CensusAtlas

Lightning Ridge · Urban Centre

Education & Qualifications in Lightning Ridge

How far people went at school, the qualifications they hold and what they studied.

A gap of 29 percentage points separates Lightning Ridge from the rest of the state in high school completion. This reflects a local education profile where far fewer people have finished Year 12 or earned a university degree compared to national figures.

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📍 Lightning Ridge, Urban Centre

Where Lightning Ridge sits — Adults with a bachelor degree or higher

8.8% ▲ +4.8%

All urban centre areas, 2021. The marker is Lightning Ridge — lower than 69% of areas.

Lightning Ridge8.8%
2834, NSW 8.0%
New South Wales 27.8%
Australia 26.3%

Schooling

Highest year of school completed.

Only 29.5% of residents finished Year 12, which is far below the New South Wales figure of 58.9%. While this is much lower than most areas, the proportion has risen slightly by 2.6 percentage points since 2011.

Completed Year 12

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29.5% ▲ +9.6%

Lower than 81% of urban centre areas.

Share of people whose highest year of school is Year 12 or equivalent.

Highest year of school

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In Lightning Ridge, the largest group is Year 12 at 39%, followed by Year 10 (30%) and Year 9 or below (23%).

Year 12 29.5% Year 10 22.7% Year 9 or below 17.7% Year 11 5.9%

Qualifications

Post-school qualifications and degrees.

University qualifications are rare here, with only 8.8% of adults holding a bachelor degree or higher. This is far below the Australian average of 26.3%, while Certificate III and IV are the most common qualifications at 24.9%.

Adults with a bachelor degree or higher

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8.8% ▲ +4.8%

Lower than 69% of urban centre 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 Lightning Ridge, the largest group is Certificate III / IV at 47%, followed by Bachelor degree (21%) and Advanced diploma / diploma (20%).

Certificate III / IV 24.9% Bachelor degree 11.4% Advanced diploma / diploma 10.5% Certificate I / II 2.8% Graduate diploma / certificate 2.1% Postgraduate degree 1.5%

Field of study

What people studied.

Those with qualifications most commonly studied management and commerce, at 10.0%, followed by education at 9.7% and engineering and related fields at 8.7%.

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 Lightning Ridge [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/ucl/UCL115098/lightning-ridge/topic/education