4102.0 - Australian Social Trends, 2004

Contents >> Education and Training >> Education and Training data sources and definitions

Education and Training data sources and definitions

EDUCATION AND TRAINING: HEALTH


EDUCATION AND TRAINING: DATA SOURCES

Data source	Indicators using this source

	National indicators	State indicators

ABS Survey of Education and Work.	8-9, 19-22, 25	6-7, 17-20, 23, 28-33

Department of Education, Science and Training, Selected Higher Education
Statistics.
	43	38
Department of Education, Science and Training,
Staff: Selected Higher Education Statistics.	46	41

Department of Education, Science and Training,
Students: Selected Higher Education Statistics.	13-15	11-13

Department of Education, Science and Training,
Students (First half year): Selected Higher Education Statistics.	23	21

Education and Work, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6227.0).	16-18, 24, 30-35	14-16, 22

Government Finance Statistics, Education, Australia - Electronic delivery
(ABS cat. no. 5518.0.55.001).	36-38	-

Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and
Youth Affairs (MCEETYA), National Report on Schooling in Australia.	26-29	24-27

MCEETYA 2001, National Report on Schooling in Australia, 1999 and
Schools, Australia (ABS cat. no. 4221.0).	6-7	-

National Centre for Vocational Education Research, Apprentices and Trainees.	11	9

National Centre for Vocational Education Research, Australian Vocational
Education and Training Statistics, Students and Courses: In detail.	10, 12	8, 10

National School Statistics Collection.	-	4-5

Schools, Australia (ABS cat. no. 4221.0).	1-5, 39-42, 44-45, 47-48	1-3, 34-37, 39-40, 42-43

EDUCATION AND TRAINING: DEFINITIONS

Academic staff

those appointed wholly or principally to undertake a teaching-only function or a research-only function or a teaching-and-research function in an educational institution, or those appointed by an educational institution to be responsible for such people.

Reference: Department of Education, Science and Training,

Staff: Selected Higher Education Statistics.

Advanced diploma and diploma or below

includes qualifications at the Advanced Diploma Level, Associate Degree Level, Diploma Level, Certificate IV Level, Certificate III Level, Certificate II Level, or Certificate I Level.

Reference:

Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED)

(ABS cat. no. 1272.0).

Apprentices and trainees

persons undertaking vocational training through contract of training arrangements. Contracts of training are legal agreements entered into by employers and trainees who are engaged in employment-based training.

Reference: National Centre for Vocational Education Research

Australian Apprentice and Trainee Statistics.

Bachelor degree or above

includes qualifications at the Bachelor Degree Level (including Honours), Graduate Certificate Level, Graduate Diploma Level, Master Degree Level or Doctorate Degree Level.

Reference:

Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED)

(ABS cat. no. 1272.0).

Education participation

all persons enrolled for a course of study in the survey month at any institution whose primary role is education. Included are schools, higher education establishments, Technical and Further Education colleges (TAFEs) and any other educational institutions.

Reference:

Education and Work, Australia

(ABS cat. no. 6227.0).

Full-time equivalent (FTE)

a measure of the total level of staff resources used. The FTE of a full-time staff member is equal to 1.0. The calculation of FTE for part-time staff is based on the proportion of time worked compared with that worked by full-time staff performing similar duties. Casual staff are excluded.

Reference:

Schools, Australia

(ABS cat. no. 4221.0).

GDP (gross domestic product)

total market value of goods and services produced in Australia within a given period after deducting the cost of goods used up in the process of production, but before deducting allowances for the consumption of fixed capital (depreciation).

Reference:

Government Finance Statistics, Education, Australia -

Electronic delivery (ABS cat. no. 5518.0.55.001).

Government expenses on education

total government final expenditure on education services and facilities; government transfer payments paid for the purpose of facilitating education but not intended to be spent directly on educational services (such as personal benefit payments to students and advances to persons for the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS)); and other miscellaneous expenditure on education by government.

Reference:

Government Finance Statistics, Education, Australia

- Electronic delivery (ABS cat. no. 5518.0.55.001).

Government school

one administered by the Department of Education under the Director-General of Education (or equivalent) in each state or territory.
Reference:

Schools, Australia

(ABS cat. no. 4221.0).

Higher education student

a person who has been admitted to a higher education institution and who is enrolled (either full-time, part-time or externally) in a higher education award course, an enabling course or a non-award course to be undertaken in the semester used as the reference period. State totals are the number of students enrolled at all higher education institutions within a particular state or territory.

Reference: Department of Education, Science and Training,

Students: Selected Higher Education Statistics 2002.

Higher education student/teaching staff ratios

the number of students, measured by the full-time equivalent (FTE) student unit for all students attending a higher education institution in Australia (excluding the FTE study load of work experience students), divided by the FTE of teaching staff (staff whose function was teaching only or teaching and research) in an Academic Organisational Unit, which includes full-time, fractional full-time, and casual staff.

Reference:

Education and Training Indicators, Australia, 2002

(ABS cat. no. 4230.0).

Non-government school

any school not administered by a Department of Education, but including special schools administered by government authorities other than the state and territory education departments.

Reference:

Schools, Australia

(ABS cat. no. 4221.0).

Non-school educational qualification

an award for attainment as a result of formal learning from an accredited non-school institution. From 2001, with the implementation of the

Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED)

(ABS cat. no. 1262.0), non-school qualifications are awarded for educational attainments other than those of pre-primary, primary or secondary education. This includes qualifications at the Post Graduate Degree Level, Master Degree Level, Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate Level, Bachelor Degree Level, Advanced Diploma and Diploma Level, and Certificates I, II, III and IV Levels. Non-school qualifications may be attained concurrently with school qualifications.

Prior to 2001, educational qualifications were classified according to the

ABS Classification of Qualifications (ABSCQ)

(ABS cat. no. 1262.0). The level of attainment included higher degrees, postgraduate diplomas, bachelor degrees, undergraduate and associate diplomas, and skilled and basic vocational qualifications.

Reference:

Education and Work, Australia

(ABS cat. no. 6227.0).

Numeracy - national benchmarks

the numeracy benchmarks describe nationally agreed minimum acceptable standards for numeracy at particular school year levels. They represent the minimum acceptable standard of numeracy without which a student will have difficulty making sufficient progress at school.

Reference: Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs,

National Report on Schooling

2000.

Overseas higher education student

a higher education student who is not an Australian citizen, is not a New Zealand citizen and does not have Permanent Residence status.

Reference: Department of Education, Science and Training Statistics,

Students: Selected Higher Education Statistics.

Primary education

full-time education which typically commences around age five years and lasts for seven to eight years. It does not include sessional education such as preschool education.
Reference:

Schools, Australia

(ABS cat. no. 4221.0).

Reading - national benchmarks

the reading benchmarks describe nationally agreed minimum acceptable standards for literacy at particular school year levels. They represent the minimum acceptable standard of literacy without which a student will have difficulty making sufficient progress at school.

Reference: Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs,

National Report on Schooling in Australia,

2000.

School

an educational institution which provides primary or secondary education on a full-time daily basis, or the provision of primary or secondary distance education.

Reference:

Schools, Australia

(ABS cat. no. 4221.0).

School student

a person who is enrolled in a school and active in a course of study, other than preschool or Technical and Further Education (TAFE) courses.

Reference:

Schools, Australia

(ABS cat. no. 4221.0).

School student/teaching staff ratio

number of full-time school students plus full-time equivalent of part-time students divided by the number of full-time equivalent teaching staff.

Reference:

Schools, Australia

(ABS cat. no. 4221.0).

Secondary education

education which typically commences after completion of primary education, at around age 12 years, and lasts for five or six years.

Reference:

Schools, Australia

(ABS cat no. 4221.0).

Tertiary education

formal education beyond secondary education, including higher education, vocational education and training, or other specialist post-secondary education or training. Also called post-secondary education or further education.

Reference:

Education and Training Indicators, Australia

(ABS cat. no. 4230.0)

Unemployment rate (of persons aged 15 years and over)

for any group, the number of unemployed persons expressed as a percentage of the labour force in the same group.

Reference:

Australian Labour Market Statistics

(ABS cat. no. 6105.0).

Vocational Education and Training (VET) student

a person for whom there is a full-time or part-time vocational stream enrolment in a TAFE college or agricultural college or state-recognised Adult and Community Education (ACE) provider, or a publicly-funded vocational course enrolment in a registered private training organisation during the reference year.

Persons enrolled in non-vocational courses given by TAFE and ACE are excluded.

Reference: National Centre for Vocational Education Research,

Australian Vocational Education and Training Statistics: In Detail.

Year 7/8 to 12 apparent retention rate

the percentage of full-time students of a given cohort group who continue from the first year of secondary schooling (Year 7 in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and Tasmania; Year 8 in Queensland, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia) to Year 12. Care should be taken in interpreting apparent retention rates as they do not account for students repeating a year or migrating into or out of the relevant school student population.

Reference:

Schools, Australia

(ABS cat. no. 4221.0).