• Summary
• Downloads
• Explanatory Notes
• Related Information
• Past Releases

ATTAINMENT

This section on Educational Attainment includes the Key and Related series for the following Indicators:

Attainment of Year 12 or a formal qualification at Certificate II or above
Attainment of a non-school qualification
Literacy and numeracy skills



YEAR 12 OR A FORMAL QUALIFICATION AT CERTIFICATE II OR ABOVE



Key series

ATTAINMENT OF YEAR 12 OR FORMAL QUALIFICATION AT CERTIFICATE II OR ABOVE (a)(b)(c), 20-24 years
	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Males	78.3	78.1	81.1	81.3	81.4	82.4	81.6	84.1	84.7	83.4
Females	84.1	85.9	86.1	87.3	87.7	88.9	86.7	87.8	89.5	89.5
(a) Includes any of the following: Year 12; Certificate II, III, or IV; Advanced Diploma or Diploma; Bachelor Degree; Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate, or Postgraduate Degree. (b) Males and females who have attained Year 12 or a formal qualification at Certificate II or above as a proportion of all persons aged 20-24 years for each sex. (c) Persons permanently unable to work are excluded. Source: ABS Education and Work, Australia (cat. no. 6227.0).

ATTAINMENT OF FORMAL QUALIFICATION AT CERTIFICATE III OR ABOVE (a)(b)(c), 25-29 years
	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Males	55.1	56.1	57.9	59.1	60.8	62.1	59.8	65.4	63.1	63.9
Females	56.4	55.3	60.2	61.0	65.2	63.2	67.2	66.5	69.2	66.0
(a) Includes any of the following: Year 12; Certificate III, or IV; Advanced Diploma or Diploma; Bachelor Degree; Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate, or Postgraduate Degree. (b) Males and females who have attained a formal qualification at Certificate III or above as a proportion of total persons in 25-29 years age group for each sex. (c) Persons permanently unable to work are excluded. Source: ABS data available on request, Survey of Education and Work.

ATTAINMENT OF BACHELOR DEGREE OR ABOVE (a)(b), 25-29 years
	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Males	26.5	26.0	27.7	28.5	30.3	29.9	29.8	31.8	28.7	30.6
Females	33.0	32.7	35.7	36.0	40.5	38.1	41.0	39.2	41.1	42.0
(a) Males and females who have attained a Bachelor Degree or above as a proportion of all persons aged 25-29 years for each sex. (b) Persons permanently unable to work are excluded. Source: ABS data available on request, Survey of Education and Work.

ATTAINMENT OF A NON-SCHOOL QUALIFICATION (a)(b)(c), 15-64 years
	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Males	54.2	54.5	54.5	55.3	56.4	56.9	57.4	59.6	57.8	60.0
Females	48.9	50.4	50.6	52.6	53.6	54.6	55.7	58.0	58.0	58.8
(a) Males and females who have attained a non-school qualification as a proportion of all persons aged 15-64 years for each sex. (b) Includes 'Certificate not further defined' and 'Level not determined'. (c) Persons permanently unable to work are excluded. Source: ABS data available on request, Survey of Education and Work.

LITERACY COMPETENCY AT SKILL LEVEL 2 OR UNDER (15–64 years) (a)(b)(c)(d)
	2011–2012
	%
Males	43.2
Females	43.9
(a) Males and females with literacy competency as a proportion of persons aged 15-64 years for each sex. (b) Includes those classified as 'Missing', Below Level 1, at Level 1 and at Level 2. (c) 'Missing' refers to people who did not receive a proficiency score because they were not able to answer more than five questions in the background questionnaire. For further information see Appendix ('Scores and Skill Levels') and Explanatory Note 1 in ABS Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, Australia, 2011–12 (cat. no. 4228.0). (d) Skill Level 2 and under reflect the lower end of the competency spectrum, whereas Skill Levels 4 and 5 reflect the higher end of the competency spectrum. Source: ABS Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, Australia, 2011–12. (cat. no. 4228.0). Related series

NUMERACY COMPETENCY AT SKILL LEVEL 2 OR UNDER (15–64 years) (a)(b)(c)(d)
	2011–2012
	%
Males	49.0
Females	59.2
(a) Males and females with numeracy competency as a proportion of persons aged 15-64 years for each sex. (b) Includes those classified as 'Missing', Below Level 1, at Level 1 and at Level 2. (c) 'Missing' refers to people who did not receive a proficiency score because they were not able to answer more than five questions in the background questionnaire. For further information see Appendix ('Scores and Skill Levels') and Explanatory Note 1 in ABS Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, Australia, 2011–12 (cat. no. 4228.0). (d) Skill Level 2 and under reflect the lower end of the competency spectrum, whereas Skill Levels 4 and 5 reflect the higher end of the competency spectrum. Source: ABS Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, Australia, 2011–12. (cat. no. 4228.0).

PROBLEM SOLVING COMPETENCY IN TECHNOLOGY-RICH ENVIRONMENTS (T-RE) AT SKILL LEVEL 1 OR UNDER (15–64 years) (a)(b)(c)(d)
	2011–2012
	%
Males	68.9
Females	69.7
(a) Males and females with problem solving competency in technology-rich environments as a proportion of persons aged 15-64 years for each sex. (b) Includes those classified as 'Missing', Below Level 1 and at Level 1. (c) 'Missing' refers to people who did not receive a proficiency score because they were not able to answer more than five questions in the background questionnaire. For further information see Appendix ('Scores and Skill Levels') and Explanatory Note 1 in ABS Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, Australia, 2011–12 (cat. no. 4228.0). (d) Skill Level 1 and under reflect the lower end of the competency spectrum, whereas Skill Levels 2 and 3 reflect the higher end of the competency spectrum. Source: ABS Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, Australia, 2011–12. (cat. no. 4228.0).