Official entrance age to primary education in Australia
Australia: Official entrance age to primary education was 5 years in 2025. ▼ Falling
Latest (2025)
5 years
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
192nd
of 218 countries
All-time high
6 years
in 1970
All-time low
5 years
in 1995
Years of data
56
1970–2025
Official entrance age to primary education in Australia, 1970–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
The most recent figure for official entrance age to primary education in Australia is 5 years, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 56 years on record.
That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, official entrance age to primary education in Australia peaked at 6 years in 1970 and was at its lowest, 5 years, in 1995.
That places Australia 192nd out of 218 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 56 years of available data.
Official entrance age to primary education in Australia, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 6 years | — |
| 1971 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1976 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1981 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1991 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 6 years | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 5 years | -16.7% |
| 1996 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 5 years | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 5 years | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 6 years | 6 years | 6 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 6 years | 6 years | 6 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 5.5 years | 5 years | 6 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years | 6 |
Countries ranked near Australia
- 192 Antigua and Barbuda 5 years compare
- 192 Bahamas 5 years compare
- 192 Belize 5 years compare
- 192 Bermuda 5 years compare
- 192 Barbados 5 years compare
- 192 Cayman Islands 5 years compare
- 192 Dominica 5 years compare
- 192 Falkland Islands, Malvinas 5 years compare
- 192 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 5 years compare
- 192 Gibraltar 5 years compare
- 192 Grenada 5 years compare
- 192 Ireland 5 years compare
- 192 Saint Kitts and Nevis 5 years compare
- 192 Saint Lucia 5 years compare
- 192 Sri Lanka 5 years compare
- 192 Malta 5 years compare
- 192 Myanmar 5 years compare
- 192 Mauritius 5 years compare
- 192 Norfolk Island 5 years compare
- 192 Nepal 5 years compare
- 192 New Zealand 5 years compare
- 192 Pakistan 5 years compare
- 192 Trinidad and Tobago 5 years compare
- 192 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 5 years compare
- 192 British Virgin Islands 5 years compare
- 192 Samoa 5 years compare
More education data for Australia
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), gaps filled 2,024 tertiary education (2024)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), annual growth 0.0494 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 105,469 (1999)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education 2 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 64.2% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 17.7% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 5 years (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is official entrance age to primary education in Australia?
- Official entrance age to primary education in Australia was 5 years in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest official entrance age to primary education recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 6 years in 1970.
- What is the lowest official entrance age to primary education recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 5 years in 1995.
- How does Australia rank for official entrance age to primary education?
- Australia ranks 192nd out of 218 countries with data for 2025.
- Is official entrance age to primary education rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Official entrance age to primary education (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 56 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release