Full-time/part-time student status (STUP)

This variable describes the full-time or part-time status of students.

All persons

This variable is collected from a mark box response to the Full-time/part-time student status question on the Census form. Respondents are asked to mark only one response. In cases where respondents mark more than one response, they are accepted in the order they appear on the form and the extra responses are rejected.

A question on current type of attendance at school or other educational institution has been asked since 1976. The categories for Full-time/part-time student status (STUP) were revised for 2011.

For 2021, minor changes were made to the question wording and instructional text to improve clarity. In addition, to emphasise that respondents should include attendance at preschool, the question wording in the online form has changed for people in the household aged six and under. The question asks ‘Is the person attending a preschool, school or other education institution?’.

For 2021, a question instruction was added to the online form to provide guidance to people in COVID-19 affected areas on Census day.

There are no data use considerations for this variable.

The non-response rate for Full-time/part-time student status (STUP) was 5.6% in 2021. This is a decrease from 6.8% in 2016.

The non-response rates for this variable include 0.1% of respondents (0.2% in 2016) who did not indicate whether they were students at the Full-time/part-time student status question (question 29 on the Census Household form) but went on to state the type of educational institution attended at the next question, Type of of educational institution attending (TYPP). 

• Type of educational institution attending (TYPP)
• Educational institution: attendee status (TYSTAP)
• Engagement in employment, education and training (EETP)

• Education
• Education and training: Census