Total school enrolments grew by 0.7 per cent or 28,912 students across 9,673 schools in 2025, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.
Mell Plumb, ABS head of education statistics, said: 'Independent school enrolments grew by 3.4 per cent, followed by Catholic schools at 1.4 per cent.'
'Enrolments in government schools fell 0.2 per cent.'
'There were 4,160,918 total school enrolments in 2025 which is the highest number on record.'
Between 2021 and 2025, total student enrolments rose by 3.2 per cent.
Independent school enrolments grew by 15.3 per cent over this time, followed by Catholic schools at 5.7 per cent. Government school enrolments fell by 0.4 per cent.
'Between 2016 and 2025, we've seen enrolments in independent schools rise by 31 per cent or 168,448 students,' Ms Plumb said.
'Catholic school enrolments rose 8 per cent or 64,642 students over the same period, while government school enrolments rose by 5 per cent or 129,602 students.'
Enrolments for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students rose
There were 283,611 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students enrolled in Australian schools in 2025, making up 6.8 per cent of all school students.
| Proportion (%) | |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 5.5 |
| 2017 | 5.6 |
| 2018 | 5.7 |
| 2019 | 5.8 |
| 2020 | 6.0 |
| 2021 | 6.2 |
| 2022 | 6.3 |
| 2023 | 6.5 |
| 2024 | 6.6 |
| 2025 | 6.8 |
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander school student enrolments continued to rise, up 8,911 (3.2 per cent) from 2024.
The proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students staying at school from Year 10 to Year 12 also rose in 2025, up 2.7 percentage points to 59.7 per cent, more than double the previous year's growth.
The proportion of all students staying at school rose
Total primary school student enrolments fell 0.3 per cent in 2025, with 7,013 fewer enrolments than 2024.
Total secondary school student enrolments rose by 1.9 per cent or 35,925 students compared to 2024.
'Overall, we've seen a rise in the proportion of students staying at school,' Ms Plumb said.
'The proportion of students staying at school from Year 7/8 until Year 12 rose from 79.9 per cent in 2024 to 81.3 per cent in 2025,' Ms Plumb said.
'The proportion of students staying at school from Year 10 until Year 12 grew by 1.6 percentage points to 81.5 per cent.'
