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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.

More than a third of qualified adults in Very Remote Australia hold a Certificate III or IV. While the area has more university degrees than many similar remote regions, school and tertiary completion rates remain far below the national figures.

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📍 Very Remote Australia, Remoteness Area

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

14.9% ▲ +30.8%

All remoteness area areas, 2021. The marker is Very Remote Australia — higher than 71% of areas.

Very Remote Australia14.9%
Australia 26.3%

Schooling

Highest year of school completed.

Only 39.5% of people here finished Year 12, which is far below the Australian figure of 58.8%. This is an improvement though, as the rate rose 6.7 percentage points since 2011.

Completed Year 12

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39.5% ▲ +20.5%

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 44%, followed by Year 10 (34%) and Year 9 or below (11%).

Year 12 39.5% Year 10 30.1% Year 9 or below 10.2% Year 11 9.4%

Qualifications

Post-school qualifications and degrees.

The share of adults with a bachelor degree or higher rose to 14.9% in 2021. While this is higher than most similar areas, it is still far below the 26.3% national average.

Adults with a bachelor degree or higher

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14.9% ▲ +30.8%

Higher than 71% 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, the largest group is Certificate III / IV at 46%, followed by Bachelor degree (22%) and Advanced diploma / diploma (19%).

Certificate III / IV 34.9% Bachelor degree 16.5% Advanced diploma / diploma 13.9% Postgraduate degree 5.0% Graduate diploma / certificate 3.3% Certificate I / II 1.7%

Field of study

What people studied.

Engineering and related fields are the most common qualifications at 16.6%, followed by management and commerce at 12.8%.

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/RA64/very-remote-australia/topic/education