Day 1 2022: a snapshot
Explore the diversity and scale of our public education system, by the numbers.


Our students
Total students
- 820,000 students in our classrooms (including students in department-operated preschools and schools for specific purposes)
- 68,000 students starting Kindergarten
- 491,000 students in primary school
- 55,000 students starting Year 7
- 320,000 students in high school


Where can our students be found across NSW?
- 75% of our students are in metropolitan areas
- 24.5% of our students are in regional areas
- 0.5% of our students are in remote areas


Our students also have varied cultural backgrounds
- 8.5% of our students are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
- 37.5% have a language background other than English


Our schools
- 2,216 public schools in NSW
- 7 new and upgraded schools for Day 1 Term 1 2022


Our staff
- 96,099 teachers and staff dedicated to students in 2022
Scholarships
- 62 teach.Rural scholarships offered
- 154 Inclusive Practice in Education scholarships offered


Wellbeing
- $88.4 million for counsellors, student support offices and mental health resources in every high school by end 2022
- Full time equivalent school counselling positions increase to 1,240
- 390 student support officers by June 2022
- 106 wellbeing nurses, supporting up to 500 schools
- 48 rural and remote NSW schools with access to the department's dedicated face-to-face and telepsychology counselling service
- Ongoing partnerships with leading mental health organisations to support schools to deliver best practice in prevention and early intervention mental health support for students




Supporting students with specific learning needs
- 3,860 specialist support classes (mainstream and schools for specific purposes (SSP))
- 1,890 specialist learning and support teacher positions
- $280 million allocated for Integration Funding support for 14,370 students in 2021
- 85% of students with specific learning needs learning in mainstream classes
- 12% of students with specific learning needs learning in support classes
- 3% of students identifying as living with a disability learning in SSPs
- 1 in 5 students identifying as living with a disability


Technology
- 6.7x faster internet delivered for students since Term 1 2021
- 94 schools with upgraded learning spaces
- 48,728 new student desktop PCs, notebooks, tablets & chromebooks
- 685 STEM.T4L technology kits of robotics, coding, 3D printing, filming and VR


Rural Access Gap program
Creating equal access to digital technologies in 2022:
- 392 schools with upgraded network connectivity
- 471 schools receiving professional learning through the Digital Classroom Officer program
- 1,003 Rural Access Gap schools benefiting from improvements to digital tools


Record funding delivered to schools in 2022
- $19..0 billion total funding for NSW public schools in 2021-2022
- $1.34 billion needs-based funding, $40 million above 2021


Skills
- 25,103 apprentices approved in 2021 (excluding SBATs)
- 2,582 School Based Apprentices and Trainees (SBATs) in 2021
- 34,191 traineeships approved in 2021 (excluding SBATs)
- 238,109 Smart and Skilled commencements in 2021




School Infrastructure NSW programs
- $240 million for Regional and Metro Renewal Programs benefiting more than 1,300 schools
- $15 billion portfolio of school infrastructure projects
- 700 schools earmarked for new roofs, repairs and upgrades as part of the $60 million Roof Replacement Program to be completed in 2022
- $30 million investment in Aboriginal-owned businesses and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment
- $498 million investment in regional and remote communities
- 1,000 schools lit up with LEDs under the LED Lighting Upgrade Program