6227.0 - Education and Work, Australia, May 2018 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 08/11/2018   
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KEY FINDINGS

The Survey of Education and Work is an annual collection, which was most recently conducted throughout Australia in May 2018 as a supplement to the monthly Labour Force Survey.

Of Australians aged 20 to 64 years:

  • 9.8 million, or 66.7% had attained a non-school qualification.
  • Of those without a non-school qualification, more than half (52.7%) had a Year 12 or equivalent qualification.
  • Almost three-quarters (71.4%) of those who were employed had a non-school qualification.
  • 31.4% had a Bachelor Degree or above.

Of Australians aged 15 to 64 years:
  • Almost one-fifth of Australians (19.0%) were currently studying.
  • Of those who were currently studying for a non-school qualification, 41.6% were completing a bachelor degree, 13.5% were doing post-graduate degrees, and 12.8% were studying for a Certificate III.
  • The most popular field of study for a non-school qualification was society and culture (22.0%), followed by management and commerce (20.5%) and health (14.9%).
  • Of apprentices and trainees, 84.0% were male compared with 16.0% female.

Of Australians aged 15 to 24 years:
  • 81.1% were fully engaged in employment or education and 9.9% were partially engaged.


Key Indicators, Education and Work, Australia, 2008 and 2018
Indicator
Year
Change between
2008
2018
2008 and 2018
Attainment of non-school qualifications, persons aged 20 to 64 years
Persons with a non-school qualification
      59.2%
66.7%
7.5pts
Male
61.1%
66.4%
5.3pts
Female
57.4%
67.1%
9.7pts
Persons with a non-school qualification by Labour Force Status
Employed
64.0%
71.4%
7.4pts
Unemployed
  48.8%
58.0%
9.2pts
Not in the Labour Force
  42.2%
49.9%
7.7pts
Level of highest non-school qualification attained
Certificate III or above(a)
51.9%
62.3%
10.4pts
Bachelor Degree or above(a)
24.4%
31.4%
7.0pts
Participation in formal study, persons aged 15 to 64 years
Persons in formal study
17.8%
19.0%
1.2pts
Male
17.6%
17.7%
(d)0.1pts
Female
18.0%
20.2%
2.2pts
Engagement in employment and education(b)(c),
persons aged 15 to 24 years
Fully engaged
83.7%
81.1%
-2.6pts
Partially engaged
7.7%
9.9%
2.2pts
Not engaged
8.7%
9.0%
(d)0.3pts
(a) Proportion of total population aged 20 to 64 years.
(b) See the Key Concepts page for more information on how Engagement in employment and education is defined.
(c) Including persons participating in school education
(d) The difference between periods was not statistically significant. See the Significance Testing article in this publication for more information: https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/6227.0.55.002
Note: Data has been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data. Discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.