Education in

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

, 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.

Preschool education

Ballarat offers 37 preschool institutions. They are located in the suburbs of Alfredton, Bakery Hill,

Ballarat Central Ballarat Central (known as the Central Business Area by the City of Ballarat and sometimes simply as "Ballarat") is the central locality of Greater Ballarat in Victoria, Australia. The population of Ballarat Central at the was 5,378, making it ...

Ballarat East Ballarat East is a suburb of Ballarat in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. From 1857 until 1921 the suburb had its own council (see below). The suburb covers a large area east of the city centre. It is the oldest urban area in Ballara ...

Ballarat North Ballarat North (also known as ''North Ballarat'') is a suburb of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia located north of Ballarat's central area. Ballarat North is bounded by Norman Street; Ballarat General Cemetery and Western Freeway to the north, ...

, Black Hill, Brown Hill, Delcombe,

Lake Gardens Lake Gardens is a neighbourhood of South Kolkata, in Kolkata district, West Bengal, India. It has Kalighat to the north, Jodhpur Park to the east, Prince Anwar Shah Road or Tollygunge to the south and Charu Market to the west. The famous Golf ...

Lake Wendouree Lake Wendouree () is an artificially created and maintained shallow urban lake located adjacent to the suburb of the same name in the city of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The name Wendouree comes from a local Aboriginal word ''wendaaree'' w ...

, Mount Clear, Mount Helen, Mount Pleasant, Redan, Sebastopol, Soldiers Hill and Wendouree, and the townships of

Buninyong Buninyong is a town 11 km from Ballarat in Victoria, Australia. The town is on the Midland Highway, south of Ballarat on the road to Geelong. Buninyong was proclaimed a town on 27 June 1851 on the same day as Winchelsea, Portarlington, L ...

, Cardigan,

Creswick 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 populatio ...

and Miners Rest.

Primary and secondary education

Education in the city is overseen by the Victorian

Department of Education and Early Childhood Development An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

(DEECD), whose role is to 'provide policy and planning advice for the delivery of education'. The City of Ballarat lists 55 primary schools within the district, however many of these schools are not in the city. 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.

Tertiary Education

University of Ballarat SMB Campus Lydiard Street Sth

With two internationally accredited Universities located within Ballarat Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) and the

Australian Catholic University Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome. History Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamatio ...

, Aquinas Campus, the city is well served for all aspects of higher education.

Australian Catholic University, Aquinas Campus

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 , motto_translation = To live by the light of Christ , religious_affiliation = , denomination = Roman Catholic, Sisters of Mercy , patron = , established = 1881 ( Sacred Heart)1948 ( St ...

. 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. 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 St John of God Ballarat Hospital provides hospital care for people living in Ballarat and Western Victoria regions of Australia. Founded in 1915, the 221-bed hospital is located in the central business district of Ballarat, a city in Victoria, A ...

. 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. 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. In 1990 the Aquinas formally handed responsibility for the Institute and its operations to ACU. Today, the Ballarat Campus of ACU has around 1000 students, making it the smallest of the city's universities.

Federation University

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 Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

in 2014,http://federation.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/179912/FedUni-Timeline_Dec2014.pdf 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 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 ...

References