School and education history in Victoria

Research Victoria's primary and secondary schools, text books and readers, past exams and results, curricula

Researching statistics

Government reports

Annual government reports issued by the various departments responsible for education in Victoria are a good source for statistical information such as attendance rates, numbers of pupils and teachers.

See a complete list of annual reports held by the Library on the Education Department tab. Many of these reports are digitised on the Victorian Parliamentary Papers online database.

For 1872-73: "The average attendance in the schools at the end of December 1872 was 66,439. From the commencement of this year the attendance rapidly increased, and by the end of March it had reached 99,783."

Also included are statistical appendices showing: "in the case of each school whether it is a state or nonvested school; the attendance...and the rates of payment actually made or estimated to be made to...the teaching staff employed."

Year books

The Victorian year book 1873-2002 covers all major areas of Victorian life using narrative and statistical material. See our Victorian government publications research guide for more information about year books.

Australian Bureau of Statistics

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) special report on the history of public instruction, pp.719-754 of No. 1 (1908) Year book, Australia (Online). This report covers State and private primary and secondary schools, university, and technical education, and includes historical statistics relating to enrolment and teacher and literacy rates. Also includes:

early history of primary education in Victoria, p.723
statistics of teachers employed and the enrollment and "average attendance" in each State and New Zealand during the year 1906, p.729
distribution of the teaching staff in the State Schools of Australasia during the year 1906, p.733
the enrolment and average attendance at the State Schools in the Commonwealth for 1891, and for each year of the period 1896 to 1906, p.730
birth rates compared to average attendance at State Schools for each year from 1902 to 1906, p. 730

Other resources

There is an extensive article on the history of education in Victoria in the 1973 centenary edition of the Victorian year-book (No. 87) , pp. 477-507 (available online). Also includes historical statistics relating to primary and secondary education in Victoria, pp. 1098-1100.
ABS article 'Measuring education in Australian Censuses'.
See the recommended titles on the Histories tab of this guide, for example: Vision and realisation : a centenary history of state education in Victoria / general editor: L.J. Blake.
Victorian education records [microform]. Includes: Expenditure on education, Port Phillip 1845, Lists of teachers employed/examined (assistants, monitors, etc.) 1848-1864, Inspectors' reports, Victorian schools 1863, Common School Committees, Classified role [i.e. roll?] of teachers, 1885-1886, Victoria. Roll of state schools and teachers, 1887-1900.
Access contemporary statistics on Victorian schools and teaching on the Department of Education and Training website.

Browse subject search results on the catalogue for:

All over the world, H96.160/690