Sydney caters to a broad range of educational needs. Expat children can attend public, faith-based, co-educational, private, or independent schools in Sydney. High school graduates can choose from several universities; including the University of New South Wales, University of Sydney, and University of Notre Dame.

There are a number of factors expat parents will need to think about prior to selecting a school for their student, but first and foremost, they will need to consider their family’s education entitlements, which are dependent on the type of visa one possesses. Those on a permanent resident visa have access to free public education.

Families living in Australia on a temporary resident visa (visa subclass 457) pay for their children's schooling. In the state of New South Wales (NSW), there is a fixed cost for children on 457 visas: AUD 4,500 per year at primary school; AUD 5,500 per year at high school.
 

In Sydney it is common for children to attend preschool before starting primary school. Some primary schools have linked preschools, and most day care centres have a separate preschool class.

Day care and preschool places in the most popular suburbs get filled up quickly. It’s common to have children on the waiting list years ahead of their required start date, so expat parents should attempt to enrol their kids well before their eventual move to Australia.

The first school year is called Kindergarten, and children start at the end of January (the beginning of the academic year), if they are five or going to turn five before the 31st of July. It is not compulsory for children to start primary school until they are six, at which point it becomes compulsory to attend school until Grade 10 or the age of 17. If children are not in school, they must be enrolled in other approved educational pursuits, be in paid employment, or be in a combination of education and work.

Students attend primary school from Kindergarten to Year 6. After this, children start high school (ages 12 to 13), where they move through Years 7 to 12. While primary schools are typically co-educational, it’s common for students to attend single-sex high schools.

NAPLAN (National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy) assesses all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 on the same days (in May in 2012), using tests in Reading, Writing, Language Conventions (Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation) and Numeracy.

The culmination of school education in NSW comes in the form of the HSC (High School Certificate) exams, which are taken in October/November of Year 12. Children are usually aged 17 or 18 when they graduate from high school.
In NSW, it is not compulsory to sit for the HSC exams.
 

Parents increasingly refer to the government’s MySchool website when selecting schools. The "My School" link provides a history of NAPLAN test results, as well as enrolment numbers, and information pertaining to family demographics.

The quality of public education in Sydney is generally good. Like elsewhere in the world, performance is influenced by socio-demographic factors such as location and funding. The Catholic education system has an excellent reputation in Sydney. Many parents see this as a comfortable middle-ground between public and private education.
 

Public schools generally accept enrolment throughout the year before the child is due to start. The NSW Department of Education provides an enrolment form. For primary school applications, supporting documentation such as a Birth Certificate and an Immunisation History must be provided.

Children attend public schools based on catchment areas, or zones; the details of which neighbourhoods filter into which schools are available on school web sites. Expat families often base property rental or buying decisions around access to schooling.

Children moving up to a public high school should express an interest in their chosen school during Year 6. High schools have application forms available on their websites: many review past report cards and hold interviews before offering a place.
 

Faith-based education is common in Sydney. Catholic primary and high schools, run by the Catholic Education Office Sydney, are particularly popular. Most suburbs have a Catholic primary school, and schools tend to accept some non-Catholic families.

Furthermore, as fees for faith-based schools can be less than what temporary residents are required to pay for access to the public system, many expats living in Australia on the 457-visa choose to send their children to these institutions. Tuition is usually around 2000 AUD, plus an additional 1500 AUD for temporary residents (this is a fee paid on a per family basis per year, thus expat parents can pay the annual fee once and send multiple children to the school).
 

There are a number of private and academically selective high schools in Sydney; the most popular schools have waiting lists, so parents should express an interest as early as possible. To get a place at an academically selective government school, students sit exams the year before they are due to commence.

Well-known, government-run academically selective high schools are Sydney Boys and Sydney Girls High Schools. The International Grammar School and Inner Sydney Montessori School are examples of independent schooling.
Expat families wishing to follow an overseas curriculum may be interested in the Lycée Condorcet (The International French School of Sydney), and The German International School of Sydney.
 

All students (from K – 12) wear uniforms. Public schools in Sydney have resource fees (around AUD 150 per term). Faith-based schools have higher fees; typically AUD 2,000 per term. Private and independent schools, such as the International Grammar School cost up to AUD 25,000 per year.

As previously mentioned, expat parents who do not have permanent residency in Australia will also need to pay AUD 4,500 per year per child at primary school, and AUD 5,500 per year per child at high school.
 

The school year runs from January to December, and is divided into four academic terms with short holidays between. The longest holiday is over the December to January period, which is also the Australian summer holiday season. Exact commencement and finishing dates vary from school to school: this information can be found online, at the MySchool website.