Preschool Attendance

Latest release

Experimental statistics on preschool attendance for children in their year before full-time schooling.

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Reference period
2025
Released
27/03/2026
Next release Unknown
Release date and time
27/03/2026 11:30am AEDT

Key statistics

In 2025, there were a total of 263,519 children attending preschool. Of these, there were: 

  • 17,642 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
  • 47,278 children residing in the most disadvantaged areas (Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage (IRSD) quintile 1).

About this release

This release presents experimental statistics about preschool attendance in the year before full-time schooling. Statistics in this release are provided at the national and state and territory levels.

Together, this data provides a national picture of preschool student attendance, including for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and disadvantaged children.

Experimental statistics

The statistics in this publication are experimental. Not all providers were able to provide the full scope of requested data for this cycle; this is expected to be addressed in future cycles. Users of this data should exercise caution in interpreting and drawing conclusions from the results. For more information, refer to the Methodology.

The ABS will continue to collaborate with the Australian Government and state and territory education departments to improve and develop the quality and range of data available over time. The ABS acknowledges the work and expertise of the data providers in developing this release. 

Children

In 2025:

  • there were 263,519 children attending preschool, of which 72% (188,808) had an estimated annual attendance of 600 hours or more.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children

In 2025: 

  • there were 17,642 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children attending preschool, of which 58% (10,291) had an estimated annual attendance of 600 hours or more.

Disadvantaged children

In 2025:

  • there were 47,278 children residing in the most disadvantaged areas (IRSD quintile 1) attending preschool, of which 63% (29,961) had an estimated annual attendance of 600 hours or more.

Service type

Preschool programs are delivered through centre based day care services or through dedicated preschools. In 2025, of the 263,519 children attending preschool:

  • 23% (61,658) attended only a dedicated preschool, of which 19,109 (31%) had an estimated annual attendance of 600 hours or more
  • 64% (169,477) attended only a centre based day care, of which 138,352 (82%) had an estimated annual attendance of 600 hours or more
  • 12% (32,383) attended both a dedicated preschool and a centre based day care, of which 31,347 (97%) had an estimated annual attendance of 600 hours or more.

Data downloads

Preschool Attendance, 2025, Tables 1-3

Data files
Download xlsx [123.98 KB]

Methodology

Scope

Data on children in their year before full-time schooling who, at the enrolment reference point, were enrolled in preschool program(s) offering 600 hours or more per year and attended for at least one hour in Term 2.

Geography

Data available for:

  • Australia
  • States and territories

Source

The National Preschool Attendance Collection (NPAC) is an administrative data collection sourced from the Australian Government and state and territory education departments. 

Collection method

Data on preschool education and service providers are collected from administrative data collections and collated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) through the NPAC. 

Concepts, sources and methods

The NPAC is based on administrative data collected from Australian Government and state and territory education departments.

The reference period is Term 2 of the schooling year for each jurisdiction; that is from 14 April to 4 July 2025.

History of changes

Not applicable for this release. 

View full methodology