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Smart Queensland

Delivering world-class education and training

Queenslanders are better educated and more skilled than we've ever been.

97 per cent of eligible Queensland children attend a full-time prep year before school
about 22 per cent of 25-64 year olds have at least a bachelor degree as their highest qualification, up from 13 per cent in 1997
another 32 per cent hold a high level vocational qualification, up from 23 per cent in 1997
Queensland leads the nation in school-based apprenticeships and traineeships with 41 per cent of the national pool of commencements.

Improvements in education and training

Prep: we've caught up in the early years by introducing a full-time prep year and by lifting the school starting age to better prepare children for school.

Year 12: we led the nation with our landmark ‘learning or earning’ reforms that made Year 12, or its equivalent, the minimum needed to succeed in life beyond school.

Technology: the number of computers in state schools has doubled since 1999 and almost all computers are now connected to the internet.

Academies: we've established new academies for gifted students in science, maths, the creative arts, and health sciences to stretch them as far as their talents and abilities can take them.

Training: we've overhauled vocational training and education, established new alliances to better match training with industry needs and funded thousands of extra trades training places to address skills shortages.

Current and future challenges

Queenslanders' education and skill levels have improved, but are not nation leading. And while we've taken a huge step to improve early childhood education with Prep, we need to go further.

Early childhood education: the early years between three-and-a-half and four-and-a-half are critical. Experiences in the early years of life shape a child's wellbeing and future life chances.

Children who benefit from a quality early childhood education program are less likely to have contact with the criminal justice system, mental health services or require family support.

The early years are where we can make the biggest difference in the future, particularly to children living in our most disadvantaged families and communities.

Skill levels: technological advancements and increasing global competition for new knowledge will continue to place a higher premium on skilled workers into the future.

The more education people have the more they will be able to take on new opportunities, work with new technologies and adapt to changing job needs.