Description

This article is from the soc.culture.australian FAQ, by Stephen Wales with numerous contributions by others.

10.2 Australian Schooling

Schools are Prep,1-6 (primary) and 7-12 (secondary or high school),
except
- in WA, where primary school is years 1 to 7, and secondary school is
years 8 to 12. [AW];
- in Qld where there is no equivalent to Prep unless you send your
kids to Kindergarten / Pre-School (optional), and primary ranges from
1-7, Secondary is 8-12.
- in Catholic Schools in SA:prep-5 junior, 6-9 middle 10-12/13 senior.
This is often internal and many parish primary schools extend up to
year 7 for the parents who want to send their kids to a state school
for high school. [KW]

Attending school is compulsory until the age of 16.

The school year goes from the end of January or first part of Feb.
until the middle of December. There are school holidays between each
term. The school year has 4 terms (3 in Tasmania) with a week off at
Easter, 2 weeks in July (winter), 2 weeks at the end of Sept. or first
of October.

Most schools have uniforms - public and private.

[KW] In South Australia whilst all schools have uniforms State,
schools do not and cannot make it compulsory to wear them. My
understanding of other states is that it is the same there. What will
often happen however is that kids are encouraged to wear the colours
of the uniform. Most wear the correct colours but never the actual
uniform, with the exception is that many girls do wear their summer
uniform. With private school, you either wear it or don't come to
school anymore!!

* State vs Private

The majority of australian children attend State schools. No actual
figures, but it appears the number of children attending private
schools is on the increase. One person thought this was leading to the
closing down of many state schools, however this may also be due to
falling overall enrollment due to lower birthrates.

Private schools fall into different categories. The majority of
private schools are Catholic, and often do not cost much, being
subsidised by the church. The others are called "Independent" schools,
which usually means they have affiliations with some protestant
religion. The top independent schools are very expensive and very
prestigious, but there are a range of independent school with less
prestige and less expensive.

Geelong Grammar, where Prince Charles went for a year, is known as the
Eton of Australia.

Parents send their children to private schools for a number of
reasons: parents perceive they will get a better education; there will
be more discipline; children are more likely to get into the "top"
courses at university (Law, Medicine, Economics/Commerce); religious
education; better teachers.

It is true that private schools can and do suspend or expel students,
whereas this is almost impossible from a State school, because the
government is obligated to educate everyone up to the age of 16. As
to the other factors, some research has shown that the overriding
predictor of educational success for a child is the parents' social
class and their education aspirations for the child. It has also been
shown that tertiary students from State high schools do better at
University than students with similar entrance marks.

A common perception is that anyone who afford it will send their child
to a private school, but there are actually many people who believe in
State education (my parents, for example [AN]).

* Completing High School

Each state has a different system for completing high school and
university entrance, and many states have changed the system in recent
years.

Victoria's old HSC has been replaced by the VCE (Victorian Certificate
of Education), done over years 11 and 12. Students are required to do
English, Australian Studies and a certain number of other units. Each
unit is assessed internally by CATs (Common Assessment Tasks). [Are
they going to bring back external exams? AN].

In South Australia it is still called Matriculation but is very
different to the old external exam system. The new system involves
splitting topics into uni entrance and non-uni entrance. Eg Chem is
uni entrance but typing isn't. I think you get two years to do it and
then in year 13 can repeat some topics if you like to improve the
grade. To get into uni you must take at least 5 uni entrance topics.
If you take more the best 5 are taken to give your entrance score.
The marks are out of 20 so you get an entrance score out of 100. This
is not the whole picture by far but it is what the kids applying for
uni must do. [KW]

[SW] Queensland had the dubious TE (Tertiary Entrance) Score until the
late 80's/early 90's when it was replaced by the Student Profile. As I
understand it, both systems are under a shroud of mystery as to exactly
how they work.

[Any recent high school grad's or secondary teachers care to comment ?]

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