Kindergarten and School Year Enrolment in Australia
A child’s early education in Australia consists of kindergarten or early learning starting at either 3 or 4 years old and then primary school starting at age 5 or 6. Education is in general quite standard around Australia, however each state and territory has their own differences to be aware of.
Kindergarten / Early Learning
Kindergarten, also known as kindy, pre-school or early learning, is a structured learning program for children administered by a qualified teaching professional with other children in a group. A four year old kindergarten program is most commonly attended in the year prior to attending school, with many children also completing a three year old kindergarten programs prior to that as well.
Kindergarten programs are offered at various types of facilities. Firstly, kindergartens, which typically run as half day or 3-5 hours sessions for several days per week and are often aligned to the local council or community groups. Childcare and early learning centres which offer full day care program (e.g. full time care, 5 days per week) will also offer kindergarten programs as part of their learning curriculum.
Separate to the above, in Tasmania and Northern Territory, the government has an organised kindergarten program as part of the schooling system, where children attend kinder at the school for around 15 hours per week in the year they are four, then move straight into primary school years thereafter. In addition, some private schools may also offer early learning programs or 3 and 4 year old kinder which are located in the school grounds, with most students then following into the primary year levels in the same school.
Primary School
Primary school is the start of the formal school system and is compulsory for all students to attend. The first year of enrolment into primary school is known by different names in each state and is known as prep (Vic, Qld, Tas), kindergarten/kindy (NSW), pre-primary (WA), reception (SA) and transition (NT, ACT).
Primary school runs for 7 years, with prep or the first year of school essentially being year 0, followed by grades 1 to grade 6. Students then enter high school for a further 6 years of schooling from grade 7 through to grade 12.
Minimum Starting Age for Australian Schools
Every parent will inevitably ask, when does my child start school? When a child actually start is determined by their date of birth and the cut off dates set by the State or Territory government where the child will attend school. The child needs to be 5 years old before the cut-off date to attend school starting in January of that year, a summary is provided in the table below.
State | Cut-off Date |
---|---|
New South Wales (NSW) | 31 July |
Victoria (VIC), Australian Capital Territory (ACT) | 30 April |
Queensland (QLD), Western Australia (WA), Northern Territory (NT) | 30 June |
South Australia (SA) | 1 May |
Tasmania (TAS) | 1 January |