Data Notes

• Class size audits are conducted by CESE (Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation) in March each year. Audits were not conducted in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001.

• Data for 2020 should be treated with caution. The collection took place in March when schools were impacted by COVID-19, so fewer data checks were carried out.

• Students attending schools for specific purposes (SSPs), students in support classes in regular schools and distance education students are excluded from average class size calculations.

• The average class size for each grade is calculated by taking the number of students in all classes that a student from that grade is in (including composite/multi age classes) divided by the total number of classes that includes a student from that grade. This can result in a lower Kindergarten to Year 6 average class size than any individual year level.

• From 2017, school size is based on primary enrolment rather than school classification.

• Schools change size, so data in Table 2 is not necessarily comparable to previous iterations in earlier fact sheets.

Data Source

Education Statistics and Measurement, Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation.

Data quality statement

The Class Size Audit Data Quality Statement addresses the quality of the Class Size Audit dataset using the dimensions outlined in the NSW Department of Education's data quality management framework: institutional environment, relevance, timeliness, accuracy, coherence, interpretability and accessibility. It provides an overview of the dataset's quality and highlights any known data quality issues.