This bulletin was originally published 14 April 2021.

Overview

CESE’s Schools: Language diversity in NSW, 2020 bulletin summarises the diversity of students with language backgrounds other than English (LBOTE) who were enrolled in NSW government schools in March 2020. The census of students from language backgrounds other than English (LBOTE) was conducted on 6 March 2020 in all NSW government schools, including preschools, intensive English centres and distance education centres.

In March 2020, 63.1% (519,326) of students enrolled in NSW government schools came from homes where English was the only language spoken. More than a third (36.9%, 304,187) of students came from homes where languages other than English were spoken by either the students themselves and/or at least one parent or carer. This was a noticeable increase from 2019, when 35.9% of NSW government students came from language backgrounds other than English (LBOTE). The proportion of LBOTE students has grown steadily from 29.4% in 2010, an increase of 7.5 percentage points in ten years.