Your child's education

• July 1, 2008
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Australian children attend school from around 5 years of age for approximately 12 years, depending on which State or Territory you live in. Each State and Territory is responsible for its own education system.

The bulk of children in Australia attend public school with approximately 30% of students attending an independent school (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics). If you plan to send your children to public school, the decision will be relatively straightforward as you will generally attend a school in a zone determined by your residential address.  If you wish to send your child to an independent school however, you will need to do your research early as many have long waiting lists and require you to apply early to secure a place. The following is a quick overview of the stages of education, some factors to take into consideration and lots of handy links so that you can research further.
 
Stages of education
Pre-school 
Not compulsory. Children usually attend from around 4 or 5 years of age for 2-5 days per week in the year prior to starting school. See links to each State/Territory education department below for more information.

Infants/primary
Compulsory. Kindergarten to approximately Year 6. Starting dates and the name of the starting year tends to differs slightly between each State/ Territory. Generally children enroll from approximately 5 years of age.

Secondary
Usually Year 6 through to Year 12 (6 or 7 years depending on the State or Territory). Generally, students are able to leave from about Year 10 (on completion of a Leaving Certificate) however the majority of students are now remaining to complete Year 12. In 1999 72.3% of students in Australia completed Year 12.

Tertiary & vocational training 
Following on from Secondary school, students can move onto vocational (job based) training or they can go on to University study.  Completion of Year 12 study or equivalent is a minimum pre-requisite for entrance to University.

Types of education: public or independent?
Public schools are generally co-educational (boys and girls attend classes together). Education at a public school is free in most states though many schools will charge a small annual fee.  Continued...

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