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  • Literacy
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  • High school completion
    • Trend: overall
    • Table: summary
    • Trend: Socioeconomic status (%)
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What does this mean?

In Kids Stats high school completion refers to students who complete Year 12, the final year of schooling in New South Wales.

Why is it important to monitor?

Young people’s involvement in continuing education or skills development, employment opportunities and future financial independence are influenced by their educational achievement. 

Progression to the final year of schooling, Year 12, is influenced by a number of factors including:

• whether students perceive schooling to be beneficial, 
• negative experiences at school,
• the availability of further educational alternatives and employment, and 
• socioeconomic factors [1].

The importance of Year 12 completion is emphasised by the fact that early school leavers can suffer long-term disadvantages in the labour market. Schooling in NSW is compulsory for students up to 15 years of age. Young people who leave school early have poorer outcomes across the board than young people who completed Year 12. Outcomes improve for each year completed from Year 9 to Year 12 [2].

Indicator

Currently there is no routine measure of high school completion. The indicator used in Kids Stats to monitor high school completion is:

The estimated number of students who obtain a Year 12 certificate as a proportion of the potential Year 12 population.

Main findings

• In 2006, 67% of young people in NSW obtained a Year 12 certificate.
• In 2006, an estimated 72 in every 100 females obtained a Year 12 certificate, compared with 62 in every 100 males, a difference of 10 percentage points.
• Geographic location is a factor. The proportion of students who obtained a Year 12 certificate has been consistently higher for students who are living in a capital city.  In 2006, the proportion of students living in remote areas who obtained a Year 12 certificate increased to the same level as those students living in a capital city.
• Socioeconomic status is a factor. While improving over time, a substantially lower proportion of students living in areas of low socioeconomic status obtained a Year 12 certificate.

Notes: [1] Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2003). Australia’s Young People: their health and wellbeing. AIHW Cat No. PHE 50. AIHW, Canberra.
[2] Ibid.

For details of the references and to find out more about the data follow the link to Glossary and further information.