按年级浏览学校

学前教育是为儿童在入读幼儿园前的一两年所提供的幼儿教育，通常由三、四岁开始。它以游戏为本，依循全国性的《幼年学习架构》，而非 NESA 的学校课程大纲，因此没有正式科目或评估。重点在于透过游戏、故事、音乐及小组活动，培养语言、社交能力、好奇心与独立性，课程由合资格的幼儿教师主理。在新南威尔士州，学前教育并非强制，并于多种场所提供，包括社区及私营幼儿园、全日制托儿中心，以及少数附设于公立学校的幼儿园（多位于郊区及偏远地区，或服务原住民社区）。入读学前教育有助儿童更容易适应正式学校的生活规律。

幼儿园（Kindergarten）是正式学校教育的第一年，在课程中称为 Early Stage 1。儿童通常于五岁入学，并须于年满六岁当年起强制入学。大部分学习仍透过有组织的游戏进行，让儿童适应学校规律、教室环境及与他人相处。重点在于基础读写，学习字母、发音及早期阅读与书写，以及基础数理，例如数数、认识数字和简单规律。学生会接触各主要学习领域，包括英文、数学、科学与科技、创意艺术，以及个人发展与健康。入学时，教师会评估每名儿童的早期读写与数理能力，以规划所需的支持。

Stage 1 covers Years 1 and 2, when children build on their Kindergarten start. Reading and writing become more confident and independent, and students work with larger numbers, simple addition and subtraction, and early measurement. Learning is organised across the six primary key learning areas: English, Mathematics, Science and Technology, Human Society and Its Environment, Creative Arts, and Personal Development, Health and Physical Education. There is a strong continued emphasis on phonics and number fluency as the foundation for later years, while lessons still make room for play and hands-on activities alongside more structured classwork. By the end of Stage 1, students are expected to read and write simple texts and solve everyday number problems.

Stage 2 covers Years 3 and 4. Students consolidate their literacy and numeracy and apply them across a wider range of subjects studied in more depth. They read and write longer and more varied texts, work with multiplication and division, fractions and data, and take on short research and project tasks. The six key learning areas continue, with science, history, geography and the arts becoming more distinct. Year 3 is the first year students sit the national NAPLAN assessments in reading, writing, language conventions and numeracy. Students are encouraged to work more independently and to explain their thinking — the stage where the focus shifts from learning to read toward reading to learn.

Stage 3 covers Years 5 and 6, the final stage of primary school. Students take on more extended and independent work, including longer writing, multi-step problems and research projects across the key learning areas. They deepen their mathematics with fractions, decimals, percentages and basic geometry, and develop stronger comprehension and critical-thinking skills, with Year 5 students sitting NAPLAN again. Much of Stage 3 also prepares students for the move to high school by building organisation, study habits and independence. Many primary schools run transition activities and orientation days with their local high schools during Year 6.

Stage 4 covers Years 7 and 8, the first years of high school. Students move from a single classroom teacher to specialist teachers for each subject and rotate between rooms across the day. They study the full range of key learning areas, including English, Mathematics, Science, History and Geography, a language, technology subjects, the creative and performing arts, and Personal Development, Health and Physical Education. The work becomes more demanding, with a stronger focus on independent study, organisation and meeting deadlines. Some subjects are studied for only part of the year on a rotation, giving students a taste of different areas, and Year 7 students also sit NAPLAN.

Stage 5 covers Years 9 and 10. Students continue the core subjects — English, Mathematics, Science, History, Geography and PDHPE — while choosing elective subjects that suit their interests, such as a language, commerce, a technology subject, music or visual arts. These choices begin to shape each student's pathway and build the foundation for senior study. The work is more demanding and increasingly assessment-based, helping students develop the independent study skills they will need in Years 11 and 12, and Year 9 students sit NAPLAN for the last time. Students who complete Year 10 may receive the Record of School Achievement (RoSA), a formal record of their results for those who leave school before the HSC.

Stage 6 covers Years 11 and 12, the senior years of school. Students study Preliminary courses in Year 11, then Higher School Certificate (HSC) courses in Year 12. They choose their own pattern of subjects from a wide range of courses, keeping English as the one compulsory subject, and may include vocational education and training (VET) courses or study at TAFE. Senior study places greater weight on formal assessment, examinations and independent learning, and completing the requirements leads to the award of the Higher School Certificate. For students seeking university entry, their HSC results contribute to an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR), though many go on instead to TAFE, apprenticeships or work.