Year 12 Retention Rates on the Rise for the First Time in Six Years

29th August 2025 ALJ331

Year 12 retention rates have seen a rise for the first time since 2017, according to the Bureau of Statistics. Since 2017, retention rates in Australian schools have been steadily declining. They went from 84.8 per cent apparent retention in 2017, to 79.1 per cent in 2023. 2024 data reported by the Bureau of Statistics show that this has risen to 79.9 per cent overall.

Retention rates measure the number of students who were enrolled in year 12, as a proportion of those enrolled in years 7/8 the four or five years prior. The highest retention rate was found in independent schools (96.6 per cent), followed by Catholic Schools (81.6 per cent) and then Government Schools (74.1 per cent).

A rise in these trends reflect an ongoing commitment to education. Emmanuel College in Warrnambool is one school showing dedication to ensuring that they are catering for varying student needs and believe that this contributes to keeping children in school longer. Through modified pathways, such as the VCE Vocational Major (VM) and Victorian Pathways Certificate (VPE), students are encouraged to remain in the school environment.

“Our numbers over the last three years for the VM program have increased tenfold. We’ve looked at the numbers for next year and it’s increasing again,” says David Gladman, Student Pathways and Careers Leader at Emanuel College. “When you’re talking about retention, that’s keeping kids in the school environment.”

“A lot of students are still undecided. I think the resources we have in the school are really helpful. They’re just not sure what that next step looks like and sometimes it can be a bit daunting, so to gather as much information before they make that step can be very helpful.”

Head of Senior School at Emmanuel College, Shane Smith, believes that the school’s support systems and flexibility in their programs has played a significant role in retention. “Our flexibility in our programs has worked really well.” He also believes that individual interviews and being able to tailor programs to suit each student has played a big part in keeping the students at school longer. “We ended up finding out a lot more about the kids and where they were at. We found that really had an impact on them staying at school. It teaches them about maturity and how to use support people.” This is the first year that Emmanuel College has had over 200 Year 12 students, the usual number being around 170.

Though the Covid-19 lockdowns may be a memory of the past, their presence is still felt in the classroom. “Students missed Year 7 and Year 8, they’ve missed that foundation sort of stuff,” says Gladman, “it was a challenge to get students back in that school environment.”

“As the years have progressed, they have slowly been able to transition. It was obviously a challenge; it was a big chunk out of their secondary education. They were very resilient, and the numbers were very satisfactory.”

Smith believes that one of the biggest challenges coming out of Covid-19 is the diverse range of children with learning needs, “We’ve got a lot more provisions and support for kids in the classroom,” he says, “The learning needs area has probably doubled and tripled.”

Students who were Year 7 during the Covid-19 lockdowns are now completing Year 12.