62.1% ▲ +17.0%
Higher than 91% of remoteness area areas.
- 2011: 53.1%
- 2016: 57.5%
- 2021: 62.1%
Share of people whose highest year of school is Year 12 or equivalent.
Major Cities of Australia · Remoteness Area
Education & Qualifications in Major Cities of Australia
How far people went at school, the qualifications they hold and what they studied.
More than 62% of people in the major cities of Australia have finished Year 12, a figure that has jumped 9 points since 2011. These urban areas have seen a strong rise in schooling and higher degrees. This creates a highly qualified population compared to most other parts of the country.
Schooling
Highest year of school completed.
Year 12 completion is well above the national figure at 62.1%, which is much higher than most other areas. In contrast, only 6.3% of residents have a Year 9 education or lower.
Highest year of school
View on map →In Major Cities of Australia, Year 12 is the majority at 66%; Year 10 is next at 19%.
Qualifications
Post-school qualifications and degrees.
About 26.7% of adults hold a bachelor degree or higher, a figure that is about the same as the national average. This is a significant increase from 2011, when only 19.8% of adults had reached this level.
26.7% ▲ +34.7%
Higher than 87% of remoteness area areas.
- 2011: 19.8%
- 2016: 23.1%
- 2021: 26.7%
Share of people aged 15+ whose highest qualification is a bachelor degree or above (incl. graduate and postgraduate).
Highest qualification level
View on map →Major Cities of Australia splits fairly evenly between Bachelor degree (33%) and Certificate III / IV (31%), with Advanced diploma / diploma at 18%.
Field of study
What people studied.
The most common fields of study are management and commerce at 18.9%, followed by engineering at 16.8%. Society and culture and health are also common, at 11.4% and 11.0% respectively.
Sources
- Census of Population and Housing — Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021 (CC BY 4.0).
More for Major Cities of Australia
Cite this page
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Education & Qualifications in Major Cities of Australia [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/ra/RA50/major-cities-of-australia/topic/education