38.4% ▲ +36.2%
Lower than 68% of suburb / locality areas.
- 2011: 28.2%
- 2016: 31.6%
- 2021: 38.4%
Share of people whose highest year of school is Year 12 or equivalent.
Ballina · Suburb / Locality
Education & Qualifications in Ballina
How far people went at school, the qualifications they hold and what they studied.
A far lower proportion of people in Ballina have finished high school compared to the state and national figures. Only 38.4% of residents completed Year 12, which is about 20 percentage points below the typical Australian result. This gap is mirrored in higher education, where university degrees are much less common than in the wider region.
Schooling
Highest year of school completed.
Only 38.4% of residents finished Year 12, a figure far below the New South Wales average of 58.9%. This is one of the lowest rates for the area, with 29.2% of people reaching Year 10 as their highest level of schooling.
Highest year of school
View on map →In Ballina, the largest group is Year 12 at 43%, followed by Year 10 (32%) and Year 9 or below (17%).
Qualifications
Post-school qualifications and degrees.
Adults with a bachelor degree or higher make up 14.9% of the population, which is far below the national figure of 26.3%. The most common qualification is a Certificate III or IV, held by 31.2% of residents.
14.9% ▲ +68.5%
Higher than 51% of suburb / locality areas.
- 2011: 8.9%
- 2016: 10.7%
- 2021: 14.9%
Share of people aged 15+ whose highest qualification is a bachelor degree or above (incl. graduate and postgraduate).
Highest qualification level
View on map →In Ballina, the largest group is Certificate III / IV at 42%, followed by Bachelor degree (25%) and Advanced diploma / diploma (20%).
Field of study
What people studied.
The most popular fields of study are management and commerce at 15.7%, followed by society and culture at 11.3% and health at 11.2%. Engineering and education also make up a significant part of local qualifications.
Schools
Schools in the area and how many children they serve (ACARA).
Ballina has 11 schools within 3km, which is more than 83% of similar areas. These schools are larger than most, with an average size of 439 students and an average advantage score that is much higher than most areas.
4.32
Higher than 54% of suburb / locality areas.
Schools per 1,000 children aged under 15.
11
Higher than 81% of suburb / locality areas.
Schools serving the area — within 3 km of small areas, or inside larger ones. A measure of access (catchments overlap, so don't add it across areas).
439
Higher than 64% of suburb / locality areas.
Average enrolment per school in the area.
1,047
Higher than 77% of suburb / locality areas.
Enrolment-weighted average ICSEA — an index of socio-educational advantage, centred near 1000 (context, not a quality ranking).
Schools serving Ballina
11 schools — 4,833 students, average ICSEA 1,047.
By sector: Government 5 · Independent 3 · Catholic 3
By type: Primary 5 · Combined 4 · Secondary 2
| Richmond Christian College, Ballina | Independent | Combined | 2.0 km | 327 | 1,069 |
| Biala Special School, Ballina | Independent | Combined | 3.0 km | 33 | 898 |
| Southern Cross School of Distance Education, East Ballina | Government | Combined | 3.2 km | 79 | 896 |
| Southern Cross Public School, East Ballina | Government | Primary | 3.3 km | 388 | 1,053 |
| Ballina Coast High School, Ballina | Government | Secondary | 3.6 km | 722 | 952 |
| St Francis Xavier Primary School, Ballina | Catholic | Primary | 3.8 km | 398 | 1,045 |
| Ballina Public School, Ballina | Government | Primary | 3.9 km | 254 | 869 |
| Emmanuel Anglican College, Ballina | Independent | Combined | 4.1 km | 878 | 1,113 |
| Xavier Catholic College Ballina, Skennars Head | Catholic | Secondary | 4.1 km | 884 | 1,081 |
| Holy Family Catholic Primary School, Skennars Head | Catholic | Primary | 4.1 km | 446 | 1,102 |
| Lennox Head Public School, Lennox Head | Government | Primary | 5.5 km | 424 | 1,064 |
Sources
More for Ballina
Cite this page
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Education & Qualifications in Ballina [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/sal/SAL10163/ballina/topic/education