50.4% ▼ -20.6%
Lower than 63% of state electorate areas.
- 2011: 63.5%
- 2016: 46.1%
- 2021: 50.4%
Share of people whose highest year of school is Year 12 or equivalent.
Penrith · State Electorate
Education & Qualifications in Penrith
How far people went at school, the qualifications they hold and what they studied.
Fewer people have finished high school in Penrith compared to most similar areas. Only 50.4% of residents have completed Year 12, a figure that has fallen by 13 points since 2011. This trend is reflected in the qualifications of adults, where the share holding a university degree has also dropped significantly over the last decade.
Schooling
Highest year of school completed.
Just over half of residents have finished Year 12, which is well below the New South Wales figure of 58.9%. About 26.2% of people in the area have Year 10 as their highest level of schooling.
Highest year of school
View on map →In Penrith, Year 12 is the majority at 54%; Year 10 is next at 28%.
Qualifications
Post-school qualifications and degrees.
The proportion of adults with a bachelor degree or higher is 19%, which is well below the national figure of 26.3%. Certificate III or IV qualifications are the most common, held by 33.1% of adults.
19.0% ▼ -38.3%
Lower than 56% of state electorate areas.
- 2011: 30.8%
- 2016: 15.7%
- 2021: 19.0%
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 Penrith, the largest group is Certificate III / IV at 40%, followed by Bachelor degree (26%) and Advanced diploma / diploma (18%).
Field of study
What people studied.
The most common fields of qualification in the area are management and commerce at 19.6%, followed by engineering and related subjects at 14.3%.
Schools
Schools in the area and how many children they serve (ACARA).
Penrith has 30 schools within 3km, with 13,564 enrolments making it larger than about 81% of similar areas. Most students attend government schools, which account for 73.3% of the sector.
1.84
Lower than 54% of state electorate areas.
Schools per 1,000 children aged under 15.
30
Higher than 77% of state electorate 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).
13,564
Higher than 81% of state electorate areas.
Total students enrolled across the area's schools.
468
Lower than 54% of state electorate areas.
Average enrolment per school in the area.
1,005
Lower than 60% of state electorate areas.
Enrolment-weighted average ICSEA — an index of socio-educational advantage, centred near 1000 (context, not a quality ranking).
Schools serving Penrith
30 schools — 13,564 students, average ICSEA 1,005.
By sector: Government 22 · Catholic 7 · Independent 1
By type: Primary 22 · Secondary 7 · Combined 1
| Penola Catholic College Emu Plains, Emu Plains | Catholic | Secondary | 1.0 km | 709 | 1,024 |
| Nepean Creative and Performing Arts High School, Emu Plains | Government | Secondary | 1.3 km | 807 | 994 |
| Penrith Lakes Environmental Education Centre, Castlereagh | Government | Combined | 1.5 km | — | — |
| Emu Heights Public School, Emu Plains | Government | Primary | 2.1 km | 237 | 1,006 |
| Emu Plains Public School, Emu Plains | Government | Primary | 2.5 km | 406 | 993 |
| Our Lady of The Way Primary School, Emu Plains | Catholic | Primary | 2.6 km | 328 | 1,047 |
| St Nicholas of Myra Primary School, Penrith | Catholic | Primary | 3.4 km | 169 | 1,068 |
| Leonay Public School, Emu Plains | Government | Primary | 3.7 km | 191 | 1,049 |
| Braddock Public School, Cranebrook | Government | Primary | 3.8 km | 332 | 880 |
| Kingswood Park Public School, Penrith | Government | Primary | 3.8 km | 166 | 810 |
| Penrith Public School, Penrith | Government | Primary | 3.9 km | 524 | 986 |
| Cranebrook High School, Cranebrook | Government | Secondary | 3.9 km | 871 | 916 |
| Penrith High School, Penrith | Government | Secondary | 4.0 km | 930 | 1,186 |
| Penrith South Public School, Penrith | Government | Primary | 4.1 km | 441 | 958 |
| Jamisontown Public School, South Penrith | Government | Primary | 4.2 km | 317 | 980 |
| Samuel Terry Public School, Cranebrook | Government | Primary | 4.3 km | 521 | 980 |
| St Dominic's College, Kingswood | Independent | Secondary | 4.6 km | 1,010 | 1,008 |
| Cambridge Gardens Public School, Cambridge Park | Government | Primary | 4.7 km | 341 | 965 |
| Henry Fulton Public School, Cranebrook | Government | Primary | 5.0 km | 219 | 998 |
| Jamison High School, South Penrith | Government | Secondary | 5.0 km | 834 | 964 |
| Corpus Christi Primary School, Cranebrook | Catholic | Primary | 5.1 km | 518 | 1,025 |
| York Public School, South Penrith | Government | Primary | 5.1 km | 515 | 973 |
| St Joseph's Primary School, Kingswood | Catholic | Primary | 5.2 km | 310 | 1,019 |
| Kingswood South Public School, Kingswood | Government | Primary | 5.3 km | 304 | 956 |
| Lapstone Public School, Glenbrook | Government | Primary | 5.4 km | 158 | 1,113 |
| Glenbrook Public School, Glenbrook | Government | Primary | 5.7 km | 338 | 1,120 |
| St Finbar's Primary School, Glenbrook | Catholic | Primary | 5.7 km | 166 | 1,110 |
| Kingswood High School, Kingswood | Government | Secondary | 5.7 km | 1,005 | 955 |
| St Mary MacKillop Primary School, South Penrith | Catholic | Primary | 5.8 km | 398 | 1,040 |
| Kingswood Public School, Kingswood | Government | Primary | 6.1 km | 499 | 1,048 |
Sources
More for Penrith
Cite this page
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Education & Qualifications in Penrith [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/sed/SED10066/penrith/topic/education