The government has revised up its pupil number projections after this year’s school census found more primary school pupils than previously forecast.
Last year’s pupil number projections forecast the state school population was due to fall by 12 per cent to 6,915,000 by 2032.
Today’s figures revise up that estimate by 214,000, and predict pupil numbers will shrink to 7,129,000 by 2032, which is still a drop of around 10 per cent from this year’s total of 7,931,000.
Primary pupil numbers have been falling for several years as a result of a decline in the birth rate following a baby boom in the 2000s. That population bulge has now moved into secondary schools, where numbers will peak next year before falling.
