By Christopher Harris and Craig Butt
The state’s public schools have recorded their worst year for enrolments as parents increasingly choose to send their children to private and Catholic schools.
An additional 49,000 students in NSW were enrolled in private schools compared with a decade ago, while Catholic schools added an extra 16,000 students over the same period, ABS school enrolment data shows.
The share of public school enrolments fell to 62.1 per cent of school-aged children in NSW. Last year, 780,000 students were enrolled in government schools.
Girls have always been slightly less likely to attend public schools compared with boys, but the gap has widened in the past two years.
The shift to private and Catholic schools mirrors a national trend that appears to have defied higher cost-of-living pressures for families.
Catholic Schools NSW chief executive Dallas McInerney said: “Parents value our focus on academic standards and behaviour with a strong values framework that is hard to find elsewhere in the community.”
Association of Independent Schools NSW chief executive Margery Evans said much of the enrolment growth in NSW recorded was in low- and mid-fee Christian, Islamic and Anglican schools located on the city’s fringes.
“The data clearly shows that in spite cost-of-living pressures, families still prefer their children to have an education that reflects their beliefs, values and philosophies,” she said.
While some Sydney parents have typically chosen to send their child to the local public primary school before switching to a private high school, enrolment share for public primary school fell from 69.7 per cent in 2015 to 67.2 per cent in 2024.
Joanna McNamara with her son Billy, who is in year 7 at St Paul’s Catholic College in Manly.Credit: James Brickwood
Public high school enrolment share declined from 59.6 per cent in 2015 to 55.9 per cent last year.
NSW Education Minister Prue Car blamed the previous government for the drop in public school enrolments in NSW.
“The decline in enrolment share is a legacy of the former Liberal-National government and its failure to build schools in high-growth areas, while their wages cap drove teachers out of our schools, impacting student outcomes,” Car said. “We are working at speed to deliver our record pipeline of new and upgraded schools, which will be game-changers for these suburbs.”
Joanna McNamara sent her son Billy, 12, to a public primary school and eventually chose St Paul’s Catholic College in Manly after visiting its open day, where Billy took an immediate shine to the maths teacher and the languages on offer. The school charges $7682 for year 7.
“It is a big decision choosing a high school. And every child is different, and I wanted to find the right school for my son,” McNamara said. “We just loved the feeling of the school, the ethics and the morals, and just the great vibe when we came in.”
Rebecca King and her daughter Madison, principal Gabie Stojanovski and Joanna McNamara with her son Billy, 12.Credit: James Brickwood
College principal Gabie Stojanovski said it had seen exponential enrolment growth, with a waiting list of 100 students for 2027 after it decided to transition from all-boys to co-ed this year.
“Parents are really seeking the values-based ethos of Catholic schools,” she said.
That was the case for Rebecca King, who also chose St Paul’s for her daughter Madison, 12. The sport, academic and extracurricular activities were also appealing.
Nationally, the proportion of students staying from year 10 until year 12 was largely driven by students at government schools, up 1.3 percentage points to 74.3 per cent in 2024.
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