Enrol at a Western Australian school

Enrol at a public school

Enrol at a Western Australian school

All children of compulsory school age must be enrolled at school and attend every day.

You need to apply to enrol your child if they are:

  • starting Kindergarten at a school or community kindergarten – 4 years old by 30 June
  • starting Pre-primary and enrolling in their first year of compulsory schooling – 5 years old by 30 June
  • starting Year 7 – the first year of secondary schooling
  • changing schools
  • new to Western Australia.
If you do not want to enrol your child at a school, find out how to register as your child’s home educator. Refer to Home schooling.

If your child will be 4 years old by 30 June they can go to Kindergarten at a school or a community kindergarten or some childcare services.

Immunisation requirements

Your child can only go to Kindergarten when they meet Western Australia’s immunisation requirements. This helps to better protect our children and community from vaccine-preventable diseases. The same immunisation requirements apply to Kindergarten at a school, a community kindergarten and a childcare service. If you would like to know more about the Kindergarten immunisation requirements or immunisation services visit HealthyWA.

Find out:

Children of compulsory school age must enrol at school and attend every day. Compulsory schooling starts in Pre-primary when they turn 5 years old by 30 June and finishes at the end of Year 12. 

They must be enrolled at a school from Pre-primary until the end of Year 10. In Years 11 and 12 (the final 2 years of compulsory schooling) they can:

  • enrol at a school
  • be in approved training
  • be in employment
  • have a combination of school, training and employment.

Find the Years 11 and 12 alternatives to full-time schooling.

Find out how to enrol at a public school.

If you are not sure what year your child needs to start school, use our school-age calculator.

Children from Kindergarten to Year 12 can enrol at a public school. To discover the diverse learning environments in public schools, including programs for children with special educational needs or disability, refer to Choose a school.

Your child can enrol in Kindergarten at a public school if they meet the immunisation requirements.

Many public schools have a local-intake area. Many Pre-primary to Year 12 children who live in a school’s local-intake area can enrol at that school.

Find out how to enrol at a public school.

If you are not sure what year your child needs to start school, use our school-age calculator.

In Western Australia, there are 2 categories of non-government schools – Catholic schools and Independent schools.

To find information about choosing and enrolling in these schools, refer to Non-government schools.

During the compulsory secondary education period​, you may consider that it is in your child's best interests to participate in education or training options other than full-time enrolment in a school. Find the alternatives to full-time schooling.

School Age Calculator

School Age Calculator

Use our calculator below to determine when your child can start school.

Please enter your child's date of birth:

Your child can start Kindergarten in

Your child will start Pre-primary in

Your child will start Year 1 in

There's a public school near you

There's a public school near you

Use our 'Find a school' tool to search for your local public school by name or suburb. The tool will provide contact information as well as some brief background information about the school.

Find a school