Australia’s fastest growing schools revealed

Australia’s fastest growing schools have been revealed, with some exploding in size. See how much the school in your suburb has grown or declined.

Australia’s fastest growing schools - and the ones where enrolments are rapidly going backwards - have been revealed.

Analysis of MySchool data reveals some Australian schools have increased enrolments by 2000+ per cent in the past five years from 2018 to 2022 while others have steeply declined.

See below for a state-by-state breakdown.

NSW/ACT

Sydney’s biggest public school is an eight-year-old primary school in a region far outstripping the rest for school growth, analysis of five years of enrolment data has revealed.

The 422 public and private schools that make up Western Sydney’s educational offering grew by 13 per cent on average between 2018 and 2022, twice the rate seen in South West Sydney and six times the growth of inner city Sydney.

With urban sprawl overtaking the new, greenfield suburbs of the city’s north-west, some schools in Gables, Marsden Park and Riverstone more than doubled in size over the five-year period.

Riverbank Public School in The Ponds grew by 81 per cent to 2079 students, making it the single largest government school in the state, despite accommodating primary school-aged students. Castle Hill High School, the next most populous school, only grew 19 per cent over the same period.

Nearby The Ponds High School has also grown significantly over the five years to 1949 students, an increase of 75 per cent, while Riverstone High School’s population grew by 85 per cent.

Santa Sophia Catholic Secondary College in Gables, which formally opened to students in 2021 but recorded a handful of pre-enrolments in 2018, became the fastest growing school in The Daily Telegraph’s analysis with an increase of nearly 2500 per cent growing from 23 students to 595.

SEE THE FULL LIST OF NSW/ACT SCHOOLS HERE

The five fastest growing schools in NSW/ACT in past five years

Santa Sophia Catholic College (Secondary) (Gables) 2487%

St Luke’s Catholic College (Secondary) (Marsden Park) 1189%

Zahra Grammar School (Minto) 805%

St Anthony of Padua Catholic College (Austral) 738%

Premer Public School (Premer) 700%

Top five schools in decline in NSW/ACT in past five years

Cowper Public School (Cowper) -80%

Yarrowitch Public School (Yarrowitch) -82%

Beckom Public School (Beckom) -90%

Durrumbul Public School (Durrumbul) -93%

Reddam House (Woollahra) -100%

Santa Sophia Catholic College is the fastest growing school in Australia.

VICTORIA

Schools in Victoria’s outer regions are experiencing a massive boom in enrolments, new data has revealed.

Edgars Creek Secondary College in Wollert has taken the title for fastest growing campus in the state, with a 1041 per cent surge in enrolments.

The school, which began taking enrolments prior to opening in 2021, grew from 18 enrolments in 2018 to 1004 last year.

The data from ACARA shows the fastest growing campuses over the past five years, with many from Victoria’s booming growth corridors in the west and other outer suburbs.

Schools with booming student populations include Our Lady of the Way Catholic Primary School in Wallan, which grew 674 per cent, Springside West Secondary College in Fraser Rise (607%), Tarneit Rise Primary School (598%) and Richmond High School (576%).

Schools, some of which have been closed or are smaller learning centres, experienced a decline in enrolments.

This includes Lower Plenty Primary School, which experienced a decrease of 65 per cent in enrolments since 2018.

Holy Saviour Parish School in Vermont South had a 51 per cent decline in enrolments.

SEE THE FULL LIST OF VICTORIAN SCHOOLS HERE

Top five fastest growing schools in Victoria in past five years

Edgars Creek Secondary College (Wollert) 1041%

Our Lady of the Way Catholic Primary School (Wallan) 674%

Springside West Secondary College (Fraser Rise) 607%

Tarneit Rise Primary School (Tarneit) 598%

Richmond High School (Richmond) 576%

Top five schools in decline in Victoria in past five years

Stanhope Primary School (Stanhope) -75%

Winton Primary School (Winton) -76%

Ozford College (Melbourne) -78%

Laharum Primary School (Laharum) -84%

Resurrection House (Essendon) -100%

QUEENSLAND

Queensland’s 10 fastest-growing schools have at least tripled their enrolment numbers in just five years.

The two fastest-growing schools were both micro schools - Maroon State School in Ipswich topped with 267 per cent growth from six students in 2018 to 22 students in 2022, while Pozieres State School in Toowoomba had a 263 per cent jump from eight students to 29.

Picnic Creek State School on the Gold Coast was third, going from 268 to 894 enrolments, and Bellbird Park State Secondary College in Ipswich was close behind jumping from 520 to 1664 students in five years.

At the other end of the scale, regional micro state schools made up the majority with the greatest decline in enrolments over the same five-year period.

The two exceptions were Catholic secondary Seton College in Brisbane’s South, which dropped from 320 students in 2018 to 116 in 2022, while Catholic secondary St Teresa’s College Abergowrie in North Queensland also slumped from 190 to 77 enrolments.

Picnic Creek State School is one of Queensland’s fastest growing schools.

SEE THE FULL LIST OF QUEENSLAND SCHOOLS HERE

Top five fastest growing schools in Queensland in past five years

Maroon State School (Maroon) 267%

Pozieres State School (Pozieres) 263%

Picnic Creek State School (Coomera) 234%

Bellbird Park State Secondary College (Bellbird Park) 220%

Capricornia School of Distance Education (Emerald) 217%

Top five schools in decline in Queensland in past five years

Millaroo State School (Millaroo) -67%

Hinchinbrook Christian School (Ingham) -69%

Orion State School (Orion) -73%

Macknade State School (Macknade) -77%

Goodwood State School (Goodwood) -78%

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Annesley Junior School in Wayville is the state’s fastest growing school, swelling from 99 students in 2018 to 266 students last year - a jump of 169 per cent.

At the other end of the spectrum the population at public Moorook Primary School plummeted 81 per cent over the same period, to just 7 students in 2022.

It was expected the tiny school would lose even more students so the community agreed to amalgamate with nearby Kingston-on-Murray Primary School at the start of this year.

SEE THE FULL LIST OF SOUTH AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLS HERE

Top five fastest growing schools in SA in past five years

Annesley College (Wayville) 169%

Mount Carmel College (Rosewater) 123%

Playford College (Elizabeth) 117%

Dara School (Morphettville) 103%

Plympton International College (Plympton) 102%

Top five schools in decline in SA in past five years

Basket Range Primary School (Basket Range) -58%

Vineyard Lutheran School (Clare) -65%

Springton Primary School (Springton) -70%

Port Wakefield Primary School (Port Wakefield) -71%

Moorook Primary School (Moorook) -81%

Henry Bannister, 9, with his brother, Eddie Bannister, 7, at Annesley College in Wayville, one of the fastest growing schools in SA. Picture: Matt Loxton

TASMANIA

Tasmania’s fastest growing schools - and the ones going backwards - have been revealed.

An analysis of federal government data has revealed every Tasmania region school’s student enrolment trajectory over the past five years - exposing where student numbers have risen and declined the most.

Cape Barren Island School in Cape Barren Island is Tasmania’s fastest growing school, with enrolments increasing by 100 per cent in the five years from 2018 to 2022.

The second fastest growing school was North West Christian School in Penguin with a 93 per cent change while Channel Christian School in Margate recorded the third biggest change with a 91 per cent increase.

Meanwhile, the analysis also highlighted the Tasmania region’s schools in decline with Australian Christian College - Burnie in Somerset recording a 71 per cent drop over five years.

SEE THE FULL LIST OF TASMANIAN SCHOOLS HERE

Top five fastest growing schools in Tasmania in the past five years

Cape Barren Island School (Cape Barren Island) 100%

North West Christian School (Penguin) 93%

Channel Christian School (Margate) 91%

Hilliard Christian School (West Moonah) 90%

Cosgrove High School (Glenorchy) 88%

Top five schools in decline in Tasmania in the past five years

West Ulverstone Primary School (West Ulverstone) -28%

Geeveston Primary School (Geeveston) -31%

Ouse District School (Ouse) -33%

Westerway Primary School (Westerway) -54%

Australian Christian College - Burnie (Somerset) -71%

NORTHERN TERRITORY

Mother Teresa Catholic Primary School in Zuccoli is Northern Territory’s fastest growing school, with enrolments increasing by 568 per cent in the five years from 2018 to 2022.

The second fastest growing school was Northern Territory School of Distance Education in The Gardens with a 484 per cent change while Haileybury Rendall School in Berrimah recorded the third biggest change with a 110 per cent increase.

Meanwhile, the analysis also highlighted the Northern Territory region’s schools in decline with Rockhampton Downs School in Tablelands recording a 90 per cent drop over five years.

Angurugu School in Angurugu was the second school going backwards for enrolment with a 60 per cent drop and Amoonguna School in Amoonguna was the third with a 58 per cent decline.

SEE THE FULL LIST OF NORTHERN TERRITORY SCHOOLS HERE

Top five fastest growing schools in NT in past five years

Mother Teresa Catholic Primary School (Zuccoli) - 568%

Northern Territory School of Distance Education (The Gardens) 484%

Haileybury Rendall School (Berrimah) 110%

Woolaning School (Litchfield Park) 100%

Imanpa School (Imanpa) 92%

Top five schools in decline in NT in past five years

Tiwi College (Tiwi Islands) -46%

Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School (Woodroffe) -48%

Amoonguna School (Amoonguna) -58%

Angurugu School (Angurugu) -60%

Rockhampton Downs School (Tablelands) -90%

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Oakwood primary school in Meadow Springs is WA’s fastest growing school with a 614 per cent surge in enrolments in the past five years. Closely behind is Aveley North Primary School in Aveley with a 558 per cent increase.

The biggest school in decline is Riverlands Montessori School at Dayton with a 100 per cent drop in enrolments

Top five fastest growing schools in WA in past five years

Oakwood Primary School (Meadow Springs) 614%

Aveley North Primary School (Aveley) 558%

Northshore Christian Grammar School (Alkimos) 452%

Southern Grove Primary School (Southern River) 448%

Helena River Steiner School (Midland) 447%

Top five schools in decline in WA in past five years

Yiramalay Studio School (Fitzroy Crossing) -66%

Yuna Primary School (Yuna) -69%

Yerecoin Primary School (Yerecoin) -73%

Watheroo Primary School (Watheroo) -92%

Riverlands Montessori School (Dayton) -100%