ratios for both government and
non-government primary and secondary schools are shown in Figure 9.
Figure 9: Full-time equivalent student:teacher ratios by type of school, Queensland, 1995 to 2002
Non-government primary schools have a higher student to teacher ratio than government primary schools. However, the ratios for government and non-government secondary schools are similar. The ratios for all school types have generally declined over the period shown.
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Retention
rates
Figure 10 shows the apparent retention rates from year 10 to year 12 by
sex for Queensland. In 1976 the retention rate was 38.9 per cent, rising
to 64.3 per cent in 1987 and 81.1 in 2002. For every year shown, except
1976, the retention rate for females was higher than for males.
Figure 10: Apparent retention rates by sex, year 10 to year 12, Queensland, 1976 to 2002
Figure 11 shows the apparent retention rate from year 10 to year 12 by
type of school for Queensland. The retention rate for non-government schools
was higher than for government schools for every year shown. Between 1976
and 2002 the retention rate for government schools increased from 33.5
per cent to 76.5 per cent while the rate for non-government schools rose
from 54.4 per cent to 89.8 per cent.
Figure 11: Apparent retention rates by type of school, year 10 to year 12, Queensland, 1976 to 2002
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Figure 12 shows the proportion of persons aged 15-19 years
in Queensland by statistical division who were not attending an educational
institution and were unemployed and looking for full or part-time work
at the time of the 2001 census.
About a fifth (21.0 per cent) of persons aged 15-19 years in Queensland
in 2001 were not in education or employment but were unemployed. Unemployment
rates for this age group were higher in coastal areas than inland.
The highest proportion of unemployed 15-19 year olds not in education
was in Wide Bay-Burnett Statistical Division (23.0 per cent), followed
by Brisbane (22.4 per cent) and Moreton (22.0 per cent). The lowest proportion
of unemployed 15-19 years olds not in education was in Central West (9.8
per cent), followed by South West (10.3 per cent).
Figure 12: Persons aged 15-19 years not attending an educational institution and unemployed looking for work, Queensland, 2001
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Last reviewed 1 July 2008
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