Young people and education across Australia
The Australian Bureau of Statistics' publication Australian Social Trends 2008 contains a section titled 'Education across Australia', which examines educational attainment levels and participation in education: how this has changed in the 10 years to 2006, and how this varies by geographic location and by Indigenous status.Staying in education
For young people aged between 15 and 24 years, participation in education has increased over the past decade. Reflecting the location of educational institutions, the gains in participation for 20-24-year-olds occurred in the more accessible areas. Among 15- to 19-year-olds, the gains, although modest, were greater in Outer Regional and more remote areas.
According to the 2006 Census of Population and Housing:
- 75% of 15-19-year-olds were attending an educational institution in 2006 (compared with 71% in 1996),
- 72% of the students in this age group were attending a secondary school.
Some of this increase reflects changes in the education system in recent years whereby a number of state governments have increased the minimum school leaving age.
Small increases in participation were recorded for this age group across all Remoteness Areas and especially in Outer Regional, Remote and Very Remote areas. Nevertheless, in 2006,
- participation in education for 15-19-year-olds decreased with increasing remoteness:
- participation in education for 15-19-year-olds was 78% in Major Cities
- participation in education for 15-19-year-olds was 34% in Very Remote areas.
Young people aged 20-24 years attending an educational institution
Among young people aged 20-24 years:- around one-third (34%) were attending an educational institution in 2006, up from 27% in 1996.
Increases in participation in education for young people aged 20-24 years were observed in:
- Major Cities (from 32% in 1996 to 39% in 2006)
- Inner Regional areas (from 21% to 26%)
- Outer Regional areas (from 12% to 17%).
The high proportion of 20-24-year-olds attending an educational institution in Major Cities includes young people who have moved from regional and remote areas to participate in higher education. In 2004, the Longitudinal Study of Australian Youth found that over one-quarter of 23-year-olds who had been living in non-metropolitan areas at age 16 (in 1997) had moved to metropolitan areas since that time, with the move most often associated with university study. The five percentage point increase in the proportion of 20-24-year-olds attending an educational institution in Outer Regional areas (from 12% in 1996 to 17% in 2006) represents a relatively dramatic change in relative terms, due in part to the smaller population bases of these areas.
School completion and further education
In 2006, percentage of 19-year-olds who had left school:
- 98%.
In 2006, of the 19-year-olds who had left school:
- 72% had completed Year 12 or equivalent
- the female rate of completion: 77%
- the male rate of completion: 68%.
The proportion who had completed Year 12 declined with increasing remoteness, with a consistent pattern of higher rates of completion among females than males. To some extent, differences by remoteness are influenced by people moving location for study or work after leaving school.
Young people leaving secondary school without completing Year 10
In 2006, percentage of 15-19-year-olds who were no longer attending high school who had not completed Year 10:
- 7%
- in Remote areas: 14%
- in Very Remote areas 36%.
In 2006, young people aged 15-19 years who had left school without completing Year 12 who were attending another educational institution:
- 26%
- in Remote areas 15%
- in Very Remote areas 6%.
In 2006, rates of participation for 15-19-year-olds in education beyond secondary school:
- those who had completed Year 12: 61%
- those who had not completed Year 12: 26%
- those in Major Cities who had completed Year 12: 66%
- those in Inner Regional areas who had completed Year 12: 47%
- those in Very Remote areas who had completed Year 12: 16%.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008, Australian social trends, Cat. no.4102.0, viewed 2 October 2008, http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Chapter6002008.