‘It just got too hard’: how Year 12 subject cuts are affecting students’ access to uni

The Conversation (Australia) reports on research tracking more than ten thousand Australian students since two thousand twelve. The finding: public schools in rural and disadvantaged areas are trapped in a vicious cycle. Teacher shortages force schools to cut senior subjects, prompting wealthier families to shift to private schools. The result: public schools shrink, resources dwindle, and disadvantaged students face fewer pathways to university. Since two thousand six, private school enrollment has grown from thirteen to seventeen percent of the population, while public schools have fallen from sixty-seven to sixty-three percent. As one Year twelve student told researchers, the human cost is clear: 'I used to say I'd want to go to uni, when I was younger. But, as I got older, everything changed, and it just got too hard.'

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