Did you catch our recent appearance on ABC's 7.30 program?
Although we weren't really the main focus of the story, which concentrated on the declining enrolments in some public schools, you would have noticed the report alluding to the enrolment growth at low-fee independent (often Christian) schools just like ours – which bucks the national trend at many public schools, and comes in the middle of what is often referred to as a "cost of living crisis" in Australia.
We've done a deep dive into our enrolment records for the past five or six years and thought we might share what we found in case you love statistics as much as we do! What do the stats tell us about why families are choosing Illawarra Christian School?
Since 2019 (the time period in the report), ICS has experienced just over 37% net growth, with 8.5% in just the last year. That growth has been concentrated in our Secondary year groups, but there's been a significant shift in the Primary years as well.
These numbers are just for K-12, and don't take into account any growth in our Prep. That's pretty phenomenal, especially when you take into account the upheaval of the Covid years and subsequent inflation that we've all felt in the hip pocket.
If we just look at famililes who've joined our school in 2025 as an example, we find that 31% of them have moved from public schools, 10% have moved from other independent schools, and 7% from Catholic schools. A small number have come from overseas, and the rest are families who have been with us right from the beginning.
We also know that when asked what they were most interested in accessing at ICS, a staggering 81% were interested in our thoroughly Christian education – the way that we approach everything from our understanding of the Bible and what it tells us about God, his world, and our place in it.
Of course, there are plenty of other great things on offer here too: 59% chose ICS for the strength of our pastoral care; 55% wanted to be involved in our close-knit school community, and 49% appreciated our focus on academics and extension support.
What about you?
If your family enrolled at ICS in the last few years, what helped you make the decision to choose us? Head to our recent Facebook post and let us know!
Watch the full 7.30 report below:
