41.2% ▼ -18.2%
Lower than 60% of suburb / locality areas.
- 2011: 50.4%
- 2016: 48.3%
- 2021: 41.2%
Share of people whose highest year of school is Year 12 or equivalent.
Cairns City · Suburb / Locality
Education & Qualifications in Cairns City
How far people went at school, the qualifications they hold and what they studied.
Only 41.2% of people in Cairns City have completed Year 12, a figure far below the national average. This creates a bit of a gap in basic schooling, though a higher-than-usual number of adults hold university degrees compared to similar areas.
Schooling
Highest year of school completed.
Completion of Year 12 is far below the Queensland and Australian figures, with 41.2% of residents finishing school.
Highest year of school
View on map →In Cairns City, Year 12 is the majority at 68%; Year 10 is next at 18%.
Qualifications
Post-school qualifications and degrees.
About 19.5% of adults hold a bachelor degree or higher, which is more common than in most similar areas, though still well below the national figure of 26.3%.
19.5% ▼ -1.9%
Higher than 66% of suburb / locality areas.
- 2011: 19.9%
- 2016: 20.5%
- 2021: 19.5%
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 Cairns City, the largest group is Bachelor degree at 36%, followed by Certificate III / IV (26%) and Advanced diploma / diploma (20%).
Field of study
What people studied.
The most common qualifications are in management and commerce at 11.7%, followed by health at 8.6% and engineering at 7.3%.
Schools
Schools in the area and how many children they serve (ACARA).
Cairns City has a high number of schools, with 13 within 3 km and 5.13 schools per 1,000 children. Most are government-run (53.8%) or Catholic (38.5%), and the typical school size is among the highest for its level.
5.13
Higher than 59% of suburb / locality areas.
Schools per 1,000 children aged under 15.
13
Higher than 83% 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).
1,051
Higher than 99% of suburb / locality areas.
Average enrolment per school in the area.
985
Lower than 53% of suburb / locality areas.
Enrolment-weighted average ICSEA — an index of socio-educational advantage, centred near 1000 (context, not a quality ranking).
Schools serving Cairns City
13 schools — 13,658 students, average ICSEA 985.
By sector: Government 7 · Catholic 5 · Independent 1
By type: Primary 7 · Secondary 5 · Combined 1
| St Monica's College, Cairns | Catholic | Secondary | 0.5 km | 697 | 1,058 |
| St Augustine's College, Cairns | Catholic | Secondary | 0.8 km | 777 | 1,060 |
| Cairns State High School, Cairns North | Government | Secondary | 0.9 km | 1,636 | 1,019 |
| St Joseph's School, Parramatta Park | Catholic | Primary | 1.0 km | 348 | 1,029 |
| Parramatta State School, Parramatta Park | Government | Primary | 1.3 km | 482 | 887 |
| The BUSY School, Cairns | Independent | Secondary | 1.9 km | 1,780 | 975 |
| Trinity Bay State High School, Manunda | Government | Secondary | 2.4 km | 1,784 | 908 |
| Cairns School of Distance Education, Manunda | Government | Combined | 2.5 km | 3,692 | 1,024 |
| Mother of Good Counsel School, Cairns North | Catholic | Primary | 3.1 km | 354 | 1,091 |
| Cairns West State School, Manunda | Government | Primary | 3.4 km | 481 | 784 |
| St Francis Xavier's School, Manunda | Catholic | Primary | 3.5 km | 382 | 953 |
| Balaclava State School, Mooroobool | Government | Primary | 3.5 km | 381 | 797 |
| Edge Hill State School, Edge Hill | Government | Primary | 3.9 km | 864 | 1,016 |
Sources
More for Cairns City
Cite this page
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Education & Qualifications in Cairns City [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/sal/SAL30478/cairns-city/topic/education