National Schools Statistics Collection
CONTACT
Leo Stinson
School Collection Manager
National Centre for Education and Training Statistics
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra
Telephone (02) 6252 7793
Facsimile (02) 6252 8013
Email leo.stinson@abs.gov.au
DESCRIPTION
The National Schools Statistics Collection (NSSC) is conducted annually, and provides nationally comparable data for government and non-government schools in all states and territories. Information is provided on the number and characteristics of schools, students and staff.
The collection is a collaborative arrangement between state, territory and Australian Government education authorities. It is managed by the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) Performance Measurement and Reporting Taskforce (PMRT), of which the ABS is a member.
Scope
Establishments which have as their major activity the administration and/or provision of full-time day primary, secondary or special education and primary or secondary distance education. The publication contains details of non-school staff in the government series only. Emergency and casual relief staff are excluded from staffing estimates.
DISSEMINATION
Publications
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Schools, Australia, cat. no. 4221.0, ABS, Canberra.
Data Service
Almost all data collected by NSSC is available either in Schools, Australia or as related Data Cubes on www.abs.gov.au. However, further school-education related information can be obtained from MCEETYA (for contact details see National Report on Schooling in Australia entry in this directory).
Release schedule
Results are usually released in late February the following year.
DATA ITEMS
Schools
Number
Category(government, non-government)
Non-government affiliation (Catholic, Independent)
Level (primary, secondary)
Size (by primary and secondary full-time equivalent enrolments)
State
Students
Number and full-time equivalent
Age and Sex (age is not collected for part-time students)
Indigenous students
Level/year of education
Category of school attended (government, non-government)
Non-government affiliation (Catholic, Independent)
State
Staff
Number and full-time equivalent
Sex
Teaching/non-teaching
Category of school(government, non-government)
Non-government affiliation (Catholic, Independent)
Major function
School/non-school
State
Derived statistics
Apparent retention rates to Years 9, 10, 11, 12
Full-time equivalent student/teaching staff ratios
School student participation rates (by age)
GEOGRAPHY
Data are available for Australia and each state and territory.
METHOD OF COLLECTION
These statistics are compiled from collections conducted by the State and Territory Departments of Education (government series) and the Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST)(non-government series). State and Territory Departments vary in methodology, from accessing central administration records to direct collection of data from schools.
TIMING OF COLLECTION
Reference Period
The reference date for the collection is the first Friday of August each year, or as near as possible to that date as determined by each administrative system.
Frequency of Collection
Annual.
Historical Data
The National School Statistics Collection was first conducted in 1981.
The ABS has published schoolseducation statistics for many years. However, prior to the implementation of the NSSC, the data were not necessarily comparable between states and territories. With the implementation of the NSSC, the concepts, definitions, classifications and coverage were revised. The new collection arrangements were implemented in 1981 for government series and in 1984 for non-government series.
GO TO CONTENTS OF THE DIRECTORY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING STATISTICS
GO TO DATA SOURCES
Print Page