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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.

Fewer people have finished high school or university in Very Remote Australia compared to the rest of the country. Only 27.6% of residents here completed Year 12, which is far below the national figure of 58.8%.

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📍 Very Remote Australia, Remoteness Area

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

7.6% ▲ +6.3%

All remoteness area areas, 2021. The marker is Very Remote Australia — lower than 97% of areas.

Very Remote Australia7.6%
Australia 26.3%

Schooling

Highest year of school completed.

Completion rates for Year 12 are much lower than most areas, though the figure rose 4.4 percentage points since 2011. About a quarter of the population left school in Year 9 or below.

Completed Year 12

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27.6% ▲ +19.1%

Lower than 89% 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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Very Remote Australia splits fairly evenly between Year 12 (32%) and Year 9 or below (29%), with Year 10 at 24%.

Year 12 27.6% Year 9 or below 25.4% Year 10 20.8% Year 11 13.3%

Qualifications

Post-school qualifications and degrees.

University qualifications are rare here, with only 7.6% of adults holding a bachelor degree or higher. This is far below the Australian average of 26.3% and has barely changed over the last decade.

Adults with a bachelor degree or higher

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7.6% ▲ +6.3%

Lower than 97% 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 42%, followed by Bachelor degree (22%) and Advanced diploma / diploma (14%).

Certificate III / IV 24.7% Bachelor degree 12.7% Advanced diploma / diploma 8.2% Certificate I / II 6.0% Postgraduate degree 4.2% Graduate diploma / certificate 2.5%

Field of study

What people studied.

The most common qualifications held by residents are in society and culture at 9.8%, followed by engineering at 9.5% and management or commerce at 8.9%.

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/RA74/very-remote-australia/topic/education