Reflecting growing demand for a Catholic education, Catholic schools in NSW have reached their highest ever market share. Source: The Catholic Weekly.
The latest figures, from August 2025, show that the combined enrolment share of Catholic systemic schools (18.56 per cent) and Catholic independent schools (3.25 per cent) was 21.82 per cent.
The statistics are based on the MySchool data collected by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).
“The growth of Catholic school enrolments reflects the trust families place in our schools,” said Dallas McInerney, chief executive of Catholic Schools NSW, which represents the state’s 593 Catholic schools and their 274,000 students.
“Catholic schools have high expectations for student learning, place a strong emphasis on student behaviour and civics, and foster well-managed classrooms where students are heard.”
The NSW public school sector continued a steady decrease in enrolments with a 0.9 per cent decline in 2025. Over the past five years, public schools have lost 3.7 per cent of their enrolments – about 37,000 students.
Catholic education’s growth has been accompanied by a deepening commitment to access and equity, Mr McInerney said.
The proportion of students from the lowest socio-educational quartile attending Catholic systemic schools has steadily increased over the five years to 2025, from 14.8 per cent to 15.7 per cent – underscoring Catholic schools’ mission to support families from all backgrounds and to uphold the right of every child to a high-quality education.
“This is the highest ever market share recorded in the Catholic education sector history, and we work every day to earn the trust and confidence of our families. We are seeing this growth right across NSW, the Central West, metropolitan Sydney and on the Coast, the demand is everywhere,” Mr McInerney said.
“Our promise to parents is to provide an education that is affordable, but also an education that supports deep knowledge and a values framework informed by the Gospels, that sets students up for life.”
FULL STORY
NSW Catholic schools boost market share (The Catholic Weekly)
