The National Catholic Education Commission says the release today of nationally consistent, school-level data is an important component of school choice.
The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) released the data, which includes NAPLAN results, vocational education training participation, attendance, and enrolment data.
“Parents and carers choose education based on their values and aspirations, NCEC executive director Jacinta Collins said.
“The release of data on the profile and performance of our 1751 schools across Australia helps them make those decisions – transparency is an essential part of an educational system that promotes informed choice for families”.
Catholic schools have featured throughout the list of schools ACARA has identified as “making a difference” with particularly strong representation in Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales.
While celebrating the many successes for diocesan and religious institutes and ministerial public juridic persons Catholic schools across the published results, Ms Collins also recognised that quality schooling is about more than individual metrics.
“In addition to the academic growth, which is seen through progress data, we know our Catholic schools offer spiritual, emotional and social growth in an environment of safety and security,” Ms Collins said.
“It is the holistic education and commitment to continuous improvement that sees all Catholic schools making a difference.”
Pleasingly, in 2025, results once again include data on student progress, which is a core metric of education.
“Regardless of a student’s starting point, education is about growth,” Ms Collins said. “It is important that schools use various points of data to inform quality learning and teaching. NAPLAN is a rich source of data which supports teachers and school leaders to meet the learning needs of students”.
“While not everything can be measured, and no measure is perfect, growth data gives us a helpful starting point for a conversation about improving outcomes for all students – this is a conversation Catholic education is investing heavily in through curriculum and assessment resources, professional development including data literacy and community engagement in a faith-filled environment committed to striving for academic excellence”.
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Accessible data an important component of school choice (NCEC)
