Interactive list: Every CBD and North Adelaide school’s enrolment number and student/teacher ratio
We’ve crunched the data to reveal which schools in the CBD and North Adelaide have the best ratio of teachers per student.
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Private schools have the most teachers per student in Adelaide’s CBD and fringe suburbs, new data shows.
An analysis of national data from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority has revealed which schools have the lowest student to teacher ratios.
According to the data — the most up to date that includes all state and private schools nationally — Muirden Senior College had 8.4 students per teacher.
Pulteney Grammar had 11.3 students per teacher, followed by St Mary’s at 12.1 and Eynesbury Senior College with 12.4
This is in comparison to other state schools such as North Adelaide Primary which had 18.9 students per teacher and Sturt St Community School with 15.8 students per teacher.
The Specialised Assistance School for Youth (SASY) had the highest at 26.8 students per teacher.
The public school with the best student/teacher ratio in the region was Adelaide High School, with 12.9 students per teacher.
The State Government will spend $18 million expanding Adelaide High School’s capacity by 350 students to cope with the addition of Year 7 students and other enrolment pressures.
According to ACARA the national student-teacher ratio was 13.5 students for every teacher.
Across the country independent private schools had the lowest student to teacher ratios with 11.7 students to every teacher.
Government schools had an average of 13.8 students for every teacher while Catholic schools had an average of 14 students for every teacher.
Student-teacher ratios do not take into account teacher aides or non-teaching staff at schools, only the full-time equivalent teachers.
The Education Department said all public schools were funded to ensure agreed average class sizes at every year level were not exceeded.
In each school, average class sizes should not be greater than 26 students across Reception to Year 2, 30 from Year 3-7, 29 from Years 8-10 and 26 in Years 11-12.
Schools are also funded according to seven categories of advantage and disadvantage, with a particular focus on helping disadvantaged schools keep junior primary classes small.
A range of variables means student to teacher ratios do not necessarily equate directly to class size.
“Overall class sizes are influenced by how much funding a school receives based on its level of disadvantage, the programs on offer and how it deploys its resources,” a department spokesman said.
“For instance, schools with special units and special classes for disability will have lower ratios.
“Raw staff to student ratios don’t provide useful information on a school’s offering and we would recommend parents visit their local schools and talk to other families when deciding which school is right for them.”
READ MORE
See the statewide data for enrolments and student-teacher ratios
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However, Catholic Education SA said student to teacher ratio was a “reasonable raw measure” of class size.
“We aim to have class sizes that optimise student learning,” assistant director Michael Kenny said.
“Variables such as the needs and ages of the students, additional assistance available, and other relevant factors are all considered when forming classes.”
CESA said its enterprise agreement provided a “benchmark” for class sizes classes, so they “would normally not exceed” 25 students in Reception and Year 1, 29 for Years 2-6, 30 for Years 7-10 and 25 for Years 11-12.