37.6% ▲ +27.4%
Lower than 70% of suburb / locality areas.
- 2011: 29.5%
- 2016: 32.0%
- 2021: 37.6%
Share of people whose highest year of school is Year 12 or equivalent.
Colac · Suburb / Locality
Education & Qualifications in Colac
How far people went at school, the qualifications they hold and what they studied.
Lower qualification rates than most similar areas define the education landscape in Colac. Only 37.6% of residents have completed Year 12, which is far below the national figure. This trend extends to higher education, where the proportion of adults with a university degree is also significantly lower than across Victoria and Australia.
Schooling
Highest year of school completed.
Year 12 completion sits at 37.6%, which is far below the 61.8% seen in Victoria. Roughly 19.5% of people finished Year 10, while 19.2% finished Year 9 or below.
Highest year of school
View on map →In Colac, the largest group is Year 12 at 41%, followed by Year 10 (21%) and Year 9 or below (21%).
Qualifications
Post-school qualifications and degrees.
Only 10.3% of adults hold a bachelor degree or higher, a figure far below the Australian average of 26.3%. The most common qualification is a Certificate III or IV, held by 41% of residents.
10.3% ▲ +49.1%
Lower than 69% of suburb / locality areas.
- 2011: 6.9%
- 2016: 8.2%
- 2021: 10.3%
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 Colac, Certificate III / IV is the majority at 52%; Bachelor degree is next at 20%.
Field of study
What people studied.
Qualifications are spread across several fields, with society and culture being the most common at 13.8%, followed by engineering at 13.1% and management and commerce at 12.1%.
Schools
Schools in the area and how many children they serve (ACARA).
Colac has nine schools within 3km, which is more than 81% of similar areas. Two-thirds of these schools are government-run, and most are primary schools.
4.72
Higher than 57% of suburb / locality areas.
Schools per 1,000 children aged under 15.
9
Higher than 78% 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).
283
Lower than 54% of suburb / locality areas.
Average enrolment per school in the area.
991
Higher than 51% of suburb / locality areas.
Enrolment-weighted average ICSEA — an index of socio-educational advantage, centred near 1000 (context, not a quality ranking).
Schools serving Colac
9 schools — 2,550 students, average ICSEA 991.
By sector: Government 6 · Catholic 3
By type: Primary 6 · Secondary 2 · Combined 1
| St Mary's School, Colac | Catholic | Primary | 2.8 km | 266 | 1,025 |
| Colac West Primary School, Colac | Government | Primary | 3.1 km | 62 | 899 |
| Colac Primary School, Colac | Government | Primary | 3.2 km | 164 | 946 |
| Lake Colac School, Colac | Government | Combined | 3.6 km | 82 | 933 |
| Colac South West Primary School, Colac | Government | Primary | 4.1 km | 129 | 948 |
| Colac Secondary College, Colac | Government | Secondary | 4.7 km | 476 | 955 |
| Trinity College Colac, Colac | Catholic | Secondary | 4.7 km | 744 | 1,015 |
| Sacred Heart School, Elliminyt | Catholic | Primary | 4.9 km | 398 | 1,025 |
| Elliminyt Primary School, Elliminyt | Government | Primary | 5.8 km | 229 | 996 |
Sources
More for Colac
Cite this page
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Education & Qualifications in Colac [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/sal/SAL20607/colac/topic/education