Proportion of WA students completing year 12 drops to shocking low

The number of West Australian public high school students continuing their education through to year 12 has seen the most dramatic drop out of all states and territories across the country over the past decade.

New data has revealed WA had the best retention rate in the country bar the ACT in 2014, sitting at almost 96 per cent for students from year 7/8 through to year 12.

But figures for 2023, from the latest Report on Government Services released on Tuesday evening, show this number has plummeted to just over 75 per cent.

Meanwhile, retention rates climbed for WA non-government schools, from 82.3 per cent in 2014 to 87.2 per cent in 2023.

The report also revealed the number of WA 15-24-year-olds fully engaged in education or work the year after leaving school was the lowest in the country – just over 50 per cent compared to almost 78 per cent in 2022. A near 30 per cent drop in just 12 months.

The national average sat at over 67 per cent.

Edith Cowan University school of education associate professor Brad Gobby said the steep declines were a worry and the new figures indicated the situation was worsening.

He said low high school retention was typically associated with students in regional communities, from low socio-economic backgrounds, and who were Indigenous.

“Public schools enrol most of these students, so the difference in retention between the public and private systems indicates, in my estimation, enrolment inequality, or the different cohort of students the systems enrol,” he said.