The impact of policy settings on language education in Australian schools: a comparative analysis of language enrolments and attrition in New South Wales and Victoria

Figures & data

Table 1. Language enrolments and all enrolments in NSW and VIC government schools over time.

NSW	Language enrol’s	All enrol’s	Lang. stud’s as % of all students	Victoria	Language enrol’s	All enrol’s	Lang. stud’s as % of all enrol’ts
Pri’y 2021	77,504	485,889	16%	Pri’y 2020	339,124	383,935	88%
Sec’y 2021	73,791	311,015	24%	Sec’y 2020	103,824	242,884	43%
Total 2021	151,295	796,904	19%	Total 2020	442,948	626,819	71%
Pri’y2012	80,530	438,681	18%	Pri’y2011	192,496	309,093	62%
Sec’y 2012	82,753	304,632	27%	Sec’y 2011	92,109	221,485	42%
Total 2012	163,283	743,313	22%	Total 2011	284,605	530,578	54%
Total 2021–2012 (+/−% diff’ce)	−11,988 (−7%)	+53,591 (+7%)	−3%	Total 2020–2011 (+/−% diff’ce)	+158,343 (+56%)	+96,241 (+18%)	+17%

Source: NSW Department of Education, Victorian Department of Education and Training.

*Data do not include numbers from Community Language Schools (i.e. so-called Saturday schools) nor from VSL for Victoria.

Totals are in bold.

Table 2. The 12 most studied languages in NSW government primary schools: enrolments 2012–2021*.

	2012	Rank	2021	Rank	Shift (rounded)
Chinese(Mandarin)	18,672	1	15,759	1	−16%
Arabic	9,194	3	10,357	2	+13%
Italian	14,165	2	9,280	3	−34%
Japanese	4,592	6	6,008	4	+31%
Vietnamese	5,816	5	4,367	5	−25%
French	7,445	4	3,678	6	−51%
Wiradjuri	1,255	11	3,558	7	+184%
Greek	4,195	7	3,101	8	−26%
Gumbaynggir	405	19*	2,552	9	+530%
Korean	1,521	10	2,439	10	+60%
Indonesian	3,472	8	1,399	11	−60%
Spanish	1,539	9	1,249	12	−19%
Total	72,271		63,747		−12%

Source: NSW Department of Education (2023).

*Data do not include Community Language Schools.

Table 3. The 12 most studied languages in VIC government primary schools: enrolments 2011–2020*.

	2011	Rank	2020	Rank	Shift (rounded)
Chinese(Mandarin)	16,752	5	74,718	1	+346%
Italian	53,114	1	62,930	2	+18%
Japanese	38,108	2	58,205	3	+53%
Indonesian	35,745	3	46,991	4	+31%
French	18,562	4	30,138	5	+62%
Auslan	11,017	7	29,844	6	+171%
Spanish	2,377	8	19,204	7	+708%
German	11,653	6	8,173	8	−30%
Aboriginal Languages**	0	N/A	2,762	9	+
Korean	133	14	1,726	10	+1198%
Hindi	0	N/A	1,569	11	+
Greek	2,187	9	1,407	12	−36%
Total	189,649		337,667		+78%

Source: Victorian Department of Education and Training (2012, 2021).

*Data do not include VSL or Community Language Schools.

**Differently to NSW, Aboriginal languages data in Victoria are aggregated.

Table 4. The 8 most studied languages in NSW government secondary schools, 2012–2021*.

	2012	Rank	2021	Rank	Shift
Japanese	29,040	1	31,386	1	+ 8%
French	21,239	2	16,365	2	−23%
Chinese (Mandarin)	7,365	4	6,154	3	−16%
Italian	7,571	3	5,988	4	−21%
Spanish	3,429	7	4,459	5	+30%
Indonesian	4,485	6	2,663	6	−41%
German	5,416	5	2,616	7	−52%
Korean	1,328	8	1,851	8	+ 39%
Total	79,873		71,482		−11%

Source: NSW Department of Education (2023).

*Data are ranked according to 2021 order.

Table 5. The8 most studied languages in VIC government secondary schools, 2011–2020*.

	2011	Rank	2020	Rank	Shift
French	19,630	1	22,726	1	+16%
Japanese	17,602	3	21,233	2	+21%
Italian	19,105	2	18,753	3	−2%
Indonesian	17,012	4	14,596	4	−14%
Chinese (Mandarin)	6,245	6	13,683	5	+119%
German	10,836	5	10,416	6	−4%
Spanish	369	11	3,059	7	+729%
Auslan	813	8	1,511	8	+86%
Total	91,612		105,977		+16%

Source: Victorian Department of Education and Training (2021).

*Data are ranked according to 2020 order.

Table 6. Language enrolments in NSW government secondary schools (top 8 languages) – Years 7-12, 2021

2021	Year 7	Year 8	Year 9	Year 10	Year 11	Year 12*	Total	% of total listed enrol- ments	Rank
Japanese	11,278	12,185	2,845	2,397	1,635	1,046 (468)	31,386	44	1
French	6,461	6,846	1,026	965	586	481 (202)	16,365	23	2
Chinese (Mandarin)	2,078	2,121	428	483	549	495 (69)	6,154	9	3
Italian	2,710	2509	161	255	187	166 (38)	5,988	8	4
Spanish	1,801	1,792	188	242	255	181 (67)	4,459	6	5
Indonesian	1,566	830	84	68	62	53 (30)	2,663	4	6
German	937	937	252	193	153	144 (62)	2,616	4	7
Korean	460	817	106	75	236	157 (12)	1,851	2	8
Total	27,291	28,037	5,090	4,678	3,663	2,801 (948)	71,482	100

Source: NSW Department of Education. Data include enrolments in NSW School of Languages distance education and NSW Secondary College of Languages

*Year 12 enrolments in brackets refer to Continuers only.

Please note: major peak enrolments in dark green, minor peak (Year 10 or 11) in light green (see text below).

Table 7. NSW government secondary schools: Top 8 languages, Same student cohort 2016 – 2021

	Year 7 2016	Year 8 2017	Year 9 2018	Shift Yr 8 to Yr 9 (& Yr 7 peak to Yr 9)	Year 10 2019	Year 11 2020	Year 12 2021 (Continuers in brackets)	Shift Yr 10 to Yr 12 (Cont’rs in brackets)	Shift Yr 7 OR 8 peak  to Yr 12* (Continuers in brackets)
Japanese	11,601	11,241	2,209	−80% (−81%)	2,150	1,431	1,046 (468)	−51% (−78%)	−91% (−96%)
French	7,534	7,780	1,142	−85%	1,093	677	481  (202)	−56% (−82%)	−94% (−97%)
Chinese (Mandarin)	2,496	2,175	477	−78% (−81%)	496	715	495 (69)	+0% (−86%)	−80% (−97%)
Italian	2,077	2,881	276	−90%	237	247	166 (38)	−30% (−84%)	−94% (−99%)
Spanish	1,189	1,464	192	−87%	132	371	260 (67)	+97% (−49%)	−82%  (−95%)
Indonesian	2,098	1,197	123	−90% (−94%)	95	63	53 (30)	−44% (−68%)	−97% (−99%)
German	1,127	1,822	239	−87%	226	191	144 (62)	−36% (−73%)	−92% (−97%)
Korean	412	285	118	−59% (−71%)	110	212	157 (12)	+43% (−89%)	−62% (−97%)
Total	28,534	28,845	4,776	−83% (−83%)	4,539	3,907	2,801 (948)	−38% (−79%)	−90% (−97%)

Source: NSW Department of Education. Data include enrolments in NSW School of Languages distance education and NSW Secondary College of Languages

Please note: major peak enrolments in dark green, minor peak (Year 11) in light green (see text below).

Table 8. Language enrolments in in-school programs in VIC government secondary schools (top 8 languages) – Years 7-12, 2020

2020	Year 7	Year 8	Year 9	Year 10	Year 11	Year 12	Total	% of total language enrolments	Rank
French	8,018	7,605	4,044	1,773	739	547	22,726	21	1
Japanese	8,074	6,950	3,744	1,395	599	471	21,233	20	2
Italian	7,419	6,364	3,886	628	268	188	18,753	17	3
Indonesian	6,302	5,588	1,705	604	204	193	14,596	14	4
Chinese (Mandarin)	5,625	4,508	1,859	678	534	479	13,683	13	5
German	4,069	3,465	1,669	641	311	261	10,416	10	6
Spanish	1,432	1,296	165	55	60	51	3,059	3	7
Auslan	614	245	397	198	30	27	1,511	1	8
Total	41,553	36,021	17,469	5,972	2,745	2,217	105,977	100

Source: Victorian Department of Education and Training, 2021. Data do not include VSL enrolments.

Please note: major peak enrolments in dark green

Table 9. Vic government secondary schools: Top 8 languages, Same student cohort 2015 – 2020

	Year 7 2015	Year 8 2016	Year 9 2017	Shift Yr 8 to Yr 9 (and Yr 7 peak to Yr 9)	Year 10 2018	Year 11 2019	Year 12 2020	Shift Yr 10 to Yr 12	Shift Yr 7 to Yr 12
Chinese (Mandarin)	4,110	3,369	1,869	−45% (−55%)	890	633	479	−46%	−88%
French	6,595	6,390	3,616	−43% (−45%)	1,473	548	547	−63%	−92%
German	3,786	3,080	1,689	−45% (−55%)	627	305	261	−58%	−93%
Indonesian	6,803	5,970	1,677	−72% (−75%)	562	472	193	−66%	−97%
Italian	6,535	6,033	3,463	−43% (−47%)	694	261	188	−73%	−97%
Japanese	6,469	5,125	2,727	−47% (−58%)	1,273	548	471	−63%	−92%
Spanish	806	526	214	−59% (−73%)	180	63	51	−72%	−94%
Auslan	194	110	106	−4% (−45%)	25	30	27	−8%	−96%
Total	35,298	30,603	15,361	−50% (−56%)	5,724	2,860	2,217	−61%	−94%

Source: Victorian Department of Education and Training, 2021. Data do not include VSL enrolments.

Please note: major peak enrolments in dark green, minor peak (Year 10 or 11) in light green

NSW Department of Education. (2023). Schools and students: 2021 Statistical Bulletin. Last accessed August 3, 2023, from https://data.cese.nsw.gov.au/data/dataset/b56c27e9-b605-34b6-906a-e6965ddb17ae/resource/0d101b76-1bf5-436b-9aee-83567ad88899

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Victorian Department of Education and Training = Department of Education and Training. (2012). Language provision in Victorian schools 2012. Melbourne.

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Victorian Department of Education and Training = Department of Education and Training. (2021). Language provision in Victorian schools 2021. Melbourne.

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