Adult Qualification Levels
What are we monitoring?
The difference in educational qualifications of Blue Mountains residents from 1991 to 2006. The categories of educational attainment include: bachelor or higher degree, advanced diploma or diploma, vocational or no qualifications. The graph and table below depicts the trend in educational attainment:
| 1991 | 1996 | 2001 | 2006 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor or Higher degree | 11.1 | 14.7 | 18.5 | 21.5 |
| Advanced Diploma or Diploma | 8.4 | 9.4 | 8.7 | 10.1 |
| Vocational | 16.5 | 16 | 18.7 | 19.3 |
| No qualifications | 50.9 | 47.7 | 43.7 | 38 |
| Not Stated | 13.1 | 12.2 | 10.4 | 11.1 |
| Total | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
What is the trend?
In general, the number of people with qualifications has increased significantly in the last 15 years from 49% of the population to 62% in 2006. The majority of educational growth has been in the Bachelor or higher degree awards with a 10% increase in the proportion of the population with these awards in the last 15 years. The number of people with vocational awards has also increased from 16.5% in 1991 to 19.3% in 2006.
How does the Blue Mountains compare to the Western Sydney and Sydney Statistical Region?
The Western Sydney region encompasses eleven local government areas including; Auburn, Bankstown, Baulkham, Hills, Blacktown, Blue, Mountains, Fairfield, Hawkesbury, Holroyd, Liverpool, Parramatta and Penrith
2006 Census data reveals that 47.6% of residents in the Blue Mountains have completed Year 12 compared to 43.1% of Western Sydney residents. 19.3% of Blue Mountains residents attained vocational awards compared to 16.2% of Western Sydney residents. The most significant difference in educational achievement is in the proportion of the Blue Mountains population with a Bachelor or higher degree is 21.6% which is considerable higher to the proportion of the Western Sydney population at 13.8%.
Infact, the educational achievements of the Blue Mountains is more closely compared to the Sydney Statistical region rather than the Western Sydney region. The proportion of Blue Mountains residents with Bachelor and higher degrees and diplomas is closely compared to those for the Sydney region. The proportion of people completing vocational awards in Blue Mountains (19.3%) is however, significantly higher than those in the Sydney regions (14.9%). Overall, 62% of the Blue Mountains population has an educational award compared to 57% of the Sydney statistical region.
Why is monitoring this trend important?
This trend information data provides one perspective on the skills and knowledge capability of Blue Mountains residents. The skills and knowedge of Blue Mountains people is acknowledged as being an important component of the City's human assets.
An increase in this trend, particularly where contributing to the economic, environmental and social benefits for the City, has the potential to indicate our progress in Working and Learning - a Key Direction of the City Vision.
Source
The data is derived from the Australian Census of Population and Housing, which occurs every five years. The data is published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The regional data is presented on the Western Sydney Regional Organisations of Councils - Regional profile website http://www.id.com.au/profile/Default.aspx?id=303&pg=108&gid=140&type=enum