The National Report on Schooling

The latest data on schools and students in Australia has been released by ACARA as part of the National Report on Schooling in Australia 2024.  The full national report will be released in February 2026. Some of the key highlights:

Schools

• There were 9,653 schools in Australia, an increase of 24 schools since 2023, of which 69.7% of schools were government, 18.2% were Catholic and 12.1% independent.

Student enrolment

• A total of 4,132,006 students were enrolled in Australian schools, an increase of 1.1% from 2023.
• 63.4% were enrolled in government schools, 19.9% in Catholic schools and 16.8% in independent schools.
• 54.9% were primary school students and 45.1% were in secondary school.
• Over the past decade, total enrolments grew by 437,905 (11.9%) which largely reflects the growth in the school-age population.
• The number of students in independent schools rose from 529,857 in 2014 to 692,271 in 2024 – a 30.7% increase. This has resulted in a 2.5 percentage point increase in the proportion of students attending independent schools since 2014.
• In 2024, the proportion of 6–15-year-olds enrolled in Australian schools was 98.6% – the same as in 2022 and 2023, but down from 99.0% in 2021 (data from the National Schools Statistics Collection).