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Executive summary

Introduction

The National Report on Schooling in Australia 2021 is the 33rd annual national report on Australia’s school education sector. It has been produced by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) on behalf of Australian education ministers.

The report highlights progress in 2021 towards the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration released by Australian education ministers in 2019 and is the second national report to address these nationally agreed goals and commitments.

The National Report on Schooling in Australia 2021 consists of 2 parts: this written report and the online National Report on Schooling data portal.

The written report addresses the 11 areas of commitment to action specified in the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) declaration, describes the national policy and reporting context for school education in Australia, and reports against the nationally agreed key performance measures (KPMs) for schooling specified in the Measurement Framework for Schooling in Australia 2020, providing data, analysis and commentary. It also includes other high-level statistical information on Australian schooling in 2021 and for the period 2011–2021 inclusive.

The National Report on Schooling data portal gives readers and researchers interactive access to a wider range of nationally consistent data on schooling in Australia. This includes data on enrolments, staffing, and school funding, and on the KPMs for student participation, achievement in the National Assessment Program (NAP), and attainment of Year 12 and post-school qualifications.

The data portal allows readers to view data by state and territory as well as at the national level, by calendar year and by other breakdowns, such as school sector, sex and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, where possible and appropriate. Data sets are regularly updated as new data becomes available and may be downloaded from the portal.

Previous editions of the National Report on Schooling in Australia for the years 2009–2020 are available on the ACARA website. Editions from 1989 to 2008 are available in the Trove archive maintained by the National Library of Australia.


Overview of the report

Part 1, ‘Schools and schooling’, provides information on the status of Australian schooling in 2021, including school, student and teacher numbers and school structures.

All states and territories provide for 13 years of formal school education. Primary education, including a foundation year, lasts for either 7 or 8 years and is followed by secondary education of 6 or 5 years respectively. Typically, schooling commences at age 5, is compulsory from age 6 until age 17 (with provision for alternative study or work arrangements in the senior secondary years), and is completed at age 17 or 18. School structures and age requirements in states and territories are summarised in Part 1.4.

The majority (69.8%) of schools are government schools, established and administered by state and territory governments through their education departments or authorities. The remaining 30.2% are non-government schools, mostly associated with religious organisations. Non-government schools are established and operated under conditions determined by state and territory governments through their registration authorities. School numbers are shown in Part 1.1.

Around two-thirds (65.1%) of school students are enrolled in government schools and about one-third (34.9%) in non-government schools. Part 1.2 reports on numbers of students by school sector, state and territory, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status and notes the impact of national border closures due to COVID-19 on school enrolments.

Staff numbers closely reflect enrolments, with 63.6% of school teachers employed by the government school sector and 36.4% by non-government schools. Part 1.3 reports on teaching staff numbers and student–teacher ratios by school sector and state and territory.

School, student and teacher numbers in 2021 are shown for Australia and by state and territory in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Number of schools, students and teachers by state and territory, Australia, 2021

ANR 2021 Map

Notes:

Student numbers are individuals (full-time students plus part-time students). Teacher numbers are full-time equivalent (FTE) teaching staff.

Source: ABS, Schools, Australia, 2021; see also National Report on Schooling data portal.

 

Part 2, ‘Policies and priorities’, outlines the national policy context for Australian schooling in 2021 and reports against the commitments to action agreed by Australian education ministers in the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration.

Part 2 of this report summarises the national policy context for schooling, including the role of the national ministerial forum, the Education Ministers Meeting, in deciding agreed national policy for education in 2021 and the broader framework within which national decisions for schooling were made.

Part 2.1 lists education ministers’ agreed priorities for 2021 and describes the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration and the National School Reform Agreement (NSRA) as the prior national agreements shaping school education policy. It also identifies notable initiatives undertaken in 2021 and comments on the response of the school education sector to disruptions caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The extent of disruptions due to COVID-19 to school operations in 2021 in each state and territory, and the responses of school systems within each jurisdiction are detailed in Part 2.14.

From 2020, the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration replaced the Melbourne Declaration as the ministerial statement of educational goals for young Australians and commitment to action for the coming decade. Ministers agreed that education continue to promote excellence and equity and enable all Australians to become confident and creative individuals, successful learners, and active and informed community members. The Alice Springs (Mparntwe) declaration emphasises the importance of learning throughout life and a renewed commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures. Part 2.2 outlines the educational goals and commitment to action contained in the declaration.

Parts 2.3–2.13 report on national progress in implementing the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration commitment to action in 2021 under the 11 headings specified in the declaration. These sections also include activities addressing the 8 national policy initiatives specified in the National School Reform Agreement (NSRA) and list examples of state and territory initiatives relating to the commitment.

Progress towards the commitment to action reported for 2021 included:

  • States and territories implemented new and continuing partnerships with industry and the community to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. The Australian Government allocated funding to extend existing initiatives to support the teaching and learning of STEM.
  • To support quality teaching and leadership, the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) encouraged recognition of teachers certified through the Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher (HALT) program and implemented agreed national approaches to accreditation of initial teacher education.
  • States and territories continued to implement the professional standards for teachers and principals, and the accreditation of teachers and teacher education programs, within their jurisdictions.
  • States and territories and non-government sectors implemented initiatives for early childhood education, for the formative years of primary school, for the middle years of schooling, and for senior schooling and youth transitions.
  • A range of activities were undertaken in response to the 2020 review of senior secondary pathways into work, including the mapping of skills development activities, developing specifications to inform learner profiles, enhancing career information and agreeing on the scope and principles of a national strategy for VET delivered to secondary students.
  • Under the Heads of Agreement for Skills Reform (signed in July 2020), the Australian, state and territory governments have committed to strengthening VET pathways for secondary students.
  • ACARA completed its review of the Foundation to Year 10 Australian Curriculum as requested by ministers. The revised Australian Curriculum, Version 9.0, will be considered for endorsement by education ministers in early 2022.
  • NAPLAN testing was resumed in May 2021 following its cancellation in 2020. Tests were administered to over 1.2 million students with approximately 67% of students undertaking the tests online, on track to the full transition to NAPLAN online in 2022.
  • In November 2021, Education Ministers Meeting agreed in principle to move NAPLAN tests to Term One from 2023, to maintain the existing constructs for NAPLAN tests, to phase in opt-in assessments in Science, Civics & Citizenship and Digital Literacy and to move the NAP Sample test window to Term Two from 2023. 
  • In line with the NSRA, work continued to explore how learning progressions and formative assessment can enhance the capacity of teachers to make evidence-based decisions about student learning.
  • In 2021 the Australian Government, all states and territories and the Coalition of Peaks (representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations) released their first annual Closing the Gap Implementation plans under the 2020 National Agreement on Closing the Gap. All states and territories operated programs to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and communities within their jurisdictions.
  • The final report of the 5-yearly review of the Disability Standards for Education (DSE) was released in March 2021. The Australian Government worked with state and territory governments and non-government education authorities to implement the recommendations, with an initial focus on the development of information products.
  • The My School website was updated to include school profile data for 2014 to 2020, and data on school finances, VET in schools and post school destinations from 2014 to 2019.
  • Work continued on the development of options to establish a national unique student identifier (USI) as agreed under the NSRA, including privacy impact assessments. Education ministers agreed to pilot the proposed solution with NSW, SA and NT, including some Catholic and independent schools within those jurisdictions.
  • The Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO), a national policy initiative to improve the national evidence base under the NSRA was launched in December 2020. In 2021 AERO published resources to inform teacher practice, system improvement and policy development using evidence-based approaches.


Part 3, ‘Measuring and reporting performance’, reports on the performance of Australian schooling in 2021, using the nationally agreed key performance measures (KPMs) for schooling specified in the Measurement Framework for Schooling in Australia 2020.

Part 3 reports on 17 of the 18 agreed KPMs scheduled for reporting in 2021.

The measures are reported at the national level, and by various breakdowns, such as state and territory, school sector, school year and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status. For relevant KPMs, time series for the previous 10 years (2011–2020) are also included. Where relevant breakdowns or time series are not reported in Part 3, they are provided in the National Report on Schooling data portal, as part of extensive statistical information on schooling in Australia, along with technical notes and caveats.

Data reported for 2021 includes:

  • At the 2021 census, the national enrolment rate for 6–15-year-olds was 99.3%. Enrolment rates were 99.0% or higher in all states and territories except the NT.
  • The average national attendance rate for students in Years 1–10 in 2021 was 90.9% — a fall of 0.5 percentage points from 2019, with decreases at the national level in all three school sectors, arising from the continued spread of COVID-19 in 2021.
  • At 79.4%, the average attendance rate for Indigenous students was 12.2 percentage points lower than for non-Indigenous students. There was an increase in this gap of 1.7 percentage points between 2019 and 2021. 
  • Among all Australian students in Years 1–10, 71.2% attended school for at least 90% of school days. However, just over 40% (41.3%) of Indigenous students within this group met the 90% benchmark. 
  • The national apparent retention rate from Year 10 to Year 12 decreased by 0.5 percentage points to 81.6% in 2021. The apparent retention rate from Year 10 to Year 12 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students decreased by 1.0 percentage points to 60.5%. The apparent gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous rates widened by 0.4 percentage points to 22.2 percentage points in 2021. The long-term trends since 2011 in apparent retention rates from Year 10 to Year 12 were upward for all students and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, with a net fall in the gap of 4.9 percentage points between 2011 and 2021.
  • NAPLAN participation rates were over 95% for each of Years 3, 5 and 7. At 92.3%, the Year 9 participation rate was lower than for other years. 
  • The proportion of students achieving at or above the national minimum standard in NAPLAN tests was over 90% for Years 3, 5 and 7 in reading, and for Years 3 and 5 in writing. The proportion of students achieving at or above the national minimum standard in NAPLAN numeracy tests was over 93% for all year groups tested.
  • Nationally, for Year 3 and Year 5, there were upward long-term trends in the mean scale scores and the proportion of students achieving at or above the national minimum standard for reading.
  • The proportion of the 15‒19-year-old population, including secondary students, undertaking a vocational education and training (VET) qualification increased from 26.4% in 2020 to 27.3% in 2021. The long-term trend in this measure since 2015 was downward.
  • The 3 KPMs measuring the participation of young people in education and/or work, as measured by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Survey of Education and Work (SEW), all increased in 2021, after falling in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic’s negative impact on employment and training especially for young people. As 2021 was a census year in Australia, data for these measures drawn from the Census of Population and Housing is also reported for 2021.
  • The proportion of 15–19-year-olds who were fully engaged in education, training or work, as measured by SEW, increased from 85.4% in 2020 to 90.3% in 2021. The long-term trend in this measure was upward, with an average annual increase of 0.3 percentage points.The proportion of 20–24-year-olds who were fully engaged in education, training or work increased from 71.0% in 2020 to 73.0% in 2021. However, this increase was not statistically significant and did not represent a full recovery to pre-COVID levels. There was no evident long-term trend in this measure for the period 2008–2021.
  • The proportion of 17–24-year-olds who had left school and were fully engaged in education, training or work (as measured by SEW) increased from 69.3% in 2020 to 73.9% in 2021. The fall in this measure of 4.7 percentage points between 2019 and 2020 and the subsequent increase of 4.6 percentage points between 2020 and 2021 were both statistically significant and were closely related to the effect of COVID 19 on the employment of young people. With an average annual fall of 0.3 percentage points since 2008, the long-term trend in this measure was downward.
  • At the 2021 census, 73.4% of 17–24-year-olds who had left school were fully engaged in education, training or work — an increase of 2.4 percentage points since 2016.
  • The proportion of the 20–24-year-old population that had attained at least Year 12 or equivalent or Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) Certificate II or above, as measured by the ABS SEW, was 89.9% in 2021, a similar level to 2020. The proportion of the 20–24-year-old population that had attained at least Year 12 or equivalent or AQF Certificate III or above increased from 89.4% in 2020 89.5% in 2021. This increase was not statistically significant, but the longer-term upward trend in this measure of 0.5 percentage points per annum since 2008 is in line with long-standing government policy to increase levels of attainment for young people.
  • At the 2021 census, the proportion of the 20–24-year-old population that had attained at least Year 12 or equivalent or AQF Certificate II or above was 90.3%, compared to 88.6% in 2016; and the proportion of the 20–24-year-old population that had attained at least Year 12 or equivalent or AQF III or above was 89.9%, compared to 87.9% in 2016. These are substantial rises in census data over only 5 years.

Table 1 summarises the national KPMs for 2021 in comparison with 2020, or the most recent calendar year for which comparable data exists. This is expressed as the short-term change to each KPM. For data from the census of population and housing, the most recent previous calendar year is 2016. For attendance and NAPLAN measures the most recent previous calendar year is 2019. Table 1 also summarises longer-term trends in the movement of KPMs. This data demonstrates that while changes in KPMs from year to year are generally small, successive increments over time may result in measurable long-term trends.

Table 1: Key performance measures for schooling, Australia, 2020-2021, and long-term trends

Key Performance Measures

Short-term change

Long-term trend

2020 or previous calendar year

2021

Change

Trend period

Average annual change (percent. points)

Trend

1. Student participation

 

 

 

 

 

 

1(a) Enrolment: Proportion of children aged 6 to 15 years who are enrolled in school (Census of Population and Housing) (%) [previous calendar year is 2016]

99.4

99.3

2011-21

0.0

1(b) Attendance rate: The number of actual full-time equivalent student-days attended by full-time students in Years 1 to 10 in Semester 1 as a percentage of the total number of possible student-days attended in Semester 1 (%) [previous calendar year is 2019]

91.4

90.9

2014-21

-0.3

1(c) Attendance level: The proportion of full-time students in Years 1-10 whose attendance rate in Semester 1 is equal to or greater than 90 per cent (%) [previous calendar year is 2019]

73.1

71.2

2018-21

-1.3

1(d) NAPLAN participation: Proportion of students participating in NAPLAN in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 (%) [previous calendar year is 2019]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year 3

96.1

96.4

2008-21

-0.1

Year 5

96.5

96.6

2008-21

-0.1

Year 7

96.0

95.8

2008-21

-0.2

Year 9

92.9

92.3

2008-21

-0.3

1(e) Apparent retention rate from Year 10 to Year 12 (%)

82.1

81.6

2010-21

0.3

1(f) Participation of young people in VET including VET in Schools: Proportion of the population aged 15 to 19 years who in the calendar year successfully completed at least one Unit of Competency as part of a VET qualification at AQF Certificate II or above (%)

26.4

27.3

2015-21

-0.4

1(g) Proportion of 15 to 19-year-olds in full-time education or training, in full-time work, or both in part-time work and part-time education or training) (%)

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABS Survey of Education and Work

85.4

90.3

2008-21

0.3

Census of Population and Housing [previous calendar year is 2016]

86.4

86.9

2011-21

0.1

N/A

1(h) Proportion of 20 to 24-year-olds in full-time education or training, in full-time work, or both in part-time work and part-time education or training (%)

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABS Survey of Education and Work

71.0

73.0

2008-21

-0.4

Census of Population and Housing [previous calendar year is 2016]

72.2

72.3

2011-21

-0.2

N/A

1(i) Proportion of 17–24-year-olds who have left school that are in full-time education or training, in full-time work, or both in part-time work and part-time education or training (%)

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABS Survey of Education and Work

69.3

73.9

2008-21

-0.3

Census of Population and Housing [previous calendar year is 2016]

71.0

73.4

2011-21

-0.2

N/A

2. Student Achievement – National Achievement Program – Literacy

 

 

 

2(a) Proportion of students achieving at or above the national minimum standard for Reading in Years 3, 5, 7
and 9 (%) [previous calendar year is 2019]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year 3 – Band 2

95.9

95.9

2008-21

0.2

Year 5 – Band 4

94.7

95.1

2008-21

0.3

Year 7 – Band 5

94.5

93.8

2008-21

0.0

Year 9 – Band 6

91.8

89.7

2008-21

-0.1

2(b) NAPLAN mean scale scores for Reading in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 (points on NAPLAN scale) [previous calendar year is 2019]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year 3

432.2

437.9

2008-21

2.5

Year 5

506.1

511.3

2008-21

2.0

Year 7

546.3

542.3

2008-21

0.3

Year 9

581.3

576.8

2008-21

0.3

2(c) Proportion of students achieving at or above the national minimum standard for Writing in Years 3, 5,
7 and 9 (%) [previous calendar year is 2019]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year 3 – Band 2

96.3

96.7

2011-21

0.1

Year 5 – Band 4

92.8

93.3

2011-21

0.1

Year 7 – Band 5

89.4

89.7

2011-21

-0.1

Year 9 – Band 6

82.4

82.2

2011-21

-0.2

2(d) NAPLAN mean scale scores for Writing in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 (points on NAPLAN scale) [previous calendar year is 2019]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year 3

422.5

425.3

2011-21

0.8

Year 5

474.1

479.9

2011-21

-0.5

Year 7

513.2

522.0

2011-21

-0.7

Year 9

548.8

550.6

2011-21

-1.2

2(f) Proportion of participating Year 4 students achieving at or above the proficient standard (Intermediate) in PIRLS (%) [previous calendar year is 2016]

81

N/A

N/A

2011-21

N/A

N/A

3. Student Achievement – National Achievement Program – Numeracy

 

 

 

3(a) Proportion of students achieving at or above the national minimum standard for Numeracy in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 (%) [previous calendar year is 2019]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year 3 – Band 2

95.5

95.4

2008-21

0.1

Year 5 – Band 4

95.4

95.0

2008-21

0.2

Year 7 – Band 5

94.3

93.2

2008-21

0.0

Year 9 – Band 6

96.0

94.7

2008-21

0.2

3(b) NAPLAN mean scale scores for Numeracy in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 (points on NAPLAN scale) [previous calendar year is 2019]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year 3

408.1

402.8

2008-21

1.1

Year 5

495.9

495.2

2008-21

1.1

Year 7

554.4

550.3

2008-21

0.7

Year 9

592.1

587.5

2008-21

0.7

7. Student Attainment

 

 

 

 

 

 

7(a) Proportion of the 20 to 24-year-old population
having attained at least Year 12 or equivalent or AQF Certificate II or above

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABS Survey of Education and Work (%)

89.9

89.9

2008-21

0.5

Census of Population and Housing (%) [previous calendar year is 2016] Census of Population and Housing) (%) [most recent calendar year is 2016]

88.6

90.3

2011-21

0.5

N/A

7(b) Proportion of the 20 to 24-year-old population
having attained at least Year 12 or equivalent or AQF Certificate III or above

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABS Survey of Education and Work (%)

89.4

89.5

2008-21

0.5

Census of Population and Housing (%) [previous calendar year is 2016]

87.9

89.9

2011-21

0.5

N/A

Notes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Except for NAPLAN scale scores, KPMs are expressed as percentages.

Where appropriate, measures of short-term change in Table 1 have been tested for statistical significance. Where KPMs are based on census or administrative data, changes of more than 0.1 percentage points are considered noteworthy/significant.  

Long-term trends for each KPM are shown for the period (at least 3 years) over which comparable data is available. To measure long-term trends, a line of best fit is calculated when at least three points are available. The annual change is calculated from the gradient. When the gradient exceeds the standard deviation calculated for the yearly KPMs, the line of best fit can be categorised as “trending up” or “trending down”.  When there is no difference, the line of best fit will be described as “trending flat”. 
For the trends in NAPLAN mean achievement (KPMs 2b, 2d and 3b), the criterion for determining the significance of the average annual change includes a calculation of equating error over time consistent with the NAPLAN National Report methodology.

means the short-term increase in the measure was significant/the long-term trend was positive/upward

means the short-term decrease in the measure was significant/the long-term trend was negative/downward

means the short-term change in the measure was not significant/a long-term trend was not evident

N/A means not available.

With the exception of mean scale scores for NAPLAN, the average annual change over the trend period is expressed as percentage points. For NAPLAN mean scale scores, the average annual change over the trend period is expressed as points on the NAPLAN scale. For NAPLAN measures, this differs from the comparisons between calendar years published in the 2021 NAPLAN National Report and on the NAPLAN results page of the ACARA NAP website, which are comparisons between two points in time rather than trends over time. Trend data by state and territory, and by other disaggregations where possible and appropriate, is provided in the Key Performance Measures data set in the National Report on Schooling data portal.



Part 4, ‘School funding’, reports data on government spending on Australian schooling and data on school income and capital expenditure.

Part 4 outlines intergovernmental funding arrangements for school education, and reports on state and territory and Australian Government expenditure on government and non-government schools. It also summarises data on school income from all sources and capital expenditure on schools.

Schools are funded through a combination of state or territory government funding, Australian Government funding, fees and charges and other parental or private contributions.

In the 2020‒21 financial year, total recurrent government funding for schooling was $72.21 billion. This was made up of $49.96 billion (69.2%) from state and territory budgets and $22.25 billion (30.8%) from the Australian Government (Commonwealth) budget.

Overall, 76.0% of recurrent government funding was allocated to government schools and 24.0% to non-government schools. The bulk (91.6%) of state and territory funding was allocated to government schools. Most (59.0%) of the Australian Government funding was allocated to non-government schools.


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