CensusAtlas

Greater Melbourne · Capital City

Education & Qualifications in Greater Melbourne

How far people went at school, the qualifications they hold and what they studied.

More people in Greater Melbourne have finished school and university than in previous years. The area's education levels have climbed steadily, with the share of adults holding a bachelor degree or higher rising by 5.3 percentage points since 2016. This makes the region one of the most qualified areas in the country.

Open map →
📍 Greater Melbourne, Capital City

Where Greater Melbourne sits — Adults with a bachelor degree or higher

32.8% —

All capital city areas, 2021. The marker is Greater Melbourne — higher than 93% of areas.

Greater Melbourne32.8%
Victoria 29.2%
Australia 26.3%

Schooling

Highest year of school completed.

School completion is high in Greater Melbourne, where 66.9% of people finished Year 12. This is well above the national figure of 58.8%, and represents a 5.2 percentage point increase since 2016.

Completed Year 12

View on map →

66.9% —

Higher than 93% of capital city areas.

Share of people whose highest year of school is Year 12 or equivalent.

Highest year of school

View on map →

In Greater Melbourne, Year 12 is the majority at 71%; Year 10 is next at 10%.

Year 12 66.9% Year 10 9.6% Year 9 or below 9.3% Year 11 8.6%

Qualifications

Post-school qualifications and degrees.

The region ranks among the highest for university degrees, with 32.8% of adults holding a bachelor degree or higher. This is well above the 26.3% seen across Australia, with bachelor degrees alone making up 32.4% of all qualifications.

Adults with a bachelor degree or higher

View on map →

32.8% —

Higher than 93% of capital city areas.

Share of people aged 15+ whose highest qualification is a bachelor degree or above (incl. graduate and postgraduate).

Highest qualification level

View on map →

In Greater Melbourne, the largest group is Bachelor degree at 37%, followed by Certificate III / IV (22%) and Advanced diploma / diploma (18%).

Bachelor degree 32.4% Certificate III / IV 19.3% Advanced diploma / diploma 15.4% Postgraduate degree 13.6% Graduate diploma / certificate 4.6% Certificate I / II 1.3%

Field of study

What people studied.

Most qualified residents studied management and commerce, which accounts for 20.9% of qualifications. Other common fields of study include society and culture at 12.5% and engineering at 12.4%.

Sources

  • Census of Population and Housing — Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021 (CC BY 4.0).

More for Greater Melbourne

Full area profile →

Cite this page

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Education & Qualifications in Greater Melbourne [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/gccsa/2GMEL/greater-melbourne/topic/education