Early childhood education
Preschool education can have positive impacts on life outcomes.
Proportion of 3-year-olds enrolled in preschool
This measure shows the proportion of 3-year-old children enrolled in a preschool program. Early childhood education is one of the important learning experiences for children. It provides a rich environment that supports the development of children’s:
- language
- social
- emotional
- motor
- cognitive and independence skills.
Preschool encourages children’s learning and development, and this supports their transition to school.
Early school experiences can have a lasting impact on a child’s attitude to education. They can also influence the confidence a child has in their learning abilities.
In 2022 the proportion of 3-year-old children enrolled in early childhood education programs in the ACT was 76%. This is greater than the Australian result of 71%. The ACT result has grown from 63.0% in 2016.
Data source
Preschool Education Report cat. No. (4240.0) reports statistics on children enrolled in and attending a preschool program across Australia compiled from the National Early Childhood Education and Care Collection (NECECC) ABS 2023 (and previous issues), Preschool Education, Australia, 2023, TableBuilder; RoGS table 3A.2.
Chart description
Line graph of percentage of 3-year-olds enrolled in preschool in the ACT, by year from 2016 to 2022. In 2022, 75.6% of 3-year-olds were enrolled in preschool compared to 77.9% in 2021.
Technical notes
A preschool program is an early childhood educational program delivered by a qualified early childhood teacher to children in the year or two before they begin fulltime schooling. The goal is for every ACT child to have access to preschool.
Proportion of children enrolled in a preschool program in the year before fulltime schooling
This measure shows the proportion of children enrolled in a preschool program in the year before fulltime schooling. Early childhood education is one of the important learning experiences for children. It provides a rich environment that supports the development of children’s:
- language
- social
- emotional
- motor
- cognitive and independence skills.
Preschool encourages children’s learning and development, and this supports their transition to school.
Early school experiences can have a lasting impact on a child’s attitude to education. They can also influence the confidence a child has in their learning abilities.
In 2022, the proportion of ACT children enrolled in a preschool program in the year before fulltime schooling was 101%*. This compares favourably to 89% nationally.
* See technical notes for information on proportions summing above 100%.
Data source
Preschool Education Report cat. No. (4240.0) reports statistics on children enrolled in and attending a preschool program across Australia compiled from the National Early Childhood Education and Care Collection (NECECC) ABS 2023 (and previous issues), Preschool Education, Australia, 2023, TableBuilder; RoGS table 3A.2.
Chart description
Line graph of percentage of children enrolled in a preschool program in the year before fulltime schooling with the ACT, by year from 2016 to 2022. In both 2022 and 2021, 100% of children were enrolled in a preschool program in the year before fulltime schooling.
Technical notes
A preschool program is an early childhood educational program delivered by a qualified early childhood teacher to children in the year or two before they begin fulltime schooling. The goal is for every ACT child to have access to preschool.
Proportions above 100% can occur due to the numerator and denominator for this measure being from different data collections. The denominator is an estimate of resident population.
