LEVEL OF EDUCATION – MEASUREMENT ISSUES

INTRODUCTION TO THE AUSTRALIAN QUALIFICATION FRAMEWORK (AQF)

The AQF was first introduced in 1995, and implemented in 1996, to underpin the national system of qualifications in Australia encompassing higher education, vocational education and training and schools. It was phased in over five years, with full implementation from January 2000.

With the introduction of the AQF, qualifications at the Advanced Diploma/Diploma and Certificate Levels were renamed. It is therefore necessary to identify whether these qualifications were attained under the AQF system (or its predecessor the Register of Tertiary Education (RATE)).

In ABS collections, it was decided that qualifications attained before 1998 should be treated as pre-AQF qualifications and qualifications attained in 1998 or later should be treated as AQF qualifications. The year 1998 was chosen for the edit because it was thought 1 to 2 years would elapse before the new AQF qualifications would be likely to be seen in responses (e.g. an AQF diploma would take about 2 years to complete so 1998 would be the earliest we would expect to see any graduates reporting such qualifications).

With the introduction of the AQF, the qualification of 'Associate Diploma' was renamed 'Diploma', and the qualification of 'Diploma' was renamed 'Advanced Diploma'. Therefore Diplomas issued under the Register of Tertiary Education (RATE) should be coded to 411 Advanced Diploma, and Diplomas issued under the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) should be coded to 421 Diploma. The ABS regards all responses of Diploma obtained prior to 1998 as indicating the 'higher' of the two Diplomas (i.e. AQF Advanced Diploma), and responses of Diploma from 1998 onwards as meaning the AQF Diploma level.

The introduction of the AQF also affected the meaning of the term 'Certificate'. Certificates have been categorised as Certificates I, II, III or IV rather than simply as 'Certificates' since the AQF was adopted. There is a considerable difference between Certificates I and II, and Certificates III (the equivalent of the old Trade Certificate) and IV. The ABS uses an edit procedure when coding the response of 'certificate' from ASCED Level of Education code 500 to either 510 Certificate III & IV or 520 Certificate I & II based on the year of the award and the ABSCQ code assigned. Correspondence between pre-AQF Certificate levels and ASCED Certificate levels are available in Appendix 3 of the ASCED publication.

ASCED CODER

During collection, the level and the field of the highest non-school qualification are captured as text fields. Post collection, these text fields are processed through the ASCED Coder (or Index) which assigns the appropriate ASCED code for the level and the field of the qualification. It should be noted that the field of highest non-school qualification is actually processed through the Coder first, as this is used in some cases to help determine the correct level of the non-school qualification.

The ASCED Coder is a Windows-based structured coding system that is available on CD-ROM. It provides a quick and automated way to code education information.

The ASCED Coder incorporates a detailed coding index (i.e. an extensive list of education titles) which enables coding to the detailed level of ASCED with a higher degree of accuracy and consistency than is possible when using just the classification structure and definitions.

The ASCED Coder currently assigns both the ASCED code and the Australian Bureau of Statistics Classification of Qualifications (ABSQ) code as the first digit of the ABSCQ code is used in derivations to more accurately derive Certificate levels. The ASCED Coder assigns codes according to strictly prescribed rules, most of which are incorporated into the Coder. For example, the variable 'Main field of highest non-school qualification’ is used within the Coder to more accurately code a qualification, e.g. if the respondent provides responses of Trade Certificate (for Level) and Plumbing (for Field) then the Coder can use this Field information to more accurately code the level to Certificate III.

The coding index is not contained within the ASCED publication (cat no. 1272.0) but is a separate product, ie Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED) and Coder, 2001 (cat. no. 1272.0.30.001).

For further information on coding procedures contact the Standards and Classifications Section, Australian Bureau of Statistics via e-mail to standards@abs.gov.au.

ASCED FIELD OF EDUCATION

Relevant categories from the Field of Education component of the ASCED are used when collecting, aggregating and disseminating data relating to the standard education field variables.

The term Field of Education is used in the ASCED to describe the subject matter included in an educational activity. Fields of Education are related to each other through the number of subjects they have in common, through the broad purposes for which the study is undertaken, and through the theoretical knowledge which underpins the subject matter. Five classification criteria are used to form the categories of the classification:

• Theoretical content - this refers to the ideas and concepts involved in an educational activity, and can be defined as that part of the subject matter which links facts together to explain other facts and predict outcomes
• Purpose of learning - this refers to the ultimate aim of the competencies, skills and knowledge gained from an educational activity, that is, the application of the body of theory learnt
• Objects of interest - these are the things or phenomena about which knowledge is acquired
• Methods and techniques - these are the specific procedures for applying knowledge; and
• Tools and equipment.
  

As with the Level of Education structure, the classification has a three level hierarchical structure. The 12 Broad Fields of Education in ASCED are:

1. Natural and Physical Sciences
2. Information Technology
3. Engineering and Related Technologies
4. Architecture and Building
5. Agriculture, Environmental and Related Studies
6. Health
7. Education
8. Management and Commerce
9. Society and Culture
10. Creative Arts
11. Food, Hospitality and Personal Services
12. Mixed Field Programmes
    

Two, four and six digit codes are assigned to the first, second and third-level units of the classification respectively. The first two digits identify the Broad Field in which each Narrow and Detailed Field is contained. The first four digits taken together identify the Narrow Field in which each Detailed Field is contained. The six digit codes represent the Detailed Fields.

The following examples illustrate the coding scheme:

Hierarchical Level	Code	Field of Education
Broad	03	Engineering and Related Technologies
Narrow	0305	Automotive Engineering and Technology
Detailed	030503	Vehicle Mechanics

The most detailed hierarchical level of the classification consists of 356 base (or third-level) units called Detailed Fields. The Detailed Level categories of the classification are aggregated to form the second-level categories of the classification which comprise 71 Narrow Fields of Education. These in turn are aggregated to the 12 Broad Fields of Education as shown above.

Data can be presented at Broad Field level, Narrow Field level, or the base Detailed Field (third) hierarchical level of the classification. If necessary, significant Detailed Fields within a Narrow Field can be presented separately while the remaining Detailed Fields within the Narrow Field are aggregated. For example, the third-level category '030503 Vehicle Mechanics' can be separately identified as an output category within the Narrow Field '0305 Automotive Engineering and Technology', with the remaining third-level Detailed Field categories in this Narrow Field aggregated in an 'Other Automotive Engineering and Technology' category. The same principle can be adopted to highlight significant Narrow Fields within a Broad Field.

For more information on the ASCED Field of Education classification, a complete list of ASCED codes, and definitions of Field of Education categories see the ASCED publication (cat. no. 1272.0) on the ABS website.