Find out about Australian schooling, which year your child will move into from NZ, primary and secondary school and what you need to get organised.

I found it quite hard to find information on Australian schools online, and it wasn’t until I had kids that I figured out how it all worked. The information below will definitely help you find a good school for your child to move to in Australia.

Below, you will find Australian school term dates, which vary from state to state, where to find schools in the area you’re moving to, top-ranked schools and what paperwork you need to get from your child’s current school to give to their new school in Australia.

Pre-schools and kindergartens in Australia

If your child is four or under, read my Australia Pre-schools and Kindergartens post. Whether they are called pre-schools, kindergartens, child care or early learning centres, this post is about your options for learning/childcare before school.

On this page, you will find the helpful information below:

• General School Info
• State by State
• Australia school year equivalents (compared to NZ)
• What you need when moving your child from an NZ school to an Australian school
• Cut-off dates Cut-off dates for children starting school in Australia
• Australian School Year/Term Dates
• List of Australian Schools
• Find the top-ranked Australian schools
• Types of Australian schools
• Boys Girls Co-educational
• Prep Primary and Secondary
• Australian Schools Curriculum
• Applying to study at Australian universities.

General School Info

Australian schools are organized similarly to NZ. There are free government schools with a residential catchment area and private/Catholic/independent schools, which have a cost. Government schools are free for New Zealanders moving on an SCV and for most visa holders. There could still be voluntary contributions like in NZ and costs for uniforms and stationery.

State by State

Each Australian State and Territory oversees its own education system, and there are slight variations between them. To view the individual educational systems for each state of Australia, please visit the Australian Schools Directory website.

There are two main education sectors within each State – Government schools and Non-Government schools. Non-government schools are classified as either Catholic schools or Independent schools. Most Independent schools have a religious affiliation, but some are non-denominational. All Government schools are non-denominational. 

Australia School Year Equivalents (Compared to NZ)

I get asked a lot about the year a New Zealand student would go into the Australian School System. Below is a table that shows the school year equivalent in Australia (years):

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What you need when moving your child from an NZ school to an Australian school

Here is what you need to know when changing your child from a New Zealand school to an Australian school.

Firstly, contact your child’s current school and notify them that your child is leaving. They will have had many children changing schools and moving to another country and will give you everything you need.

Contact your child’s New School and let them know you want to enrol your child. Do this as soon as possible, as some schools have wait lists. Have the following information available:

• Proof of age, e.g. Birth Certificate or Passport.
• A written Immunisation Statement is required.
• Appropriate VISA if applicable.
• Sibling information if applicable.
• Relevant medical information.
• The year/class they have been in and the state/territory/country they are coming from.
• If there are any special programs they have been in, indicate you wish to discuss these when you visit the school for your child’s enrollment. This includes things such as acceleration as well as programs like Reading Recovery, English as a Second Language, etc.

Possible additional info:

• Copies of documentation if legal circumstances apply, e.g. custody.
• Documentation relating to mental/physical conditions that may affect learning and/or require special assistance.

Check with your child’s future school for any further requirements:

• Collect Samples of Work – either a Portfolio or a range of work samples in different subject areas.
• Talk to the class teacher[s] and see if they can give you any additional Information.
• Make or obtain notes on any Special Programs your child is involved in, and that needs to be continued. It would be valuable to have some details about where they are in a program.

Additional points to remember:

• Ensure you Return Equipment that belongs to the school, e.g. library books, readers, etc.
• If you have uniforms that are no longer useful, consider donating them to the clothing pool or to another family or checking if they will be usable at their new school.
• Thank the school for its work. It is surprising how often people who are happy with their child’s school never do this.

The Aussie Educator website has great information regarding changing schools in Australia, and this page outlines helpful information for each state, as they all have different rules and requirements. 

Cut-off dates for children starting school in Australia

One of the trickiest things about starting school in Australia is that every state seems to do it differently! Instead of all children starting school when they are of a similar age, each state has its own set of rules about the age at which children can start school. And to make starting school cut-off ages even more challenging to navigate:

• Some Australian states have different names for the first year of primary school.
• Some Australian states allow children to start school before they turn 5.
• Others have ‘preliminary’ years that are not compulsory.

Unlike in NZ, where kids start on or close to their birthday, kids start school at the start of the year, depending on when their birthday falls. For example, in NSW, kids are allowed to start school on the first day of the first term as long as they turn five by July 31 that year.

In all Australian states, however, children must be enrolled in school in the year they turn 6. Confused? Yeah, so was I!

Visit KidsFirst to read a summary of the cut-off dates for children starting school in the state you are moving to. At the end of this summary, you’ll also find information about other schooling options for Australian children.  

Australian School Year/Term Dates

Unlike New Zealand schools, which all have mostly the same school holidays, Australian school holidays vary depending on the school and state. So the Australian school year differs depending on the state you live in.

The Holidays with Kids website lists all term dates for all Australian states, so you can find out the current year and next year’s term dates.

For Independent or Catholic schools, please check with individual schools. Their term dates can vary slightly from those of Government schools and from one another. 

List of Australian Schools

You can find a list of Australian schools by state or territory on the following Wikipedia page lists of schools in Australia, or on the Australian Schools Directory website. 

Find the top-ranked Australian schools

Australian schools are world-renowned. Below, you can find the top-ranked Australian schools state by state so you can make sure you are choosing the best school for your child/children:

• Better Education School Rankings
• My School

You can also compare schools on The Good Schools Guide website, which has an amazing search function that lets parents compare every school in Australia, leading to informed decisions about their child’s educational experience.

The above site has information about each school, including location and travel times, NAPLAN results, key facts, uniforms, the number of students, and the curriculum.

Types of Australian schools

Most Australian schools use modern education methods within a traditional educational framework. Children wear a school uniform that is individual to their school. A few schools follow a particular educational philosophy, such as Steiner or Montessori.

There are Special Needs schools and special education programs within mainstream schools for disabled children or children with other specific needs.

Schools often use remedial and extension classes or other approaches to meet the needs of students with differing ability levels. Some schools offer specialised programs in areas such as sports, the arts, or academia for gifted or talented children.

There is a range of Boarding schools in Australia at the Primary and Secondary levels in the Private school sector. There are a few secondary boarding schools or accommodations in the government sector in some states, mainly for students from remote rural areas. International students can study in schools in Australia.

You can search the Australian Schools Directory for a comprehensive list of Australian schools, including Religious schools (Anglican schools, Uniting Church schools, Jewish schools, Christian schools, etc.), Special Needs schools, Alternative schools (such as Montessori or Steiner schools), and Boarding schools. 

Boys Girls Co-educational

Most Australian schools are co-educational – for boys and girls. Some Catholic and Independent schools are single-gender, mainly at the Secondary level but sometimes in the Primary years as well. Some Independent single-gender schools offer co-educational classes in the early years.

Nearly all Government schools are co-educational, and there are a few single-gender Government Secondary schools in some States in Australia. 

Prep Primary and Secondary

Australian children usually attend a Preparatory year of school (often called Prep or Kindergarten), followed by Primary school and then Secondary school (often called High School). Including the Pre-School year, most students are at school for 13 years.

Students usually start in Preparatory school around the age of four or five and must start school by the age of six. Entry age requirements can vary by more than six months between schools and States. Read my post-Australia Pre-schools and Kindergartens for more information on pre-schools and kindergartens in Australia.

Primary and Secondary schools are mostly in separate locations, but some Catholic schools and many Independent schools have Primary and Secondary schools on the same campus.

Australian Schools Curriculum

At the Primary school level, there is an emphasis on English reading and writing, mathematics, and the Study of Society and the Environment (SOSE). Students usually also have music, sports, drama, computer studies, science, art, and learn a language (LOTE). Often, there are many extracurricular activities offered outside of class time, such as choir, orchestra, chess, or sports.

Students continue studying English, Mathematics, and other core subjects in the early secondary years. As they progress through their Secondary years, students must study English but can start to select which other subjects they study, and they begin to specialise in certain areas of learning. Again, there are many extracurricular activities on offer, such as debating, school musicals or sports competitions.

Applying to study at Australian universities

New Zealand has a formal agreement to mutually recognise University Entrance awards or requirements with Australia.

NCEA is accepted by the Australasian Conference of Tertiary Admission Centres (ACTAC), which ensures that all states/territories in Australia use a common approach for tertiary entrance ranking.

This means that New Zealand students can apply directly to Australian tertiary admission centres or providers.

What do you need to know if you’re applying to study in Australia using your NCEA results?

In Australia:

• Year 12 is the equivalent of New Zealand Year 13 and NCEA Level 3
• each state has its own secondary education system
• university entry requirements can be different in each state
• each university sets its own admission requirements and criteria.

You should contact the Australian university or education provider you wish to attend as early as possible to ensure that your Year 13 course will meet all the entry requirements.

In general, for Australian university applications to be considered:

• you must achieve NZ University Entrance
• you need to achieve a high ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) score (read more below)
• you need to meet the state’s university entry criteria. Take note of the state’s English requirement for NZ students. Credits must be from Level 3 University Entrance-approved English. Some Australian states require up to 20 English credits.
• you need to meet the state’s English language proficiency requirement (if there is one).

To maximise your potential ATAR score, you should:

• Have at least 90 assessed level 3 credit results (assessed credits are those with results of Not Achieved, Achieved, Achieved with Merit, and Achieved with Excellence)
• Aim to get as many level 3 excellence and merit results as possible in externally and internally assessed achievement standards in University Entrance approved subjects.

Grade conversion: Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) score

The ATAR (previously known as the Interstate Transfer Index – ITI) compares and ranks Australian Year 12 students educated in different states by ranking them in their year group cohort.

NZQA calculates ATAR scores for every eligible student in January each year on behalf of Australian tertiary admission centres. We use the methodology agreed upon by the Australasian Conference of Tertiary Admission Centres (ACTAC).

To get your ATAR score, email NZQA with your full name, NSN, date of birth and the last school you attended here.

Read more about how ATAR is calculated, how to apply to an Australian university, what you need to do, and what the NZQA needs to do for you and state contacts for more information on applying on the NZQA website.

Australia Pre-schools and Kindergartens

Read my post about pre-schools and kindergartens in Australia and find out about your options for childcare before school, along with learning the difference between pre-schools, kindergartens, child care centres or early learning centres.

You might also be interested in…

The below posts might interest you:

• Moving to Australia Process
• Jobs in Australia
• Everything Money

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