Education

Information about educational background and current study status was obtained from men and women aged 18 years and over in the 2021-22 PSS. For persons who were undertaking current study (students), information was collected about the level and main field of current study, and the type of educational institution studied at.

In addition, where a respondent had a current partner who they were living with, information about the current partner’s educational background was also collected.

Level of highest educational attainment refers to a person’s overall highest level of educational attainment, whether it be a school or non-school qualification, regardless of the particular field of study or the type of institution in which the study was undertaken.

Highest year of school completed refers to the highest level of primary or secondary schooling completed. For school years up to and including Year 11, the term 'completed' means to attend for the full school year such that progression to the following year of school is enabled. For Year 12, 'completed' requires only attendance for the full year. Further details of the definitions used are available on request.

The definition of having ‘completed’ a non-school qualification refers to successfully passing all the required assessments or examination.

Non-school qualifications are awarded for educational attainments other than those of pre-primary, primary or secondary education. However, non-school qualifications may be attained concurrently with school qualifications. Non-school qualifications do not include courses that provide a Statement of Attainment or Non-award courses.

Respondents were asked to provide information regarding their highest year of school completed, their highest non-school qualification, and their current study status.

Respondents with a current partner who they were living with were also asked if their partner had completed a trade certificate, diploma, degree, or any other educational qualification (apart from school-level). If so, they were then asked only for the level of the highest qualification completed using the broad categories outlined in the Non-school educational attainment section below. Current partners were not approached to provide their own details.

Respondents were asked to provide the highest year of (primary or secondary) school they had completed, based on the following:

• year 12 or equivalent
• year 11
• year 10
• year 9
• year 8 or below
• never attended school.

Respondents were asked if they had completed a trade certificate, diploma, degree, or any other educational qualification (apart from school-level). Those who had were asked to provide details of the level of the highest qualification they had completed, and the main field of study for this qualification.

The level and main field of highest non-school qualification was determined according to the Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED), 2001.

The level of highest non-school qualification is available in broad (collapsed) categories as listed below:

• Postgraduate degree
• Graduate diploma/graduate certificate
• Bachelor degree
• Advanced diploma/diploma
• Certificate III/IV
• Certificate I/II
• Certificate not further defined
• Level not determined.

The main field of highest non-school qualification completed was collected via an open text field which was later coded using the ASCED 2001. It is output as 12 broad fields of education, as listed below:

• Natural and physical sciences
• Information technology
• Engineering and related technologies
• Architecture and building
• Agriculture, environmental and related studies
• Health
• Education
• Management and commerce
• Society and culture
• Creative arts
• Food, hospitality, and personal services
• Mixed field programmes
• Field not determined.

For output, respondents (and their current partner, where applicable) were also categorised to an overall level of highest educational attainment, based on the following broad categories in descending order:

• Postgraduate degree
• Graduate diploma/graduate certificate
• Bachelor degree
• Advanced diploma/diploma
• Certificates III/IV
• Year 12 or equivalent
• Year 11
• Year 10
• Certificates I/II
• Year 9 and below
• Certificate not further defined
• Level not determined (non-school only).

This data item describes whether the respondent is currently studying full-time, studying part-time, or not currently studying.

Information about level of current study and main field of current study were collected on the same basis as the educational attainment data items described above.

This data item describes the type of educational institution attended by people who were full-time or part-time students. It is applicable to all people who indicated they were currently attending an educational institution. Output categories include:

• secondary school/technical college
• university/other higher education
• TAFE/institute of technology
• other organisation.

This data item indicates whether a person was engaged in work and/or study. The term 'engagement' is used when assessing a person's level of participation in employment and education.

Fully engaged includes persons who were engaged in either full-time work or study or who combine any hours of work with any hours of study. Partially engaged includes persons who are either employed part-time or studying part-time. Output categories include:

• full-time study and full-time employment
• primarily engaged through full-time study
• primarily engaged through full-time employment
• part-time study and part-time employment
• part-time study only
• part-time employment only
• no study or employment.

The data items and related output categories for this topic are contained within the SPS Level – Education tab in the data item list available under Downloads.

Data for this topic has been collected to examine the relationship between educational characteristics and experiences of violence. Current partner data for this topic can be used to further understand the characteristics of current partners that do and do not use violence.

Data items from this topic should not be used on their own to produce general population estimates of educational qualifications and attendance. The Census and the Survey of Education and Work are more appropriate sources of this data.

Points to be considered when using and interpreting data from this topic include the following:

• Details about the education of the current partner were collected via the respondent. Therefore, the information is based on the knowledge the respondent had of their partner’s educational background. If the respondent did not know or declined to provide details about their current partner’s education, a ‘not known’ response category was available and is included in the current partner output items.
• Responses are based on the current educational and employment characteristics of the respondent at the time of interview and may not be reflective of their characteristics at the time they experienced violence. It is recommended that these data items are used only when examining recent experiences of violence (i.e. in the previous 12 or 24 months), as characteristics are more likely to have changed over longer timeframes.

Education data items in the 2021-22 PSS are comparable with the 2005, 2012, and 2016 PSS cycles. The following should be considered when undertaking any comparisons with the 1996 WSS or with current partner education data items from previous PSS cycles:

• A change in the classification used to code qualification information occurred between the 1996 WSS and the 2005 PSS. The WSS was coded to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Classification of Qualifications (ABSCQ), while the PSS used the Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED) 2001. As such, it is necessary to utilise the correspondence tables for ABSCQ and ASCED to conduct any comparisons.
• In 2021-22, for their current partner’s highest level of non-school qualification, respondents were asked to select from a list of provided categories based on the ASCED (with some examples provided to assist with this), whereas in previous cycles respondents were asked to provide details about the highest level and main field of non-school qualification which were then coded using the ASCED.

The data items ‘main field of highest educational attainment’, ‘current study status’, ‘level of current study’, ‘main field of current study’, ‘type of educational institution’, and ‘engagement in education or employment’ are new in 2021-22, and therefore comparative data from previous cycles are not available.