The Australian School Year
The academic year in most Australian states consists of two Semesters, with two Terms in each Semester.
Each of the four school Terms is approximately ten weeks in duration, with a holiday period at the conclusion of each Term.
Schools generally operate from 9am to 3pm weekdays.
State Schools, also called Public schools, are basically free for most residents of Australia, including some temporary residents.
Home Education in Australia
All parents in Australia have the right to choose Home Education as an alternative to regular schooling, although registration for this purpose, before doing so, is normally required by the state education body.
More information is available at: Home Education
Australian National Education Curriculum
12th February 2010
The draft K-10 Australian Curriculum in English, mathematics, science and history is now being finalised for uploading to the Australian Curriculum Consultation Portal.
In the week of 22 February 2010 this consultation website will be available for everyone to read, review, download or print the draft K-10 curriculum. It will also be the place where members of the education community can provide feedback and where the on-line feedback survey can be completed.
The K-10 consultation process and the K-10 part of the website will be open until 23 May 2010.
School Holidays in Australia
Each of the Australian States set their own school terms and holiday dates, and they are often at slightly different times in the different States.
An example of this is the 2008/2009 Summer Holiday starts on Dec 13 in QLD, SA & NT, Dec 19 in Tasmania & WA, and Dec 20 in ACT, NSW & VIC.
The actual State School Term and Holiday dates for each State can be found at:
Private and Independent schools often have slightly different dates, normally starting a bit earlier or ending a bit later.
An example of this is in Queensland, where the summer holiday starts on Dec 13th in the State schools, some Private schools start on Dec 6th.
Starting School
Each Australian State has a different system to decide when a child starts school, although there are national discussions taking place to try to get a
common system for everyone.
More details on this can be found in the Common School Starting Age Report:
If you check the individual State Education pages above, you will see the relevant starting age details for the State that you are interested in.
The first day of the first term of the New Year is normally near the end of January. In 2009 it is January 27th for many States.
Starting Secondary School
State regulations currently mean that State run Secondary school starting years are as follows:
- Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia start Secondary school in Year 8
- ACT, New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria all start Secondary school in year 7
Some private schools may operate differently to the above, especially where they have Junior, Middle and Senior schools.
Year 12 - Final Year of School
Various training options are available to school leavers through an Australian Apprenticeship, University or TAFE
Australian Apprenticeships are included in the Training Pathways Program which is targeted at increasing the number of Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualifications in the workforce to meet the future industry skills requirements.
Gifted and Talented Children
Various links are shown here for Organisation and Government Departments relating to the Education of Gifted Children in Australia
Education Comparison between UK and Australia
Details on the comparison between education in Australia and education in England and the UK, is now at:
There are two International Education surveys carried out on a regular basis; PISA and TIMSS, and results from both are shown at the link above.
Education Tax Refund 2008/09 (ETR)
- More details on the Education Tax Refund........ More.
Other
Education in Australia is administered by the State Governments, NOT by the Federal Government, therefore you will find that each State may have different Holidays and other rules etc etc.
(Even different styles of Handwriting to be learnt in Junior School)
eg: NSW and Queensland
Visit www.schoolfonts.com.au for further details.
Enrolling your child for School
School opening hours during the school holidays.
Just because the children are not at school does not mean the school is closed.
This may be useful to you if you arrive during school holidays, but want to check out schools for enrolling the next year etc.
An example for my school (2010/11 in QLD) is:
Thursday, 2 December 2011 Last day of Term 4 for Middle School
Friday, 10 December 2011 Junior, Middle and Senior School Offices close
-- Christmas School Holidays --
Monday, 10 January 2011 Middle/Senior School Offices open
Monday, 17 January 2011 Junior School Office opens
Tuesday, 18 January 2011 New Staff Orientation
Monday, 24 January 2011 First day Term 1
Temporary 457 Visa Holders
Topic Discussion.. School Fees and 457 Visa Holders
The New South Wales and Australian Capital Territories education authorities have stated that temporary 457 visa holders, and other temporary residents, are not eligible for subsidised education in Government schools.
Consequently, fees in NSW can vary between $4,000 and $6,000.
In the ACT, it is even higher at between $9,000 and $14,000.
Details of Visa numbers and related conditions applying to enrolment in a NSW Government school can be found at www.schools.nsw.edu.au
The other States: Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia and The Northern Territory do allow temporary 457 visa holders the same subsidised education that Citizens and Permanent Residents receive.
State Government Education Websites
- Australian Capital Territory
- Queensland
- New South Wales
- Northern Territory
- South Australia
- Tasmania
- Victoria
- Western Australia
Non-GovernmentEducation Websites
School Types and Funding
Australian Full-Time Student Enrolments in 2003: - Government Schools - 2,254,632 - 68% of total
- Independent & Catholic Schools - 1,063,988 - 32% of total (Independent - 403,397, Catholic - 660,591)
Government Funding to schools
Since the 1960's both the State & Federal governments have each provided funding to both State & Non-State schools across Australia.
These funding figures for 2001-2002 are about:
- Federal Government provided about $ 5.4 billion
- State Governments provided about $19.9 billion
- Totalling $25.3 Billion, or about $7,623 per Australian student.
The State schools received $20.3 billion (79%) of this figure, an average of about $9,000 per student
The Independent/Catholic schools received $5 billion (21%), an average of about $4,700 per student
Individual Independent school funding is calculated based on the economics of the area. ie: Better off areas will receive less, per student, than deprived areas, and funding can vary immensely. Hence, school fees can vary between $600 per year, to $25/30,000 per year.
In 2005-06, government schools in Victoria received combined Australian and Victorian Government funding of $10,352 a student, while non-government schools received $5,613 a student. Source
Overseas Education
Equivalent Qualifications
A table in the following website shows an approximate Australian school-level qualification equivalent to the British A-level results or the A-level tariffs
The British Council can also provide information on sitting GCSE or A-level examinations in Australia
A Statement of Equivalent Qualification can be issued to people who have educational qualifications from overseas that are judged by the Authority to be equivalent to Year 11 or Year 12 level.
Australian Interstate Education Comparisons
Each year the NAPLAN tests are carried out for years 3, 5, 7 and 9, and comparison results are publicised for each State.
Here is an example for the 2008 results for year 3
- ACT ave age = 8yrs 8mths : 3yrs 4mths schooling: Mean score = 421.0 � 5.9
- VIC ave age = 8yrs 9mths : 3yrs 4mths schooling: Mean score = 419.9 � 1.6
- NSW ave age = 8yrs 7mths : 3yrs 4mths schooling: Mean score = 412.3 � 1.8
- Tas ave age = 8yrs 11mths : 3yrs 4mths schooling: Mean score = 401.2 � 4.9
- SA ave age = 8yrs 7mths : 3yrs 4mths schooling: Mean score = 400.5 � 3.3
- WA ave age = 8yrs 5mths : 3yrs 4mths schooling: Mean score = 386.7 � 3.1
- Qld ave age = 8yrs 1mth : 2yrs 4mths schooling: Mean score = 371.1 � 2.6
- NT ave age = 8yrs 6mths : 3yrs 4mths schooling: Mean score = 306.6 � 19.9
Note the difference in age and number of years schooling between Queensland and the rest of the country, combined with the lower score for QLD, when compared to most states.
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