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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 16 percentage points of the population in Very Remote Australia finished high school between 2011 and 2021. While school completion has risen significantly, the area still trails the national figure by a wide margin. This trend reflects a slow but steady increase in educational attainment across these isolated regions.

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📍 Very Remote Australia, Remoteness Area

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

13.0% ▲ +63.1%

All remoteness area areas, 2021. The marker is Very Remote Australia — lower than 58% of areas.

Very Remote Australia13.0%
Australia 26.3%

Schooling

Highest year of school completed.

About 42.8% of people finished Year 12, which is higher than in most similar areas but far below the Australian average of 58.8%. This represents a significant increase from 2011, when only 26.6% had completed their final year of school.

Completed Year 12

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42.8% ▲ +60.8%

Higher than 61% 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, Year 12 is the majority at 55%; Year 10 is next at 25%.

Year 12 42.8% Year 10 19.3% Year 9 or below 9.5% Year 11 6.4%

Qualifications

Post-school qualifications and degrees.

University degrees are less common here than in most areas, with only 13.0% of adults holding a bachelor degree or higher. This is far below the national figure of 26.3%, though the proportion has risen by 5 percentage points since 2011.

Adults with a bachelor degree or higher

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13.0% ▲ +63.1%

Lower than 58% 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 43%, followed by Bachelor degree (22%) and Advanced diploma / diploma (19%).

Certificate III / IV 26.9% Bachelor degree 13.4% Advanced diploma / diploma 11.7% Postgraduate degree 3.9% Certificate I / II 3.5% Graduate diploma / certificate 2.6%

Field of study

What people studied.

The most common qualifications are in Engineering and related fields at 13.5%, followed by Management and commerce at 11.4%. Other notable fields include Society and culture at 7.6% and Education at 7.4%.

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/RA94/very-remote-australia/topic/education