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Very Remote Australia · Remoteness Area

Education & Qualifications in Very Remote Australia

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

Far fewer adults in Very Remote Australia have finished high school or university compared to the rest of the country. While the proportion of people finishing Year 12 has risen to 39.6%, this remains well below the national figure.

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📍 Very Remote Australia, Remoteness Area

Where Very Remote Australia sits — Adults with a bachelor degree or higher

9.6% ▲ +21.5%

All remoteness area areas, 2021. The marker is Very Remote Australia — lower than 86% of areas.

Very Remote Australia9.6%
Australia 26.3%

Schooling

Highest year of school completed.

Only 39.6% of people here completed Year 12, which is 19 points lower than the Australian average. This figure has grown by 6 points since 2011, though nearly a quarter of residents still stopped their schooling at Year 10.

Completed Year 12

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39.6% ▲ +17.7%

Higher than 50% of remoteness area areas.

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

Highest year of school

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In Very Remote Australia, the largest group is Year 12 at 46%, followed by Year 10 (29%) and Year 9 or below (15%).

Year 12 39.6% Year 10 24.6% Year 9 or below 13.2% Year 11 8.0%

Qualifications

Post-school qualifications and degrees.

University degrees are uncommon here, with only 9.6% of adults holding a bachelor degree or higher. This is far below the national figure of 26.3%, while the most common qualification is a Certificate III or IV at 34.4%.

Adults with a bachelor degree or higher

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9.6% ▲ +21.5%

Lower than 86% of remoteness area areas.

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

Highest qualification level

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In Very Remote Australia, Certificate III / IV is the majority at 51%; Bachelor degree is next at 19%.

Certificate III / IV 34.4% Bachelor degree 13.1% Advanced diploma / diploma 10.8% Certificate I / II 4.3% Postgraduate degree 2.3% Graduate diploma / certificate 2.2%

Field of study

What people studied.

Among those with qualifications, the most popular fields are Engineering and related subjects at 13.9%, followed by Management and commerce at 10.9%.

Sources

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

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Cite this page

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Education & Qualifications in Very Remote Australia [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/ra/RA34/very-remote-australia/topic/education