Schooling and childcare in Sydney

The three sectors

Public schools are run by the NSW Department of Education and are free for citizens and permanent residents, with a voluntary contribution requested. Catholic systemic schools charge modest fees, take pupils of other faiths where places allow, and form a large second sector. Independent schools — the well-known Sydney private schools among them — charge full fees, run their own admissions, and often have waiting lists opened years in advance.

• Public: free for citizens and permanent residents; a fee applies to temporary visa holders.
• Catholic systemic: modest fees, parish-based, usually preferring Catholic families first.
• Independent: full fees, own admissions, long waiting lists at the established schools.
• The school year runs late January to December in four terms.

Catchments and selective schools

Every public school has a local enrolment area, and living inside it gives your child a right to a place. Out-of-area enrolment is possible but discretionary and depends on capacity. Separately, New South Wales runs academically selective high schools and opportunity classes, entered by a competitive test taken the year before entry, which operate outside catchment entirely and are heavily contested.

• Check the address against the department's school finder, not the agent's description.
• Out-of-area places depend on capacity and are not guaranteed.
• Selective high school and opportunity class placement tests are sat the year before entry.
• Some primary and high schools are so oversubscribed they enforce catchment strictly with proof of tenancy.

Applying and what is required

Enrolment in a public school is done directly with the school or through the department's online application, with proof of address, proof of the child's identity and immunisation records. Immunisation history is required for early childhood enrolment and requested for school. For independent schools the process is entirely separate and much earlier: registration fees, waiting lists and assessment or interview well ahead of the year of entry.

• Proof of address — the tenancy agreement and a utility bill — is checked for catchment.
• Immunisation history statement is required for early childhood services.
• Independent school registration often opens years before entry and carries a non-refundable fee.

Childcare and early years

Long day care centres take children from infancy and are expensive, with fees offset for eligible families by the Child Care Subsidy. Places in the inner suburbs are genuinely scarce and waiting lists are long enough that people join them during pregnancy. Preschool covers the year or two before school and is delivered through a mix of community preschools, long day care and school-based classes.