For the first time since 2017, there has been an annual increase in the proportion of students staying at school from Year 7/8 until Year 12. The proportion rose from 79.1 percent in 2023 to 79.9 percent in 2024, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
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Growing even more was the proportion of students staying at school from year 10 until year 12, up 1.2 percentage points to 79.9 percent between 2023 and 2024.
The proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students staying at school from Year 7/8 to Year 12 increased from 55.9 per cent in 2023 to 56.7 per cent in 2024 (0.8 percentage points).
Cassandra Elliott, ABS head of education statistics, said: “The overall growth in the proportion of students staying from year 10 until year 12 was largely driven by students at government schools, which was up 1.3 percentage points to 74.3 per cent in 2024. This compared to a 0.9 percentage point rise to 88.1 per cent for students at non-government schools.”
Speaking at a press conference last week, at the opening of the Fairfield Connect study hub, before these figures were released, Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said: “The number of kids finishing high school at the moment is going backwards. And it’s not happening everywhere, it’s not happening in private schools, it’s happening in public schools. It’s dropped from 83 percent to 73 percent in the last 10 years.
“At the moment, some of the most disadvantaged kids in this country aren’t just not finishing school, they’re not getting a chance to go to child care.”
Independent Schools Australia (ISA) Chief Executive Officer, Graham Catt, said the growth shows that Independent schools are an essential part of Australia’s education system, supporting students from a wide range of backgrounds. “These enrolment figures show that families are prepared to make significant sacrifices to provide their children with the education they believe is best for them,” Mr Catt said.
“With cost-of-living pressures at an all-time high, families are prioritising investment in their children’s futures. They believe this investment is also a critical role for governments, and that their choice of school should be supported – not undermined.”
Rise in full time equivalent teachers improves student-to-teacher ratios
Australian schools had 320,377 full-time equivalent teaching staff in 2024, a 2.8 percent rise from 2023.
“With a rise in the number of teaching staff, the average student-to-teacher ratio across Australian schools fell to a new low since 2006 of 12.9 students to one teacher,” Ms Elliott said.
“Independent schools had the lowest student-to-teacher ratios with 11.7 students to one teacher. Meanwhile, government and Catholic schools had 13.1 and 13.3 students to one teacher respectively.”
4.1 million students enrolled in school
Total school enrolments reached over 4.1 million across 9653 schools in 2024, a rise of 1.1 percent since 2023. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander school student enrolments continued to grow, up 3.7 percent from the previous year. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students now make up 6.6 percent of all school students.
Previous reporting has indicated that Tasmania has the second lowest high school completion rate in the country.
