or scroll down to read the Executive Summary.
Executive Summary
The National Report on Schooling in Australia 2022 is the 34th 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 2022 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 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 2022 and for the period 2012–2022 inclusive.
Chapter 2, ‘Schools and schooling’, provides information on the status of Australian schooling in 2022, including school, student and teacher numbers and school structures.
In Australia, responsibility for school education rests mainly with the 6 state and 2 territory governments. All states and territories provide for 13 years of formal school education. Primary education, including a foundation year, lasts for 7 years and is followed by secondary education of 6 years. 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 section 2.1.
School, student and teacher numbers in 2022 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, 2022
Notes: Student numbers are individuals (full-time students plus part-time students). Teacher numbers are full-time equivalent (FTE) teaching staff.
Source: ABS, Schools, 2022.
School Numbers
School numbers are shown in section 2.2. The majority (69.7%) of schools are government schools, established and administered by state and territory governments through their education departments or authorities. The remaining 30.3% are non-government schools, mostly associated with religious organisations.
More than three-quarters (76.9%) of primary schools were government schools. Most secondary schools (73.3%) and special schools (65.6%) were also government schools, while most combined schools (64.4%) were non-government schools, mainly in the independent school sector.
View the data portal page on
school numbers.
Student Numbers
In 2022, a total of 4,042,512 students were enrolled in Australian schools, an increase of 0.3% from 2021. Section 2.3 reports on numbers of students by school sector, state and territory, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status. Around two-thirds (64.5%) of school students are enrolled in government schools and about one-third (35.5%) in non-government schools. More than half (56.3%) of students were primary school students. This difference is mainly due to the structure of schooling, in which primary schooling includes more year groups than secondary schooling.
View the data portal page on
student numbers.
School students with disability
In 2022, 911,131 school students received an educational adjustment due to disability. This represents 22.5% of total enrolments, up from 21.8% in 2021 and 18.0% in 2015.
Among school students who received an educational adjustment due to disability in 2022, 54.9% of adjustments were provided to students with cognitive disability, 32.0% to students with social-emotional disability, 10.2% for students with physical disability and 2.9% for cognitive disability. Further details about educational adjustments for students with disability are provided in section 2.4.
View the data portal page on
school students with disability.
Staff Numbers
School staff numbers are shown in section 2.5. Staff numbers closely reflect enrolments, with 63.1% of school teachers employed by the government school sector and 36.9% by non-government schools.
Australia’s teaching workforce continues to be predominantly female, with women making up 71.9% of FTE teachers in 2022. The gender difference was more pronounced at the primary level (82.0% female) than at secondary level (61.4% female).
View the data portal page on
staff numbers.
Student-teacher Ratios
Section 2.6 reports on student-teacher ratios by school sector, state and territory. The student–teacher ratio is calculated as the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) students per FTE teaching staff. For all Australian schools, the average FTE student–teacher ratio in 2022 was 13.1:1, a reduction of 0.2 from 13.3:1 in 2021.
View the data portal page on student-teacher ratios.
Chapter 3, ‘Policies and priorities’, outlines the national policy context for Australian schooling in 2022 and reports against the commitments to action agreed by Australian education ministers in the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration.
This chapter summarises the national policy context for schooling, including the role of the national ministerial forum, the Education Ministers Meeting (EMM), in deciding agreed national policy for education in 2022 and the broader framework within which national decisions for schooling were made.
Section 3.1 lists education ministers’ agreed priorities for 2022 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 2022.
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. Section 3.2 outlines the educational goals and commitment to action contained in the declaration.
Sections 3.3–3.13 report on national progress in implementing the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration commitment to action in 2022 under the 11 headings specified in the declaration. These sections also include activities addressing the 8 national policy initiatives specified in the NSRA and list examples of state and territory initiatives relating to the commitment.
Progress towards the commitment to action reported for 2022 included:
- A focus on student voice, including a commitment of $10.5 million from the Australian Government in 2022 to a Youth Engagement Model to give young people the opportunity to engage with the policies and programs that impact them.
- A commitment to supporting quality teaching through an agreement to support teacher workforce shortages (National Teacher Workforce Action Plan, 2022), an investment in initial teacher education, and leadership support across a number of states and territories.
- A focus on better understanding and supporting individual student needs, including a $183 million investment by the Victorian Government to the Middle Years Literacy and Numeracy Support Initiative, providing teaching support to secondary school students who are at risk of finishing school without the literacy and numeracy skills they need for future work or study.
- A commitment to empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to reach their potential, including embedding culturally responsive teaching practices into education.
- Strong responses by a number of states and territories on emerging issues, such as vaping.
View the data portal page on
policies and priorities.
Chapters 4 to 8 report on the performance of Australian schooling in 2022, using the nationally agreed key performance measures (KPMs) for schooling specified in the Measurement Framework for Schooling in Australia 2020.
These chapters report on the 20 agreed KPMs scheduled for reporting in 2022. 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 (2012–2021) are also included. Where relevant breakdowns or time series are not reported, 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.
Chapter 4 reports on student enrolment, attendance, and apparent retention.
Enrolment Rates
Data from the National Schools Statistics Collection (NSSC) indicate that in 2022, the proportion of 6–15-year-olds enrolled in school in Australia was 98.6%, down from 99.0% in 2021.
View the data portal page on enrolment rates.
Student Attendance
The attendance rate for students in Years 1-10 declined from 90.9% in 2021 to 86.5%. This decline, which was due to the impact of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, high Influenza season outbreaks and floods in certain regions across Australia, was remarkably consistent across all states/territories and school sectors.
The national student attendance level (the percentage of students with above 90 per cent attendance) declined from 71.2% in 2021 to 49.9%. The large decline is due to a small shift in attendance, which corresponds to an exaggerated movement in the student attendance level.
View the data portal page on student attendance.
Apparent Retention
The national apparent retention rate from Year 10 to Year 12 decreased by 2.6 percentage points to 79.0% in 2022. The apparent retention rate from Year 10 to Year 12 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students decreased by 4.1 percentage points, from 60.5% in 2021 to 56.4% in 2022.
View the data portal page on apparent retention.
Chapter 5 reports on student achievement in the National Assessment Program (NAP) and International Assessments.
NAPLAN
Section 5.1 reports on participation and achievement in the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). In 2022:
- NAPLAN participation rates were over 95% for Years 3, 5 and 7. Year 9 students had the lowest participation in NAPLAN at 91.7%.
- At least 95% of Year 3 and Year 5 students achieved at or above the national minimum standard for reading, as did 94.2% of Year 7 students and 89.6% of Year 9 students.
- Over 96% of Year 3 students achieved at or above the national minimum standard for writing, as did 92.6% of Year 5 students, 90.6% of Year 7 students and 84.1% of Year 9 students.
- At least 95% of students in years 3, 5 and 9 achieved at or above the national minimum standard for numeracy, as did 92% of Year 7 students.
- At a national level, there were upward long-term trends in the mean scaled scores for reading in Years 3 and 5 and for numeracy in Year 5.
View the data portal page on NAPLAN national results.
NAP sample assessments
Section 5.2 reports on student achievement in National Assessment Program – Information and Communication Technology Literacy (NAP–ICT).
In 2022, the proportion of participating Year 6 students achieving at or above the proficient standard for NAP–ICT literacy was 55%. This was not significantly different to the proportion achieving at or above the standard in four of the previous five assessment cycles but was significantly lower than the proportion for 2011 (62%). The proportion of participating Year 10 students attaining the proficient standard was 46% in 2022. This proportion was significantly lower than that for any previous NAP–ICT assessment cycle.
View the data portal page on NAP Sample assessments.
International Assessments
Section 5.3 reports on student achievement in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) assessments. In 2022:
- 57% of Australian students achieved scores at or above the proficient standard for reading literacy,
- 51% of Australian students achieved scores at or above the proficient standard for mathematical literacy, and
- 58% of Australian students achieved scores at or above the proficient standard for scientific literacy.
- Across all three domains, average scores for Australian students were higher than the OECD average.
- At the national level, across all three domains, there were no significant differences in average PISA scores between 2015 and 2022.
Vocational Education and Training
Chapter 6 reports on participation of young people aged 15-19 in Vocational Education and Training (VET). In Australia in 2022:
- Participation in VET returned to pre-COVID levels, with 26.3% of 15-19-year-olds completing at least one unit of competency at AQF Certificate II or above.
- Almost half (49.8%) of qualifications gained by 15–19-year-olds were at AQF level II and 33.0% were at AQF level III.
- The long-term trend in the proportion of 15–19-year-olds participating in VET was downward, from 29.6% in 2015 to 26.3% in 2022.
View the data portal page on
participation in vocational education and training.
Participation in education and work
Chapter 7 reports on the participation of young people aged 15 to 24 in education and/or work, as measured by the Australian Bureau of Statistics Survey of Education and Work. In Australia in 2022:
- The proportion of 15–19-year-olds who were fully engaged in education, training or work decreased to 88.3%, down from 90.3% in 2021.
- The proportion of 20–24-year-olds who were fully engaged in education, training or work increased to 76.4%, up from 73.0% in 2021. This represents a full recovery to pre-COVID levels.
- The proportion of 17–24-year-olds who had left school and were fully engaged in education, training or work increased to 75.0%, up from 73.9% in 2021. Fluctuations in this measure between 2019 and 2022 were closely related to the effect of COVID 19 on the employment of young people.
View the data portal page on
participation in education and work.
Student attainment
Chapter 8 reports on Year 12 certification levels, and levels of educational attainment of young people aged 20 to 24. In 2022:
- The proportion of the Year 12 population that met the requirements of a Senior Secondary Certificate or equivalent was 76.3% – a return to 2020 levels after increasing to 79.1% in 2021.
- Year 12 certification rates still show gaps by location. They were higher in major cities (79.4%) than in inner regional areas (67.6%), outer regional areas (69.2%) and remote/very remote areas (55.5%).
- Year 12 certification was higher for the population living in high socio-economic status areas (82.9%) than those in medium and low socio-economic status areas (75.2% and 69.7% respectively).
View the data portal page on
student attainment.
Key Performance Measures
Table 1 summarises the national KPMs for 2022 in comparison with 2021, or the most recent calendar year for which comparable data exists. This is expressed as the short-term change to each KPM. For NAP Information and Communication Technology (ICT) literacy, the most recent previous calendar year is 2017. For the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) assessments, the most recent calendar year is 2018.
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, 2021-2022, and long-term trends
|
Key Performance Measures
|
Short-term change
|
Long-term trend
|
|
2021 or previous calendar year
|
2022
|
Change
|
Trend period
|
Average annual change (percent. points)
|
Trend
|
|
1. Student participation
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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 (%)
|
90.9
|
85.5
|
↔
|
2014-22
|
-0.6
|
↓
|
|
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 (%)
|
71.2
|
49.9
|
↓
|
2018-22
|
-5.3
|
↓
|
|
1(d) NAPLAN participation: Proportion of students participating in NAPLAN in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 (%)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year 3
|
96.4
|
96.0
|
↔
|
2008-22
|
-0.1
|
↔
|
|
Year 5
|
96.6
|
96.3
|
↔
|
2008-22
|
-0.1
|
↔
|
|
Year 7
|
95.8
|
95.2
|
↔
|
2008-22
|
-0.2
|
↓
|
|
Year 9
|
92.3
|
91.6
|
↔
|
2008-22
|
-0.3
|
↓
|
|
1(e) Apparent retention rate from Year 10 to Year 12 (%)
|
81.6
|
79.0
|
↔ |
2010-22
|
0.2
|
↑
|
|
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 (%)
|
27.3
|
26.3
|
↔
|
2015-22
|
-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
|
90.3
|
88.3
|
↓
|
2008-22
|
0.2
|
↑
|
|
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
|
73.0
|
76.4
|
↑
|
2008-22
|
-0.3
|
↓
|
|
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
|
73.9
|
75.0
|
↔
|
2008-22
|
-0.2
|
↔
|
|
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 (%)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year 3 – Band 2
|
95.9
|
95.5
|
↔
|
2008-22
|
0.2
|
↑
|
|
Year 5 – Band 4
|
95.1
|
95.0
|
↔
|
2008-22
|
0.3
|
↑
|
|
Year 7 – Band 5
|
93.8
|
94.2
|
↔
|
2008-22
|
0.0
|
↔
|
|
Year 9 – Band 6
|
89.7
|
89.6
|
↔
|
2008-22
|
-0.1
|
↔
|
|
2(b) NAPLAN mean scale scores for Reading in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 (points on NAPLAN scale)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year 3
|
437.9
|
437.8
|
↔
|
2008-22
|
2.4
|
↑
|
|
Year 5
|
511.3
|
509.7
|
↔
|
2008-22
|
1.8
|
↑
|
|
Year 7
|
542.3
|
542.6
|
↔
|
2008-22
|
0.2
|
↔
|
|
Year 9
|
576.8
|
577.6
|
↔
|
2008-22
|
0.2
|
↔
|
|
2(c) Proportion of students achieving at or above the national minimum standard for Writing in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 (%)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year 3 – Band 2
|
96.7
|
96.2
|
↔
|
2011-22
|
0.1
|
↔
|
|
Year 5 – Band 4
|
93.3
|
92.6
|
↔
|
2011-22
|
0.1
|
↔
|
|
Year 7 – Band 5
|
89.7
|
90.6
|
↔
|
2011-22
|
0.0
|
↔
|
|
Year 9 – Band 6
|
82.2
|
84.1
|
↔
|
2011-22
|
0.0
|
↔
|
|
2(d) NAPLAN mean scale scores for Writing in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 (points on NAPLAN scale)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year 3
|
425.3
|
422.1
|
↔
|
2011-22
|
0.9
|
↔
|
|
Year 5
|
479.9
|
484.3
|
↔
|
2011-22
|
0.1
|
↔
|
|
Year 7
|
522.0
|
529.8
|
↔
|
2011-22
|
0.1
|
↔
|
|
Year 9
|
550.6
|
559.9
|
↔
|
2011-22
|
-0.5
|
↔
|
|
2(e) Proportion of participating Year 4 students achieving at or above the proficient standard (Intermediate) in PISA (%) (Comparison year is 2018)
|
59
|
57
|
↔
|
2009-22
|
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 (%)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year 3 – Band 2
|
95.4
|
95.0
|
↔
|
2008-22
|
0.1
|
↔
|
|
Year 5 – Band 4
|
95.0
|
95.1
|
↔
|
2008-22
|
0.2
|
↑
|
|
Year 7 – Band 5
|
93.2
|
92.0
|
↔
|
2008-22
|
-0.1
|
↔
|
|
Year 9 – Band 6
|
94.7
|
95.0
|
↔
|
2008-22
|
0.2
|
↔
|
|
3(b) NAPLAN mean scale scores for Numeracy in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 (points on NAPLAN scale)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year 3
|
402.8
|
399.8
|
↔
|
2008-22
|
0.8
|
↑
|
|
Year 5
|
495.2
|
488.3
|
↓
|
2008-22
|
0.8
|
↑
|
|
Year 7
|
550.3
|
546.3
|
↔
|
2008-22
|
0.6
|
↑
|
|
Year 9
|
587.5
|
584.4
|
↔
|
2008-22
|
0.4
|
↔
|
| 4. Student Achievement – Science |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 4(b) Proportion of students achieving at or above the proficient standard (Level 3) on the OECD PISA combined scientific literacy scale: 15-year-old students (%) (comparison year is 2018) |
58 |
58 |
↔ |
2009-22 |
NA |
NA |
| 6. Student Achievement – Information and Communication Technology |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Proportion of students achieving at or above the proficient standard in Information and Communication Technology: Year 6: Level 3 (%) (comparison year is 2017) |
53.5 |
55.0 |
↔ |
2005-22 |
0.1 |
↔ |
| Proportion of students achieving at or above the proficient standard in Information and Communication Technology: Year 10: Level 4 (%) (comparison year is 2017) |
54.1 |
45.9 |
↓ |
2005-22 |
-1.1 |
↓ |
|
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
|
90.6
|
↔
|
2008-22
|
0.5 |
↑ |
|
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 (%)
|
89.5
|
90.1
|
↔
|
2008-22
|
0.5 |
↑ |
|
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 2022 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.
|
Chapter 9, ‘School funding’, reports data on government spending on Australian schooling and data on school income and capital expenditure.
Chapter 9 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 2021‒22 financial year, total recurrent government funding for schooling was $78.69 billion ($22,511 per student in government schools and $14,032 per student for non-government schools). This was made up of $53.56 billion (68.1%) from state and territory budgets and $25.12 billion (31.9%) from the Australian Government (Commonwealth) budget.
Overall, 74.6% ($58.74 billion) of total recurrent government funding was allocated to government schools and 25.4% ($19.95 billion) to non-government schools. The bulk of state and territory funding (91.5%) was allocated to government schools, while 61.2% of Australian Government funding was allocated to non-government schools.
View the data portal pages on school income and school expenditure.