Australian School Curriculum

A. Foundation Year to Year 10

The Australian Curriculum for Foundation Year to Year 10 is designed to help all young Australians become successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens.  It focuses on 7 general capabilities in literacy, numeracy, information and communication technology capability, critical and creative thinking, personal and social capability, intercultural understanding, and ethical understanding.  These general capabilities are, in turn, addressed in the content of the following learning areas:  

• English
  The English curriculum is built around the interrelated strands of language, literature and literacy and focused on developing students’ knowledge, understanding and skills in listening, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating.

• Mathematics
  The Mathematics curriculum is built around the proficiency strands of understanding, fluency, problem-solving and reasoning which are integral part of mathematics content across the three content strands: number and algebra, measurement and geometry, and statistics and probability. For students wishing to pursue higher level mathematics in Senior Secondary there is an optional curriculum designed to enrich and extend their mathematical study whilst completing the common Year 10 curriculum.

• Science
  The Science curriculum is built around the content strands of Science Understanding, Science as a Human Endeavour and Science Inquiry skills.  In Year 6, students explore how changes can be classified in different ways. Over Years 3 to 6, students develop their understanding of a range of systems operating at different time and geographic scales. Years 7 to 10, students develop their understanding of microscopic and atomic structures; how systems at a range of scales are shaped by flows of energy and matter and interactions due to forces, and develop the ability to quantify changes and relative amounts.

• Health and Physical Education
  Core strands of Personal, Social and Community Health, and Movement and Physical Activity, with focus areas addressing-alcohol and other drugs, food and nutrition, health benefits of physical activity, mental health and well-being, relationship and sexuality, safety, challenge and adventure activities, games and sports, lifelong physical activities, rhythmic and expressive movement activities.

• Humanities and Social Sciences
  Includes five subjects consisting  of Humanities and Social Sciences from Foundation Year to Year 6 and  Civics and Citizenship, Economics and Business, Geography and History from Years 7 to 10.

• The Arts
  Delivered through five subjects that enable students to learn how to create, design, represent, communicate and share their imagined and conceptual ideas, emotions, observations and experiences.  They are: Dance, Drama, Media Arts, Music and Visual Arts.

• Technologies
  Draws together the distinct but related subjects of Design and Technologies, and Digital Technologies. It ensures that all students benefit from learning about, and working with, traditional, contemporary and emerging technologies that shape the world in which we live.

• Languages
  Languages is designed to enable all students in Australia to learn a language in addition to English.  It’s organised addressing the learner’s background in the target language by providing a number of pathways and entry points of study to cater for background language learners, first language learners and second language learners.

B. Year 11 – Year 12

A vast array of subjects or courses are being offered in Year 11 and Year 12 depending on the state or territory and the senior secondary school.  However, in terms of subjects in the knowledge areas of English, Math, Science, and Humanities and Social Science everybody follows the Australian Senior Secondary Curriculum.  The Curriculum provides for fifteen senior secondary subjects across English, Mathematics, Science, History and Geography which have been endorsed by the council of federal, state and territory education ministers as the agreed and common base for the development of state and territory senior secondary courses. 

Under English curriculum subjects available are English, English as an Additional Language or Dialect, Essential English and Literature.  Under Mathematics curriculum are Essential Mathematics, General Mathematics, Mathematics Methods, and Specialist Mathematics.  Under Science curriculum are Chemistry, Biology, Earth and Environmental Science and Physics. Under Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) are Ancient History, Geography and Modern History.

The curriculum is designed to be taught over a two-year period. Each senior secondary subject is organised into four units with the final two units designed to be cognitively more challenging than the first two.

​Schools Types

Schools types in Australia are either Government or Non-government.  Non-government schools are made up of Catholic schools, schools founded by other faiths like Anglican, Evangelical, Islamic, Buddhists, and schools that are not associated with any particular faith or denomination. All Australian schools receive funding from the State and Federal governments; government schools get their bulk of funding from state or territory governments, while non-government schools get theirs from the Federal government.  

While each state or territory is primarily responsible for the school education in their jurisdiction, the Australian Federal Government nevertheless works closely with each state and territory to implement crucial programs that impact children learning and provide leadership across important policy areas like in quality teaching, boosting educational outcomes, and parental engagement.

On May 2017, the Australian Government announced its Quality Schools package.  Central to the package is the Government’s goal that every student in Australia should have the opportunities they need to be the best they can be. Combined with record levels of funding, the reforms in this package will help lift outcomes for students across Australia. By lifting outcomes, the government helps to secure Australia’s economic and social prosperity – both now and in the future.  Over the next 10 years (2018-2027) total Federal Government recurrent investment will amount to $243.5 billion. Recurrent funding from 2018 to 2027 for government schools will grow by 56.6 per cent from 2017, with total funding of $102.1 billion (not including the state or territory funding). For non-government schools funding will grow by 55.6 per cent from 2017, with total funding of $141.4 billion from 2018 to 2027.

School Qualification

After successful completion of Senior Secondary School (Year 11 and 12) students are awarded Senior Secondary Certificate of Education (SSCE), the name of which varies in every state and territory.  Regardless of what the certificate is called, it is recognised by all Australian universities, higher education and vocational education and training institutions, as well as many institutions internationally.

Some schools that are accredited by the International Baccalaureate Organization to deliver the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program have the flexibility to offer incoming Year 11 students (between the age of 16 to 19) the option of taking either the IB Diploma Programme or the Senior Secondary School.  The IB Diploma Programme is a counterpart to the Senior Secondary School and is also recognised by all Australian educational institutions, as well as all universities around the world.  Seen by some as more challenging and rigorous option, IB Diploma has a strong focus on university preparation, equipping students with the skills required for tertiary learning such as research and essay writing.

Other IB Programme, aside from the IB Diploma, are also available for Primary and Secondary students.  The IB Primary Years Programme and IB Middle Years Programme are an option to students to take in their Primary and Secondary School years (assuming their school are accredited to provide them).  There are 150 Australian schools authorised /accredited by the International Baccalaureate Organization to offer varying IB Programmes.