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Siblings and high achievers: How students are dodging Brisbane’s strict school zones
Thousands of students are enrolling at Brisbane’s most in-demand state schools every year, despite not living in the catchment areas.
We can reveal how.
Brisbane State High School requires proof that prospective families live in the catchment area.Credit: Dan Peled
According to Right to Information data analysed by this masthead, 3079 “out of catchment” students were accepted between March 2021 and February 2022 for enrolment in state schools through an enrolment management plan (EMP) because they had a sibling at the school.
In Queensland, a state school must create an EMP when its capacity hits 80 per cent, and principals are required to restrict enrolments from out-of-catchment students to ensure there is enough room for local families.
But there are several ways out-of-catchment students can enrol.
Siblings of current students at a school are entitled to enrol, unless their brother or sister gained entry via an Excellence Program or enrolled as a result of exclusion from another school.
More than 1350 students were enrolled in 2021 through an Excellence Program.
Students who have a parent or guardian working at the school can also get out-of-catchment entry. A total of 241 children enrolled that way, while 72 were enrolled after being expelled.
And 5396 students were given access under an undefined reason of “other”. A departmental spokeswoman said “other” covered out-of-category enrolments that did not “fall under another category”.
There were 131 students enrolled out of catchment in special education programs to access disability programs, and 83 vulnerable students were enrolled under “special circumstances”.
Another 37 international students were enrolled under the CRICOS program.
Prestigious inner-city school Brisbane State High is among the institutions struggling to keep a lid on enrolment numbers, while offering out-of-catchment entry to about 1000 of its 3419 students.
These figures show 231 new students were enrolled from outside Brisbane State High’s catchment in 2021 – 229 via the Excellence Program and two who were excluded from another school.
There are also suggestions families would be encouraged to remove their child from BSHS if they left the area.
An FAQ page states: “There would be an expectation that if a family moves from the LCA [local catchment area], that the student would attend their new local school. When families relocate early in the time at high school, it raises questions about the validity of local entry.”
Ipswich State High School had the highest number of out-of-catchment enrolments accepted in 2021, at 353, followed by Kelvin Grove State College (322) and Corinda State High School (299).
An Education Department spokesman said enrolment applications were managed at a local school level.
“Schools without capacity to accept out-of-catchment enrolments will manage enrolment applications in line with their school EMP, which provide criteria for the principal to determine how best to manage the enrolments,” he said.
“Where there is spare capacity, the principal may offer places to out-of-catchment students in line with their school EMP.”
Opposition education spokesman Dr Christian Rowan said the Palaszczuk government had failed in its planning and resourcing of schools, which had led to overcapacity.