Qld schools nearly impossible to enrol into from outside of catchments

Catchment enrolment data has revealed the Queensland public school where it’s nearly impossible for students to be accepted from outside of catchment areas. Search our interactive table to find out how in-demand your child’s school is.

A high-performing inner-city public school accepted just 3 per cent of its student cohort from outside its designated catchment boundaries in a stark contrast to its nearest high school, new data has shown.

West End State School welcomed just 41 students from outside of its enrolment catchment in 2022, under strict measures to address overcrowding and “catchment fraud” issues.

An exclusive Courier-Mail analysis into out-of-catchment enrolments has revealed the schools where it is nearly impossible to gain entry into for those who live outside of the catchment areas.

It comes after desperate parents were forced to camp outside in-demand public schools overnight in bid to be accepted for 2023.

Enrolments at West End State School have reached capacity and, according to its website, would only accept students who reside within its catchment area.

According to the school’s enrolment management plan, West End State School must restrict OOC students to ensure in-catchment students can enrol at the school without requiring additional facilities.

Brisbane State High School.

However, at Brisbane State High School, located just blocks from West End State School, more than 1500 (46 per cent) of students were accepted from outside the catchment.

Real estate agent John Cassimatis, of Belle Property West End said schools within the 4101 postcode had been highly constrained for several years.

Mr Cassimatis said one of the main priorities for parents looking to buy in suburbs like West End and Highgate High, was ensuring their children would be eligible for enrolment into Brisbane State High School.

He said West End State School fed into Brisbane State High School.

“It’s a strong motivation to get into a suburb for Brisbane State High which is quite strict on its enrolments, so buyers are looking at getting ahead of the game,” Mr Cassimatis said.

“They like to secure a spot well in advance.”

Mr Cassimatis said the demographic of buyers throughout the past 12 months had been dominated by families with young children who were years away from entering into high school.

“It’s been like this for many years now,” he said.

Other in-demand public schools with less than 10 per cent of OOC enrolments included Ironside State School, Moggill State School, New Farm State School, Redland Bay State School and Victoria Point State High School.

Ironside State School is one of the state’s top performing schools based on NAPLAN results, and had 97 students (nine per cent) accepted from outside the boundaries.

Sunnybank Hills and Indooroopilly state schools were the highest performing NAPLAN schools in the state and had 27 per cent and 16 per cent respective OOC enrolments.

Elsewhere in the state, popular schools accepting minimal OOC students included Cannonvale State School (3 per cent), Mareeba State School (six per cent) and Yarrabilba State School (six per cent) and Coolum Beach State School (nine per cent).

Parents have previously been forced to camp outside in-demand schools like Ascot, Graceville and Sherwood state schools in desperate bids for acceptance. All three schools had less than 40 per cent OOC enrolments in 2022.

A spokeswoman for the Queensland Department of Education said it responded to “ongoing enrolment demand to ensure the best educational outcomes for all students”.

“This includes monitoring school capacity and enrolment data, as well as projected enrolment growth across the short, medium and long term to ensure future growth needs are catered for,” she said.