Analysis of Religion in the 2001 Census

The report explores the characteristics of each of the religion groups in Scotland using information collected from the 2001 Census in Scotland.


ANALYSIS OF RELIGION IN THE 2001 CENSUS: Summary Report

3. QUALIFICATIONS AND EDUCATION

Highest Level of Qualification

The 2001 Census defines the highest level of qualification as follows:

Group 1

'O' Grade, Standard Grade, Intermediate 1, Intermediate 2, City and Guilds Craft, SVQ Level 1 or 2 or equivalent.

Group 2

Higher Grade, CSYS, ONC, OND, City and Guilds Advanced Craft, RSA Advanced Diploma, SVQ Level 3 or equivalent.

Group 3

HND, HNC, RSA Higher Diploma, SVQ Level 4 or 5 or equivalent.

Group 4

First Degree, Higher Degree, Professional qualification.

Note that these analyses are based on the qualifications of people resident on Census night 8, irrespective of country of study. In some cases, qualifications earned out with the UK might not be comparable with the groups listed above. It should also be noted that the qualifications question is only asked to those persons aged between 16 and 74 years.

For all people aged 16-74 years, Sikhs are most likely to have no qualifications or qualifications out with those listed in the Census (42%).

Hindus have by far the highest proportion of people with the degree level qualifications (58%). This is followed by Buddhists with 40% being educated to degree level or above.

The qualification levels of Church of Scotland and Roman Catholic groups are very similar.

Table 3.1: Highest level of qualification by current religion of All People aged 16-74 years

Row Percentages

No qualifications or qualifications out with these groups

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Base

Church of Scotland

38

25

14

6

16

1,601,665

Roman Catholic

39

24

15

7

16

607,151

Other Christian

25

21

17

7

31

263,520

Buddhist

26

12

15

7

40

6,066

Hindu

14

10

13

5

58

4,589

Jewish

23

15

20

5

37

4,593

Muslim

39

18

14

8

22

28,979

Sikh

42

21

14

7

16

4,668

Another Religion

10

16

30

11

33

23,996

No religion

25

26

18

8

23

1,022,709

Not Answered

31

26

17

7

19

163,143

All Religion Groups

33

25

16

7

19

3,731,079

Tables' 3.2-3.5 show how highest level of qualification varies by age.

Table 3.2: Highest level of qualification by current religion of All People aged 16-29 years
Row percentages

No qualifications or qualifications out with these groups

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Base

Church of Scotland

12

37

27

11

14

271,946

Roman Catholic

13

35

27

10

15

144,673

Other Christian

8

24

35

8

25

58,681

Buddhist

15

15

28

9

32

1,640

Hindu

7

9

25

5

53

1,867

Jewish

9

15

40

7

29

978

Muslim

22

23

24

11

19

11,740

Sikh

19

28

25

10

17

1,695

Another Religion

4

15

43

12

26

12,330

No religion

11

35

27

10

16

332,186

Not Answered

14

35

28

9

14

46,044

All Religion Groups

12

34

28

10

16

883,780

Of those aged 16-29 years, Muslims and Sikhs are most likely to have no qualifications, 22% and 19% respectively.

Over half (53%) of Hindus in this age group (16-29) have a degree. This compares to only 14% of people from the Church of Scotland and 15% of Roman Catholics having a degree.

Table 3.3: Highest level of qualification by current religion of All People aged 30-49 years

Row percentages

No qualifications or qualifications out with these groups

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Base

Church of Scotland

26

30

17

8

20

588,518

Roman Catholic

32

27

14

8

20

253,458

Other Christian

16

24

15

8

37

99,132

Buddhist

26

11

11

8

44

3,036

Hindu

15

12

6

5

61

1,764

Jewish

10

15

19

7

48

1,520

Muslim

45

15

8

7

26

13,145

Sikh

48

20

9

6

17

2,048

Another Religion

10

17

18

12

43

8,771

No religion

23

26

15

9

27

464,815

Not Answered

24

27

16

9

23

64,220

All Religion Groups

25

28

15

8

24

1,500,427

Muslim and Sikhs continue to have the highest proportion of people with no qualifications in the 30-49 year old age group.

Again, Hindus are the most highly qualified with 61% educated to degree level or above. This is followed by Jews (48%), Buddhists (44%) and those persons with Another Religion (43%).

Tables 3.4 and 3.5 continue to show that Muslim and Sikhs have the highest proportion of people with no qualifications and Hindus are most likely to be educated to degree level or above.

Table 3.4: Highest level of qualification by current religion of All People aged 50 years-pensionable age 9
Row percentages

No qualifications or qualifications out with these groups

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Base

Church of Scotland

52

18

9

4

16

393,552

Roman Catholic

59

15

8

4

14

116,624

Other Christian

36

18

10

6

31

59,890

Buddhist

32

10

7

6

45

1,068

Hindu

19

9

3

4

66

669

Jewish

30

15

12

3

40

1,200

Muslim

58

11

5

3

23

2,783

Sikh

65

11

6

3

16

582

Another Religion

26

14

12

6

43

2,086

No religion

42

15

10

5

27

155,838

Not Answered

46

17

10

5

21

29,465

All Religion Groups

50

17

9

4

20

763,757

Table 3.5: Highest level of qualification by current religion of All People pensionable age-74 years

Row percentages

No qualifications or qualifications out with these groups

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Base

Church of Scotland

65

14

6

2

13

347,649

Roman Catholic

74

10

5

1

9

92,396

Other Christian

53

14

7

2

24

45,817

Buddhist

60

6

6

2

27

322

Hindu

34

8

3

3

52

289

Jewish

51

14

12

1

21

895

Muslim

80

6

2

1

10

1,311

Sikh

82

6

3

1

8

343

Another Religion

51

10

7

3

29

809

No religion

61

11

6

2

19

69,870

Not Answered

66

12

6

2

15

23,414

All Religion Groups

65

13

6

2

14

583,115

No Qualifications

Chart 3.1 illustrates clearly that the proportion of people with no qualifications (or only qualifications out with those listed in the Census) is highly correlated with age. This data simply collates that already presented in Tables 3.2-3.5.

Chart 3.1: Adults with no qualifications (or qualifications out with those listed in the Census) by current religion - All People aged 16-74 years

Percentages

bar chart

Older people are considerably more likely to have no qualifications than those in younger age bands. For example, 19% of Sikhs aged 16-29 years have no qualifications but this figure increases to 82% for Sikhs of pensionable age-74 years.

Student Population

Details of the proportion of full-time students in each religion group are presented in Chart 3.2. Around 1 in 5 (20.6%) people from Another Religion are full-time students. The Hindu, Muslim and Buddhist populations also have a high proportion of full-time students, with 18.2%, 16.0% and 15.6% respectively. In comparison, only 2.5% of people from the Church of Scotland and 4.6% of Roman Catholics are full-time students.

Chart 3.2: Proportion of full-time students as a percentage of all persons aged 18 years and above by current religion

Percentages

bar chart

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