The 2025 Aboriginal Education Outcomes Report

Catholic Schools NSW is pleased to present the 2025 Aboriginal Education Outcomes Report.

The report provides updates on state and national KPIs, identifying trends, successes, and future opportunities for the growing number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in Catholic Schools.

We hope this report can inform strategies to continue improving the quality of education and opportunities for these students.

The report highlights many positive trends for Aboriginal students in Catholic schools. It includes metrics on:

• enrolments;
• attendance and retention;
• NAPLAN;
• HSC; and
• VET and post-school destinations

As shown in the report, Catholic Schools NSW has seen a steady increase in Aboriginal enrolments. The Retention Rate gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students in Catholic schools also improved for the second consecutive year, declining from 17.5% in 2023 to 15.4% in 2024.

The gaps between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal student NAPLAN results in Catholic systemic schools remain smaller than those in government or independent schools.