Secondary Schools Overseas students can enter secondary schools from years 7 to 12. Junior secondary school is usually from 7 to year 10. The final year 10 examination is equivalent to Singapore's GCE 'O' Level examination. Most students considering tertiary education continue at school for the Senior Secondary Years, that is Years 11 and 12. Completion of year 12 qualifies Australian students for employment in many occupations and is necessary to enter higher education institutions, some TAFE courses and private commercial courses.
Australian schools are either government or private schools.
Government schools are mostly day schools whereas private schools can be both day schools and boarding schools and often have a religious affiliation. The school year generally runs from January to December. Higher Education Undergraduate Education Higher education institutions have various names such as University or University of Technology. Since 1996 there are approximately 36 institutions of higher education in Australia, following mergers between some of them. They also provide a complete range of services to overseas students.