Level of highest educational attainment (HEAP)

This variable records a single measure of a person’s overall highest level of educational attainment, whether it be a school or non-school qualification. It helps to build a picture of educational attainment and qualifications across Australia and can be used to:

• compare with data collected in previous Censuses to help understand the changes of educational achievement in Australia over time
• determine the general level of educational achievement of the Australian population and of specific groups in Australian society
• investigate the relationship between levels of education and employment outcomes, income and other socioeconomic variables.

Persons aged 15 years and over

Level of highest educational attainment (HEAP) is derived using a combination of two variables:

• Highest year of school completed (HSCP)
• Non-school qualification: level of education (QALLP)

These variables are sourced from the Census questions.

The derivation process determines which of the 'non-school' and 'school' attainments will be regarded as the highest. Usually the higher-ranking attainment is self-evident, but in some cases Secondary education is regarded as higher than some Certificate level attainments. The following decision table describes how Certificate levels and Highest year of school completed are coded.

Table 1. Derivation of level of Highest educational attainment decision table

While questions regarding educational qualifications in general have been asked for every Census since 1911, Level of highest educational attainment, which combines measures of school and non-school education, was first reported in 2006.

In 2011, people in the following categories were assigned a Level of highest educational attainment the same as their highest year of school completed:

• Highest Year of School Completed of Year 8 or below to Year 12
• Certificate not further defined

In 2016, people with ‘Highest Year of School Completed of Year 8 or below to Year 12’ and a ‘Certificate not further defined’ were assigned a Level of highest educational attainment as 'Inadequately described'.

For 2021, Undergraduate certificates are a new qualification and will be coded to category '420 Diploma level, nfd'. In previous Censuses, nothing has been coded to this category. See also Non-school qualification: level of education (QALLP).

This variable can be used to provide data on Target 6 for the National Agreement for Closing the Gap.

• By 2031, increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25-34 years who have completed a tertiary qualification (Certificate III and above) to 70 per cent.

This variable does not have a non-response rate as it is created during Census processing by using responses from more than one question on the Census form.

• Highest year of school completed (HSCP)
• Non-school qualification: field of study (QALFP)
• Non-school qualification: level of education (QALLP)
• Or equivalent level of education

• Education
• Education and training: Census