The NSW Schooling System

NSW has the largest population in Australia and also has more private schools and more students than any other state. Around half of all NSW private schools are located in the greater Sydney region. The NSW school system, like all other states of Australia provides 2 general options for students - government schools or non-government schools. Government-run schools are free for all students while non-government schools accept students on a fee basis which varies from school to school. Non-government schools in NSW include Catholic, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Anglican schools and a wide range of other religious affiliated (denominational schools) schools along with independent schools of various types including many non-denominational schools. All non-government schools are generally referred to as 'private schools' throughout NSW.

Primary and Secondary

Schooling in NSW is generally broken into two stages - Primary School, starting with Kindergarten followed by year 1 through to Year 6 and Secondary School from Years 7 through 12, although many schools offer both stages at the same campus. A third category of school - Secondary Colleges - only provide education for years 11 and 12.

Boarding

There are 43 schools in NSW listed on this site that offer boarding. All of these offer boarding at Secondary level and many also provide boarding for Primary students.

School Uniforms

Virtually every private school in NSW requires the students to wear a uniform. Each school uniform is unique to that school and private schools tend to regulate the wearing of the school uniform more strictly than their government counterparts. School uniforms at non-government schools may include a tie and blazer for boys and can also include such items as a school bag and school hat.

NSW School Years

Kindergarten
Primary school - Years 1 through 6
Secondary School - Years 7 through 12

NSW Private School Statistics

The following school statistics are based on information available on this website:

Religious Affiliation...

Catholic schools in NSW - 641

Christian schools in NSW - 85

Lutheran schools in NSW - 6

Anglican schools in NSW - 64

Non-denominational private schools in NSW - 88

Jewish Schools in NSW - 10

Islamic Schools in NSW - 12

Uniting Church schools in NSW - 7

Inter-denominational schools in NSW - 3

Steiner schools in NSW - 18

Baptist schools in NSW - 10

Presbyterian schools in NSW - 7

Boarding Schools...

There are 43 schools in NSW offering boarding.

Main school gender catered for...

There are 71 private Boys schools in NSW

There are 62 private Girls schools in NSW

There are 883 private Co-educational schools in NSW

CRICOS schools (accepting international students)...

There are 95 CRICOS registered schools in NSW

Private School Statistics by Region

Greater Sydney region has 503 private schools

Newcastle region has 79 private schools

NSW central Coast region has 19 private schools

Wollongong region has 59 private schools

Parramatta region has 27 private schools