Knox teacher William Gulson has been charged with child grooming.

Knox Grammar teacher allegedly asked teen if they felt ‘hot’

William Gulson was granted bail under strict conditions in court on Saturday after appearing via video link.

  • byMatt O'Sullivan

Latest

The international student cap for every university has been revealed.

‘It was a shock’:The limit on foreign students for every university revealed

Vice chancellors say they were blindsided by limits that kneecap institutions that achieved strong growth this year.

  • byDaniella White
Knox teacher William Gulson has been charged with child grooming.

Knox Grammar teacher charged with child grooming

The 27-year-old English teacher from the prestigious private school on Sydney’s north shore was arrested on Friday.

  • byNick Newling andLucy Carroll
Illustration:Simon Letch
Opinion

Australian students could be the real victims of international caps

Without top 100 rankings,we lose our reputation as a place of high-quality education. Without that,things quickly snowball for locals wanting an education.

  • byWaleed Aly
Parramatta Marist High School year 12 students (l-r) Joseph Baini and Jean-Paul Boutros

More boys are getting top ATARs. Here’s how they’re doing it

Boys now make up 60 per cent of students who get ATARs above 99.

  • byChristopher Harris
Parramatta Council wants to create a formal bike and walking path along Hunts Creek to Lake Parramatta through the northern edge of The King’s School.

Revealed:The public bike path that would cut through The King’s School grounds

Pedestrians and cyclists would be able to traverse the northern edge of The King’s School grounds under a proposal by a Sydney council.

  • byLucy Carroll
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The days when parents could get the hard news about their child directly from their teacher are being lost.
Opinion

Kids are crashing parent-teacher interviews. It’s destroying the whole point of the thing

There’s a place for feelgood moments and celebrating school achievements. But sometimes parents need to have frank talks with teachers without children in the room.

  • byRosie Beaumont
Teachers say students are facing a mental health crisis.

Top teacher program axed under planned NSW Education Department restructure

More than 240 teaching positions will be cut under a major department reorganisation,including the “best in class” program.

  • byLucy Carroll
Parent Haylee Kerans (at back of group) with students from Summer Hill Public school.
Analysis

Public schools ‘killing off sport’ as private school facilities grow

It has become an unequal playing field for NSW schoolchildren with inner west primary schools forced to cancel inter-school sports as some private schools promote state-of-the-art equipment.

  • byJordan Baker
Students
Exclusive

Nearly half of all high school students feel like they don’t belong. Here’s why

Surveys of hundreds of thousands of NSW public school students reveal a declining sense of belonging since 2016.

  • byLucy Carroll
Gary Nunn.
Opinion

Please,stop condemning my nickname as ‘extremely derogatory’ on my behalf

As good as the intentions of the complainant may have been,I don’t need someone to take offence for me. And yet,this demand for censorship is creeping into our lives more and more.

  • byGary Nunn
Saint Ignatius’ College RiverviewTeachers pay story. External photos of Saint Ignatius’ College Riverview,Thursday18th of January 2024. Photo:Dion Georgopoulos/ The Sydney Morning Herald

Senior Jesuit at prestigious Sydney school jailed for historical child sex abuse

Laurence Leonard was guilty of “an extremely serious breach of trust” against a 12-year-old student at St Ignatius’ College Riverview,a judge has found.

  • byClare Sibthorpe
Year 10 student Majerin Pieris wants to be a doctor when she grows up.

Money,status or fame? 15-year-olds’ dream jobs ranked

More than 10,000 Australian teens were asked for the first time since the pandemic what they wanted to be. The answers have changed a bit.

  • byChristopher Harris
We speak about the international student “industry” as if families send their children to Australia in a ruthless act of plunder,not an agonising severance.
Opinion

My tearful farewell to my son cast new light on the foreign student ‘industry’

My son has become an international student. His departure has given me a new perspective on the young people who are temporarily calling Australia home.

  • byMalcolm Knox
NSW Deputy Premier and Education Minister Prue Car.

Money before education – why the school selection system is unfair

In a “fair go” nation,the central questions about the selective high school admission process would be about genuine equity of opportunity.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare announced the reforms on Tuesday.

Top Sydney unis are the biggest targets of the student cap. It will cost the state billions

UNSW and Sydney University will be forced to slash their international enrolments by more than 40 per cent. This is how we got here and what it means.

  • byDaniella White andMatt Wade
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Opinion

I always knew Sydney school parents had lost their minds. Now I have proof

Schools catering for gifted kids have an important place in public education,but we have veered well away from this ambition in NSW.

  • byAlexandra Smith
Selective schools ASAT test
Exclusive

‘Your child cannot receive an offer’:Parents pay for selective school predictions

A major Sydney coaching college is instructing parents on which selective schools they should choose,which analysts warn is misleading and fuelling anxiety among students.

  • byLucy Carroll
It is a sad situation when education policy is influenced by immigration and politics rather than the health and needs of the education system.

Curbs on foreign students are cause for concern

It is a sad situation when education policy is influenced by immigration and politics rather than the health and needs of the education system.

Education Minister Jason Clare.

New foreign students capped at 270,000 in blow for large universities

Education Minister Jason Clare has asked big city universities to slash their number of international students.

  • byNatassia Chrysanthos andDaniella White
Principals have been told to cut their budgets by $148 million in addition to the Department taking back the money.
Exclusive

NSW schools had money taken from them. Now we know how much

Under funding changes announced in 2021,principals were told they needed to spend any accumulated money. How much was taken can now be revealed.

  • byChristopher Harris
Contract cheating was detected at record levels at UNSW and The University of Sydney during the pandemic.

Sydney University accused of ‘gold plating’ campus with foreign enrolments around 50 per cent

University chiefs have slammed Labor’s proposed international student caps as Sydney University is accused of swimming in ‘rivers of gold’ from foreign fees.

  • byDaniella White
Western Sydney University vice chancellor George Williams

Most uni bosses make more than $1 million. When this one got the job,he asked for a pay cut

Most Australian vice chancellors are paid more than $1 million. This university boss thinks that’s too high.

  • byDaniella White
Canterbury Public

The Sydney school debunking myths and bucking NAPLAN trends

The release of the latest literacy and numeracy results comes amid a stand-off between the federal education minister and his state counterparts over funding.

  • byLucy Carroll
Valentina Borbone and her daughter Angelique,who attends the support unit at Moss Vale High.

‘False choice’:The decision about schools that leaves parents with few options

A state inquiry has made substantial recommendations to improve standards for teaching students with disabilities in NSW.

  • byKayla Olaya
Newington College has planned to increase means-tested bursaries to 100.

Newington College student pleads guilty over child pornography

The prestigious private school is embroiled in a scandal after an 18-year-old filmed a fellow student and shared it with his peers.

  • byRiley Walter andLucy Carroll
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Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg wants banks to look at how they assess HECS/HELP debt.
Opinion

The harshest truth about our housing crisis? There’s no silver bullet

Senator Andrew Bragg says growing university debts are keeping young Australians out of the housing market. But his proposed solution ignores the root of the problem.

  • byShane Wright
Almost one-third of students who are admitted to uni on a non-ATAR basis drop out within six years.
Exclusive

‘Unauthorised access’:Parents hack selective school results website

More than 100 selective school candidates secured access to a department website which allowed them to view their school offers.

  • byLucy Carroll
Colleges face collapse under planned international student caps.
Exclusive

NSW teacher training rules overhauled as accreditation process scrapped

The shake-up has been welcomed by the teachers’ union,but slammed by critics who warn it will erode quality assurance and vital oversight of thousands of teaching courses.

  • byLucy Carroll
Academic leader Boris Schedvin.

Academic leader remembered as respectful,thoughtful and energetic

Boris Schedvin devoted his life to excellence in teaching,research and university leadership.

  • byIan Marshman
Some of the worst-paid graduates will have the highest HECS debts.

Degrees that lead graduates to the biggest pay packets revealed

Students have been urged to consider potential earnings compared with the cost of their university degrees and long-term HECS debt.

  • byDaniella White
NSW Police are investigating after a group of senior King’s School students allegedly killed a goanna at a school camp last month.

NSW private schools face new rules on $1.6 billion in taxpayer funding

The changes come after four Sydney schools were told to repay almost $47 million in government funding after being declared for profit or non-compliant in the past decade.

  • byLucy Carroll
Letch
Opinion

Our kids aren’t failing NAPLAN. NAPLAN is failing our AutoCorrected kids

If our education system’s purpose is to turn students into passive consumers and mindless followers,then it is doing better each year.

  • byMalcolm Knox
Opinion

Despite the FM PM every AM,it’s Dutton getting the listeners

When it needs to win back voters,the government looks underpowered.

  • byDavid Crowe
Birrong Girls

‘We have a few secrets up our sleeve’:The Sydney girls'school rising in the HSC charts

An analysis of HSC average scores shows all-girls fully selective and comprehensives outperform all-boys counterparts.

  • byLucy Carroll andNigel Gladstone
The Queensland Teachers’ Union work bans have been canned after a hearing in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission.

Parent-teacher partnerships critical for school success

There is so much that should be done in public schools,but it has to be done with the partnership of teachers,governments and parents.

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The Victorian government has funded a new underquoting taskforce.

Coalition proposes relaxation of HECS,lending rules to help home buyers

The federal opposition says banks need to take more risks or there will be a whole group of people unable to own a home.

  • byPaul Sakkal andMillie Muroi
Australian students’ performance has remained steady compared with the PISA results released in 2019.

One in three students failing to meet NAPLAN standards,data reveals

Tens of thousands of NSW students have failed to reach the baseline standard in literacy and numeracy tests. Can you answer these year 5 numeracy and year 9 grammar questions correctly?

  • byLucy Carroll
Music should be
Opinion

We’re out of tune with best practice,but the NSW music teacher crisis can be fixed

The work required to rescue music education could start immediately,and would cost the NSW taxpayer very little money.

  • byJames Humberstone
Sydney University vice chancellor Mark Scott.

‘Great uncertainty’:Sydney Uni warns staff of cuts ahead of foreign student caps

The vice chancellor wrote to staff on Tuesday warning that the institution was considering how it would manage financial shortfalls from a cut to international students.

  • byDaniella White
Year 12 students at Glenwood High
Exclusive

Revealed:The state’s top schools for HSC English,maths and science

North Sydney Boys is the state’s top-ranked HSC school. But plenty of Sydney’s comprehensive schools are not far behind when subject averages are examined.

  • byLucy Carroll andNigel Gladstone
HSC and ATAR.
Opinion

If an HSC student gets 88 for everything,why shouldn’t they be recognised?

Parents of school-aged children should be entitled to better information than simply HSC band sixes.

  • byThe Herald's View
The cost of certain university degrees has got me rethinking what I should study.
Opinion

As a year 12 student,I dream of doing an arts degree. The price could be a lifetime of debt

I’ve been working towards studying arts for two years. But now as I prepare my university preferences,the reality of how much debt I could be saddled with has me thinking twice.

  • bySaria Ratnam
HSC averages image
Exclusive

Sydney’s top-ranked school has an HSC average subject score of 89.4. How does your school fare?

By band sixes or averages,North Sydney Boys is the state’s top school. A new analysis of HSC scores has shaken up the top five.

  • byLucy Carroll andNigel Gladstone
Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Michele Bullock

Michele Bullock played down her intelligence at school. In year 9,something changed

Bullock was in the choir,played hockey and was unashamed about her flair with numbers. But she worries high school economics is “slipping off the radar”.

  • byChristopher Harris
Almost 250 staff and students from Sydney University were victims of sexual assault and harassment last year.

Sydney University’s sexual assault,harassment reports more than double in a year

There were close to 250 sexual assault and harassment reports at the University of Sydney,but most victims didn’t want their cases investigated.

  • byKayla Olaya
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An economist has warned Australia could dip into a recession if there is a dramatic drop in international students.
Exclusive

Labor’s international student caps ignite recession fears

Australia could be pushed into a recession if universities are forced to slash their international student numbers under Labor’s migration crackdown.

  • byDaniella White
Opinion

The most deplorable thing unis copied from big business,aside from vice-chancellor pay

Successive federal governments have engineered a kind of backdoor privatisation of our universities. It’s a race to the bottom.

  • byRoss Gittins
Universities say 14,000 jobs will be lost under the government’s migration crackdown.
Updated

Universities say 14,000 jobs face axe as Labor’s ‘poll-driven’ crackdown bites

Australian universities claim the government’s migration crackdown is already costing the sector dearly,even before proposed caps are implemented.

  • byDaniella White
Eton has told new students they will have to use a basic Nokia.

Eton mandated basic Nokias. These NSW private schools are watching

Mounting evidence suggests excessive smartphone use is associated with depression,anxiety and poor sleep quality and now some schools are taking steps to protect students from digital addiction.

  • byChristopher Harris