Miriam Palazzi,18,graduated from selective school Merewether High in Newcastle and enrolled at the University of Sydney this year.
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Private school bubble:Where students at Sydney’s biggest universities came from

Public school graduates made up only 41 per cent of new undergraduates at Sydney University despite efforts to increase students from disadvantaged groups.

  • byChristopher Harris andLucy Carroll

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For Labor,the road to Parliament House runs through the Federal Labor Business Forum.

Seven in 10 high school students fail civics and citizenship tests

The latest results come amid a loss of faith in democracy and political institutions,rising antisemitic attacks and a breakdown in social cohesion.

  • byLucy Carroll andChristopher Harris
Rebecca King and her daughter daughter Maddy.

Girls lead exodus as parents choose private and Catholic schools

Thousands more NSW parents are choosing Catholic and private schools for their children amid an exodus from public education.

  • byChristopher Harris andCraig Butt
Be part of the solution putting some student-friendly furniture in your flat and contacting your nearest university’s accommodation provider.

New deal gives university students unlimited access to the Herald and The Age

A premium subscription licensing deal will make independent and award-winning journalism available to university students and staff.

  • byEmily Kaine
Primary school teacher Maddy Foster says her student debt is always at the back of her mind
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‘Swimming in debt’:Sydney’s $14 billion student loan burden

This map reveals which suburbs are carrying the city’s biggest HELP debts.

  • byMatt Wade
A screenshot from a TikTok video by Mia Findlay in which she names and identifies Bea McDonald as one of the students at a meeting where a report into sexual violence was torn up.
Exclusive

TikToker defamed female Sydney Uni student over sex assault report protest

The influencer has been ordered to pay $20,000 after accusing the woman of complicity when a group of male students tore up a report into campus sexual violence.

  • byPerry Duffin
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Kellyville family Prachi Patel and Chirag Anandwala,with their son Ruhaan Anandwala,have now changed school catchments.

Parents spent millions to secure entry to this school. Now they’re being turned away

About a dozen streets have been affected by the change to a popular Sydney school catchment.

  • byChristopher Harris
Chair Josh Burns and deputy chair Henry Pike during a hearing.

‘Toxic environment’:Unis told to adopt controversial definition of antisemitism

The government should consider changing workplace laws to make it easier for universities to fire or discipline academics,a parliamentary inquiry report recommends.

  • byDaniella White
Concord West Public School teacher Frances Brewer.

Frances was burnt out after 16 years as a principal. Now she’s teaching again

Fewer teachers are resigning and retiring after they were given a $10,000 pay rise.

  • byChristopher Harris
People with HELP debts may be able to borrow more or find it easier to get a mortgage under new government plans.

Banks told to ignore student debt when weighing up home loans

Millions of Australians collectively carrying more than $43 billion in student debts have faced problems getting a mortgage. Now they may have a chance to buy a home.

  • byShane Wright
The number of school students forecast to come to every suburb in NSW

The number of school students forecast to come to every suburb in NSW

Demographers say there will be an additional 51,926 primary and 40,497 high school students over the next 10 years to 2034.

  • byChristopher Harris andNigel Gladstone
A Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters report called for mandatory civics course for years 11 and 12 students.
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Compulsory civics lessons push amid escalating antisemitic attacks in Sydney

The state’s top private school told parents it will review its curriculum programs to ensure it’s emphasising “the importance of tolerance and understanding”.

  • byLucy Carroll
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Editorial

Democracy can’t be scrolled but should be promptly taught in our schools

A parliamentary committee highlights new evidence that Australia’s school students know very little about how our country works.

  • The Herald's View
Melinda and Alan with their children Ivy-Rose,14,Lara,13 and Orlando,11.

Where your neighbours send their kids to school

Where you go to school follows a typical pattern in Sydney,but top-performing schools with good reputations have the ability to upend an entire suburb’s enrolment demographics.

  • byChristopher Harris andCraig Butt
Newington College is set to go co-ed from 2026.

Historians and lexicologists to give expert opinion in Newington co-ed court battle

Newington College’s plans to begin admitting girls from next year are set to hinge on a legal interpretation of a 152-year-old trust deed.

  • byLucy Carroll
The inquiry into the police response to domestic violence also revealed damning evidence of how officers treated their own female colleagues.

Campus creeps on notice with anti-sexual violence code

Jobseekers in higher education will be forced to disclose allegations or investigations of sexual harm and universities could be fined if they don’t meet safety standards under a code to prevent gender-based violence on campus.

  • byNicole Precel
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The changes to the Inner Sydney High catchment.
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‘This will split our suburb in two’:Parents’ anger over school catchment changes

Inner Sydney High has its first year 12 cohort doing the HSC this year – and it is already feeling the popularity pinch.

  • byLucy Carroll andChristopher Harris
AirTrunk boss Robin ‘Santa’ Khuda:Christmas has come early for his his employees.

This Sydney billionaire wants to hire more women. He’s spending $100m to make it happen

The gift from tech entrepreneur Robin Khuda is the single biggest philanthropic donation made in NSW.

  • byChristopher Harris
Jenny Allum
Exclusive

Head of top Sydney private girls’ school to retire after 30 years

The SCEGGS school board announced Jenny Allum would retire at the end of this year after serving as principal since 1996.

  • byLucy Carroll
At the end of the day,it’s up to parents to enforce rules around social media and devices.
Opinion

As big tech abandons truth,teachers like me must be the fact-checkers

With the end of fact-checking on many platforms,our young people are exposed to a tsunami of misinformation. Do schools and educators now have a role in pushing back against this tide of fact-free opinion?

  • byFiona Richards
Employers must provide information about face-to-face teaching hours,extracurricular requirements and release time for senior teachers.

‘Big breakthrough’:Private schools to disclose teachers’ extra hours under new deal

Private schools will need to be upfront with teachers about how many hours they will need to spend running extracurricular activities under a new pay deal.

  • byChristopher Harris andLucy Carroll
The government is on a major vocational education compliance blitz.
Exclusive

‘Shocked’:College ordered to shut after students accused of cheating

The vocational education watchdog has been on an aggressive campaign to clean up the sector. One college says it has been wrongly targeted.

  • byDaniella White
UTS students Eryn Yates and Neeve Nagle both live in student housing.

$700 a week to share an apartment:Sydney’s student housing crisis laid bare

Students such as Neeve Nagle are spending more than half their income on rent as the cost of university accommodation skyrockets.

  • byNicholas Osiowy
Smart Start’s Michelle Tamaro practices the alphabet with Gabriella Ndaira,4.

School readiness programs are booming. But are children being overprepared?

They are designed to smooth a child’s transition to kindergarten. Educators say they’re also supporting parents.

  • byChristopher Harris
The family Ruffles:Vincent,Jai,Kim and Michael.
Opinion

I love my children,but sheesh it’s time they went to school. These holidays have gone on forever

If parenthood is about anything,it’s about marking milestones. First steps,first words,first teeth. The first day of school can’t come quickly enough.

  • byMichael Ruffles
Rosebank College
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‘Demand is there’:Sydney private high school opens doors to years 5 and 6

Rosebank College will expand to take primary years,while an all-boys north shore private secondary school says opening primary grades is under “ongoing consideration”.

  • byLucy Carroll
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The schools that have asked parents to pay for paper,tissues and markers

Principals have been told not to ask parents to fund communal supplies,but some are asking for hand soap,tissues,whiteboard markers and Play-Doh.

  • byChristopher Harris
Hirsh Modi.

As public school enrolments fall,boys’ schools are bucking the trend

Hirsh Modi is one of hundreds of additional boys headed for single-sex schooling this year.

  • byChristopher Harris
Andrew Suryanto (centre) and leaders of UNSW Artificial Intelligence Society Tarushi Nandwani,Rahul Markasserithodi,Jack Ma and Ishmanbir Singh.

AI smashed the job prospects of these Sydney students. This is how they’re fighting back

Millions of jobs have come under threat since the arrival of ChatGPT two years ago. These Sydney students choose to make friends with AI.

  • byDaniel Lo Surdo
The new Wentworth Point High School on the banks of the Parramatta River.

The suburb with no houses gets a $160 million high-rise school

Nestled on a peninsula on the banks of the Parramatta River,the six-storey,vertical Wentworth Point High School is in one of the most densely populated suburbs in the country.

  • byChristopher Harris
Thousands of parents let students stay home with “unjustified” reasons for their absence.

9,729,900 days lost in one year:The shocking truth about our schools

A decline in attendance has been recorded in private,public and Catholic schools despite a post-pandemic uplift.

  • byChristopher Harris
A screenshot of a student holding their finger to their nose,appearing to imitate a Hitler moustache.

Outrage after uni finds salute,moustache gesture are not antisemitic

The ANU found there was no case to punish a student who appeared to give a Nazi salute,despite the deputy vice chancellor agreeing it happened “on a superficial level”.

  • byOlivia Ireland
Greens Leader Adam Bandt and Senator Penny Allman-Payne.

Greens pledge $800 in ‘back to school’ money for every state school student

The crossbench party launches its election year with a cost-of-living measure that would cost $10 billion to cover all school charges.

  • byOlivia Ireland
A battle is underway over the governance of Australian Catholic University

It’s Sydney and Melbourne versus Brisbane to decide the future of Australia’s Catholic Church

A wider battle over the future of the Catholic Church is fuelling conflict over the leadership and direction of an Australian university.

  • byJordan Baker
Only one per cent of students from the top socio-educational quartile are enrolled in Sydney’s most popular selective schools.
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Has the plan to help more disadvantaged kids into selective schools failed? Here’s what the data says

One expert suggests providing free academic coaching for the selective school test,with just 1 per cent of students at some schools from a lower socio-economic background.

  • byChristopher Harris
PhD candidate Katherine Warwick.

Katherine will soon join an elite club. The price? Living on $87 a day

When Katherine hands in her PhD this year,she’s set to join an elite club of just 2 per cent of Australians. But it’s been a financial marathon to get there.

  • byChristopher Harris
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The long-awaited audit did not identify any bureaucratic requirements which should be axed.

Managing medications,school refusers:Biggest drains on teachers’ time revealed

NSW Labor promised before the last state election to save five hours of teachers’ time each week. But a new audit doesn’t identify any tasks that can be cut.

  • byChristopher Harris
Mohamed El Brizy,principal of Sunnah Life Academy
Exclusive

‘Principal’ of Sydney ‘schooling centre’ still working with kids despite rape charge

Mohamed El Brizy’s continued involvement with the homeschooling academy comes amid concerns about an unregulated sector of the education system.

  • byClare Sibthorpe andDaniella White
Victorian teachers may be about to push for more pupil-free days.

Parents shell out billions as back-to-school costs increase

Rising expenses and tech demands leave families scrambling for ways to save on uniform and equipment costs ahead of the new school year.

  • byRachael Ward
INDEX IMAGE - NSW politicians tertiary education
Exclusive

Forty arts students and one engineer:What NSW politicians studied at uni

They attend university at a higher rate than their constituents,but when it comes to discipline,most MPs in the state opt for one of a small handful of subjects.

  • byCindy Yin
There has been a surge in educators being accused of serious offences,according to the teaching watchdog.

Private coaching entrenches school inequality

A reader asks when governments will lift funding to poorer schools.

Ellie Biddle,6,Kaiden Tee,7,and Alexander Tan,8,enjoy some play time at Camp Australia’s holiday program at Abbotsford Primary School.

School’s out but Kaiden’s happily on a steep learning curve

School holiday programs are in full swing as parents turn to outside help to keep their children entertained and active. Experts say there’s nothing to feel guilty about.

  • byBridie Smith andMadeleine Heffernan
Cash has its limitations.

These Sydney private schools will have funding cuts. They might not be the ones you expect

Some schools will lose more than $2000 in federal funding per student under a formula using their parents’ median incomes. See what will change by 2029.

  • byDaniella White andNigel Gladstone
Teacher misconduct
Exclusive

Fraud,poor performance and sexual misconduct:Why these school principals were sacked

New data shows 20 school leaders were dismissed for misconduct or failing improvement plans in 2023.

  • byLucy Carroll andNigel Gladstone
Opinion

How the bank of nan and pop is making our polarised school system even worse

Cashed-up grandparents are driving private education fees ever higher. It’s just another degree of stratification for our dysfunctional school system.

  • byJordan Baker
The executive pay bill of universities has been revealed.
Exclusive

Highest university executive pay packets revealed as crackdown looms

Institutions are spending more on top management staff and almost 200 people are taking home salaries of $500,000 or more a year.

  • byDaniella White
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**AFR FIRST USE** Generic gen23 exam test high school certificate education students testing hsc. Photographed at Northern Beaches Secondary College Freshwater Snr Campus in Sydney on June 20,2024. Photo:Dominic Lorrimer
Editorial

Better oversight of HSC top achievers’ private coaching needed

Sydney’s estimated multimillion-dollar private tutoring industry is continuing to grow but a lack of regulation means its impact on the education system is difficult to assess.

  • The Herald's View
Students in exam.
Exclusive

HSC coaching ‘devalues’ selective schools as one college claims quarter of top maths marks

The rise of private coaching centres risks undermining mainstream schooling and the Higher School Certificate,experts say.

  • byLucy Carroll andCindy Yin
Too many high-fee private schools are failing to deliver adequate academic results for their students.
Editorial

Sydney’s wealthiest schools growing further out of reach

The city’s middle-class families,already hit by rising costs of living,face another nasty shock as our high-fee private schools increase the costs of entry.

  • The Herald's View
Top HSC students share their university choices.

The hardest university degrees to get into,and the ones where ATARs are falling

Top HSC students share their university choices – including one for whom it’s just a back-up until he can get into an American institution.

  • byDaniella White andNicholas Osiowy