4221.0 - Schools, Australia, 2011 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 21/03/2012   
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MEDIA RELEASE
02 May 2012
Embargo: 11.30 am (Canberra Time)
34/2012
    Non-government schooling, a tale of two sectors

The number of students in the independent schools sector has increased by 35% since 2001, compared with 12% growth in the catholic schools sector over the same time, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

The stronger growth rate of student numbers in the independent sector is one of a number of differences between the two sectors, such as:
  • lower student to teaching staff ratios (FTE) in the independent sector with 14.8 and 10.4 for primary and secondary respectively, while the figures for the catholic sector were 17.5 and 12.8; and
  • higher proportions of teaching staff who are male in the independent sector than the catholic sector, with 34% and 28% respectively.

The non-government sector accounts for about one third of all Australian students, staff and schools reported in Australia.

Other figures released today show that:
  • the number of male teaching staff working in government schools has decreased by 2%. This is in contrast to the number of male teaching staff working in non-government schools over the same time, which rose by 25%. This is despite overall increases of teaching staff in both the government and non-government schools over this period; and
  • the number of female students in Years 11 and 12 in 2011 outnumbered male students by 1% and 4% respectively. This is reversed in every other Year of schooling, where males outnumber females.

Further information is available in Schools, Australia 2011(cat. no. 4221.0).

Media notes:
    • Teaching staff are staff that spend the majority of their time in contact with students and may or may not have direct class contact.
    • Student to teaching staff ratios (FTE) do not reflect class sizes but are more of an indication on the volumes of teaching resources available for imparting the curriculum.
    • Student counts referenced here refer to both full-time and part-time students.
    • Please ensure when reporting on ABS data that you attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.