Education in Ballarat , Australia may be divided into a four groups: pre-school, primary education, secondary education and tertiary education. Ballarat is home to two universities and many primary and secondary schools. Entry to tertiary education for most students is through the Victorian secondary school system where students are ranked by the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) upon completion of Year 12.
Ballarat offers 37 preschool institutions. [1] They are located in the suburbs of Alfredton, Bakery Hill, Ballarat Central, Ballarat East, Ballarat North, Black Hill, Brown Hill, Delcombe, Lake Gardens, Lake Wendouree, Mount Clear, Mount Helen, Mount Pleasant, Redan, Sebastopol, Soldiers Hill and Wendouree, and the townships of Buninyong, Cardigan, Creswick and Miners Rest.
Education in the city is overseen by the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD), whose role is to 'provide policy and planning advice for the delivery of education'. [2]
The City of Ballarat lists 55 primary schools within the district, however many of these schools are not in the city. [3] The primary schools in Blowhard, Bungaree, Buninyong, Cape Clear, Clunes, Creswick, Haddon, Lal Lal, Miners Rest, Napoleons, Ross Creek, Warrenheip and Waubra are all serviced by the Ballarat Council.
The city has ten secondary colleges, consisting of four government, three Catholic and three other non-governmental schools. [4]
| Crest | High School | Founded | Location | Enrolment | Type | Median Study Score (2016) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballarat Christian College | 1985 | Sebastopol | 176 [5] | Ecumenical, co-ed, day | 29 [6] | |
| Ballarat Clarendon College | 1864 | Ballarat | 796 [7] | Uniting, co-ed, day&boarding | 37 [6] | |
| Ballarat Grammar School | 1911 | Wendouree | 932 [8] | Anglican, co-ed, day&boarding | 32 [6] | |
 | Ballarat High School | 1907 | Ballarat | 1439 [9] | Government, co-ed, day | 28 [6] |
| Woodman's Hill | 1978 | Ballarat East | 684 [10] | Government, co-ed, day | 28 [6] | |
 | Damascus College | 1881 | Mount Clear | 1051 [11] | Catholic, co-ed, day | 28 [6] |
 | Loreto College | 1875 | Ballarat | 898 [12] | Catholic, girls, day | 31 [6] |
 | Mount Clear College | 1976 | Mount Clear | 1034 [13] | Government, co-ed, day | 24 [6] |
| Phoenix College | 2011 | Sebastopol | 903 [14] | Government, co-ed, day | 26 [6] | |
| St Patrick's College | 1893 | Ballarat | 1404 [15] | Catholic, boys, day&boarding | 29 [6] |
With two internationally accredited Universities located within Ballarat Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) and the Australian Catholic University, Aquinas Campus, the city is well served for all aspects of higher education. [16]
The Campus began in the establishment of the Aquinas Training College by the Ballarat East Sisters of Mercy in 1909. It later became known as Sacred Heart Training College because of its association with Sacred Heart College, now Damascus College. [17]
In the mid-1960s with increasing enrolments and the demands of a growing school population, the College moved to Patrician House in Victoria Street, Ballarat. [17]
In 1973 the property at 1200 Mair Street, until then the Queen's Church of England Girls' Grammar School, was purchased by the Sisters of St John of God, who conduct St John of God Ballarat Hospital. In turn, the property was purchased by the Diocese of Ballarat and became the new site of the Catholic teachers' college, which was initially known as Aquinas College. [17]
Initially the Institute was concerned predominantly with the preparation of primary teachers for Catholic schools, but by 1980 it had accredited courses concerned with post-primary education, nursing, religious education and church music, among others. [17]
In 1990 the Aquinas formally handed responsibility for the Institute and its operations to ACU. [17]
Today, the Ballarat Campus of ACU has around 1000 students, [18] making it the smallest of the city's universities.
Federation University has a long history in Ballarat. The product of the amalgamation of the University of Ballarat and the Gippsland Campus of Monash University in 2014, [19] the University has its earliest origins as the Ballarat School of Mines in 1870.
The School of Mines became known as SMB (the School of Mines and Industries, Ballarat) in 1976, which was the governing body of three Ballarat schools; the Ballarat School of Industries, Ballarat Technical School and the Ballarat Institute of Advanced Education. These schools became the University of Ballarat in 1990, incorporating different schools from Ararat, Stawell and Horsham. SMB also controlled Ballarat Junior Technical School and Ballarat Girls' Junior Technical School which formed Mount Clear College. [19]
Ballarat is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. Ballarat has a population of 119,096 as of March 2024 making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria.
Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome.
The Ballarat Cricket Association is a cricket league which operates in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The league has different divisions for under-13s, two grades of under-15s, 1 grade under-17s and three 2-day senior grades as well as a one-day competition with 2 grades. The league also has select teams for different competitions, as well as for the 'Country Week' competition against teams such as Maryborough, Grampians, Castlemaine and Bendigo.
Creswick is a town in west-central Victoria, Australia, 18 kilometres north of Ballarat and 122 kilometres northwest of Melbourne, in the Shire of Hepburn. It is 430 metres above sea level. At the 2016 census, Creswick had a population of 3,170. Creswick was named after the Creswick family, the pioneer settlers of the region.
Ballarat and Queen's Anglican Grammar School is a private, co-educational, Anglican, day and boarding school located in Wendouree (Ballarat), Victoria, Australia.
Chisholm Catholic College is a private Roman Catholic high school situated approximately 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) northeast of the Central Business District of Perth, Western Australia in the suburb of Bedford. The College provides education for approximately 2,021 students.
The University of Ballarat, Australia was a dual-sector university with multiple campuses in Victoria, Australia, including its main Ballarat campus, Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide that were authorized by the university to provide diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate programs. The university offered traditional programs, including business, information technology, building and construction, engineering, mining, education, social sciences, nursing, hospitality, and art.
Damascus College is Ballarat’s only Catholic co-educational secondary college. It was established in 1995 after three separate Catholic colleges, St Martin's in the Pines, Sacred Heart College and St Paul's College amalgamated. The college is located on a treed 20 hectare campus in Mount Clear, 7 km from Ballarat's central business district. Damascus College is a day school for secondary students in years 7 to 12.
Ballarat railway station is a regional railway station located on the Ararat and Mildura railway lines. It serves the city of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, and opened on 11 April 1862 as Ballarat West. It gained its current name in 1865.
Loreto College, Victoria is an independent Roman Catholic secondary day school for girls, located in central Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.
Lake Wendouree is a suburb of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia located immediately west of the Ballarat central business district. It encompasses the man-made recreational lake Lake Wendouree, after which it is named. At the 2021 census, Lake Wendouree had a population of 2,878.
Wendouree is a large suburb on the north western rural-urban fringe of the city of Ballarat, in Victoria, Australia. It is the second most populated suburb in the City of Ballarat with a total of 10,376 inhabitants at the 2021 census.
The Central Highlands Football Netball League is an Australian Rules Football & Netball League in the Ballarat region. The league coordinates Senior, Reserve, Under 18, Under 15 and Under 12 grades.
Ballarat Secondary College is a multi-campus college, formed in 1993 by the amalgamation of three existing secondary colleges. The college now comprises two campuses, Woodman's Hill and Mount Rowan, each having different uniforms, crests and administrations. The school has applied to have both campuses registered as separate schools and is awaiting formal approval. In 2016, Ballarat Secondary College improved VCE scores by 20 percent. Over a five-year period, 2012 to 2016, the school was the fourth most improved in VCE performance in Victoria.
The Ballarat Showgrounds is a multi-purpose venue in Wendouree, a suburb of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, owned by the City of Ballarat and since 1934, the home of the Ballarat Show and agricultural show.
Mount Clear is a semi-rural suburb of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia south of the CBD in the Canadian Creek Valley. At the 2021 census, Mount Clear had a population of 3,671.
Federation University Australia (FedUni) is a public university based in Victoria, Australia. It is the modern descendant of the School of Mines Ballarat, established in 1870 as the fourth tertiary institution in Australia, which evolved to form the modern university as it is today. Formerly known as the University of Ballarat, it changed its name to Federation University in 2014 as it became a multi-campus institution with a strong presence both in Ballarat and across the state.
Mount Clear College, formerly known as Mount Clear Secondary College and Mount Clear Technical High School, is a public high school in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. It was established after two secondary colleges, Ballarat Boys' Technical School and Ballarat Girls' High School amalgamated in 1981. The college is located in Mount Clear, seven km (4.3 mi) from Ballarat's central business district.
Eileen Healy was an Australian Sister of Mercy, better known as Mother Bonaventure. Her roles as school principal at Sacred Heart College and as an educationalist at the Aquinas Training College for Teachers in Ballarat, resulted in her contributing to the training of hundreds of future Australian teachers. She also managed multiple building projects throughout her career, contributing greatly to the educational landscape of regional Victoria. Building projects included the construction of hostels, convents, primary and secondary school buildings and facilities, both in Ballarat and other country towns in Victoria. Her desire to contribute to the social needs of Ballarat saw her also inaugurate the Mercy Home Care and Nursing Service.