In Focus

Introduction

Early childhood teachers form an essential part of the Australian teacher workforce, playing a pivotal role in delivering education to young children. Studies have shown that early childhood education drives foundational gains in a child’s development, which lead to positive future learning, health and wellbeing outcomes in formal schooling and beyond (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2023; PWC, 2019). The benefits of early childhood education extend to individuals, families and broader society. One Australian study estimates that for every dollar invested in early childhood, there is a return of two dollars in individual and societal benefits – comprised of improvements in children’s literacy and numeracy, and higher workforce participation for parents and carers, particularly mothers (PWC, 2019).

To fully realise the benefits of investing in early childhood teachers, maintaining early childhood teacher quality is essential. In Australia, the National Quality Framework (NQF)^[5] and the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Teacher Standards) play crucial roles in facilitating this goal (AITSL, 2018). The NQF’s overarching aim is to drive continuous improvements in educational and developmental outcomes in early childhood education through a unified national approach to regulation, assessment and quality improvement for early childhood education in Australia (ACECQA, 2024c). It sets out national approved learning frameworks that guide curriculum decision making in early childhood settings and minimum qualification requirements to teach in services with children at preschool age or under (ACECQA, 2024a). Teacher registration is another driver for teacher quality, with the National Framework for Teacher Registration (the Framework) implemented by all state and territory authorities in Australia since 2011 (AITSL, 2018). The Framework embeds the Teacher Standards in registration requirements and ensures registered teachers meet specified standards for practice and professional conduct. The Teacher Standards provide a clear benchmark for the delivery of high-quality education.

Achieving a sustainable, high-quality early childhood teacher workforce has become increasingly challenging due to ongoing teacher shortages, coupled with a growing demand for early childhood teachers and early childhood teaching hours in recent years (ACECQA, 2021; Productivity Commission, 2023). In particular, several states and territories^[6] are moving towards increased hours of preschool for all children in the year before they start school (Department for Education South Australia, 2024; State Government of Victoria, 2024). This change has increased the number of teaching hours required from early childhood teachers per week in some states and territories.^[7] Other factors are also at play, including barriers to upskilling, as well as workforce attraction and retention (Productivity Commission, 2023). National workforce projections suggest that growth in the supply of early childhood teachers will be slightly lower than in primary and secondary school teachers through to 2028 (Jobs and Skills Australia, 2023).

It is also important to recognise the complex landscape and regulatory environment that the early childhood teacher workforce operates within. There are a variety of initial teacher education (ITE) degree qualifications and registration requirements that vary across states and territories, as well as a range of settings that teachers may work in. The ATWD captures data on registered early childhood teachers who register to teach with one or more teacher regulatory authority (TRA). This does not include early childhood educators, who differ from early childhood teachers,^[8] or early childhood teachers working in a setting or jurisdiction where teacher registration is not mandated (see Table 1).

This edition of In Focus provides insights into the early childhood teacher workforce, including:

• The characteristics and self-reported workforce experiences of the early childhood teacher workforce in 2022
• Trends in early childhood/primary ITE commencements, completions and completion rates from 2005 to 2021
• Trends in early childhood/primary ITE student and study characteristics from 2005 to 2021.

Early childhood education in Australia

The role of early childhood teachers is both demanding and complex. Their responsibilities are varied, with some being the only degree-qualified teacher in an early childhood setting and some working with just one or two other teacher colleagues in a service.

Read more about the skills and expertise of early childhood teachers.

Settings

Early childhood is defined as the period from birth to 8 years of age (Early Childhood Australia, 2019). Terminology relating to the naming of the year prior to school and the first year of school varies by jurisdiction. There are also differences in how early childhood education is administered across states and territories. For instance, early childhood kindergarten services in Western Australia are typically co-located within schools, and in Victoria, standalone kindergartens and combined kindergarten and daycare settings are common.

Early childhood teachers can teach across a range of settings:

• Nationally approved early childhood services – non-school-based early childhood settings as regulated by the Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010, which run a preschool or kindergarten program, such as sessional programs within long day care.
• Preschools (or kindergartens) – early childhood teacher-led programs delivered at least one year prior to primary school, that can be based in a variety of settings such as standalone preschools or kindergartens.
• Primary schools – preschools or kindergarten programs attached to schools, and the early years of formal schooling including Foundation (the first year of formal schooling prior to Year 1), up to the end of Year 2 (the year in which many children will reach their 7th birthday) (AITSL, 2021).

In this publication, non-school-based early childhood services and standalone preschools or kindergartens are referred to collectively as early childhood settings.

Qualification types

To become eligible to be registered as an early childhood teacher in Australia, a teaching qualification approved by either ACECQA under the NQF or by a TRA under the Accreditation of initial teacher education programs in Australia: Standards and Procedures (Accreditation Standards and Procedures) – or both – is required (see Table 1).

ACECQA approves early childhood only (birth-5) programs and the early childhood components of combined (birth-8 and birth-12) programs, while TRAs approve the primary components of combined early childhood/primary ITE programs under the Accreditation Standards and Procedures (AITSL, 2024a). As a result of both processes, early childhood ITE programs can face different and overlapping requirements based on the learner levels they qualify an ITE student to teach.

There are multiple ITE programs and pathways available for prospective early childhood teachers, including (Boyd, 2020):

• Four-year undergraduate programs in early childhood education (birth-5)
• Four-year undergraduate programs in early childhood/primary education (birth-8 or birth-12)
• Two-year postgraduate programs in early childhood/primary education and a variety of shorter duration programs.^[9]

In addition to these qualifications, ACECQA has approved a small and growing number of undergraduate 3-year birth-5 programs under the NQF, and there are also programs with exit point opportunities for students to complete their degree within 3 years instead of 4 years.^[10]

Registration requirements

While professional registration for primary and secondary teachers in Australia has been well-established for many years, early childhood teacher registration has been implemented gradually and more recently in comparison, particularly for teachers employed in non-school settings. Teacher registration is compulsory for most early childhood teachers, with a large majority being registered, however registration requirements vary across each of the states and territories (AITSL, 2018).

Registration can either be mandatory, voluntary or not required at all depending on the jurisdiction and setting in which the early childhood teacher works. Mandatory and voluntary registration requirements, as well as minimum qualifications across all jurisdictions, are detailed further in Table 1. The ATWD only captures registered teachers.^[11] Where teacher registration is voluntary for an early childhood teacher, only those who opt to register will be captured by the ATWD.

Currently, only four jurisdictions have mandatory registration requirements for early childhood teachers irrespective of whether they are employed in a school or an early childhood setting – New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia. Apart from in South Australia, where early childhood teacher registration has been required since 1976, registration of early childhood teachers is a relatively new requirement. Western Australia introduced mandatory registration in December 2012, Victoria in September 2015 and New South Wales in July 2016 (Fenech & Watt, 2023). The Australian Capital Territory introduced voluntary early childhood teacher registration in early childhood settings in April 2024 (ACT Teacher Quality Institute, 2024). The remaining states and territories are working towards enabling early childhood teacher registration, as part of action FA1-2 of the National Children’s Education and Care Workforce Strategy (ACECQA, 2021).^[12]

The early childhood teacher workforce

This section provides insights into the characteristics and experiences of the early childhood teacher workforce. This includes demographic information such as age and gender, as well as information on where early childhood qualified teachers are deployed, the learner levels they teach, and their broader career intentions in the teacher workforce.

In the context of data collected by the ATWD, the early childhood teacher workforce is defined as all registered teachers with one or more of the following characteristics:

• Holds an early childhood or early childhood/primary ITE qualification awarded after 2005 from an Australian higher education provider (or equivalent)
• Registered and assessed as having an early childhood specialisation on completion of ITE (New South Wales) or featured on an early childhood teacher register (Victoria)^[19]
• Reported teaching in an early childhood setting in the Teacher Survey
• Reported teaching 3- or 4-year-olds in a school setting in the Teacher Survey.

If registered teachers have one or more of these characteristics, they are visible to the ATWD. There are currently limitations on the ability of the ATWD to identify some of the early childhood workforce:

• A lower ability to identify those who were ITE qualified prior to 2005^[20]
• A lower ability to identify those who hold an overseas early childhood teaching qualification^[21]
• No ability to identify those who are ITE qualified and teaching in an early childhood setting, but are not registered (only occurs in states where early childhood teacher registration is not required)
• No ability to identify early childhood educators, except when they hold alternative authorisation to teach and are working as teachers rather than educators.

Due to improvements in data collection through the ATWD, more detailed insights on the registered early childhood teacher workforce can now be achieved. The type of qualification (birth-5, birth-8 or birth-12) that early childhood/primary teachers have obtained through their ITE is now captured, which allows greater visibility of how qualifications relate to specific workforce experiences. Another key improvement includes state-specific labelling of learner levels in the Teacher Survey, enabling improved identification of those teaching 4-year-olds in a school setting. In the ATWD, linkage improvements between the school and early childhood registers have been made for Victoria, while additional processing of NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) specialisations has also been undertaken for teachers in New South Wales.

NESA records age specialisation, that is, the stage (learner level) a teacher is trained to teach, when teachers are accredited (registered). As such, NESA data enables a cross-check between the ITE data classifications of program type and ACECQA age classifications in New South Wales. For example, this means checking whether NESA has recorded someone as having a birth-5 qualification that matches the ACECQA-approved list (and associated age classification). Cross-checking ​reflected a high correspondence between NESA's specialisation information and ACECQA’s age classification. This enables the ATWD to report with a high confidence level that the age classifications in the ATWD’s ITE data reflect the learner levels teachers have been trained to teach, particularly for those who graduated from 2017 onwards.

A total of 4,031 teachers who participated in the Teacher Survey in 2022 were identified as part of the early childhood workforce.

All findings presented in this section, except for demographics,^[22] use data from the Teacher Survey. The Teacher Survey is the largest survey of the registered teacher workforce in Australia. Although the Teacher Survey has an annual and longitudinal design, early childhood/primary data is only available for 2022 due to the improvements in the collection of learner level data. This publication uses unweighted workforce data from the Teacher Survey, meaning caution must be taken when interpreting the data.

Characteristics of the early childhood teacher workforce

Demographics

As shown in Figure 1, in 2022:

• Most of the early childhood teacher workforce were women (94%).
• Three quarters of the early childhood teacher workforce were aged between 30 and 60 years old (75%).

Figure 1: Early childhood/primary registered teachers, by age and gender, 2022

Deployment

In 2022, nearly half (44%) of the early childhood teacher workforce were deployed in a school setting, 39% were deployed in early childhood settings, and 11% were deployed on a casual basis in a school setting, early childhood setting or both (Figure 2).^[23] A smaller proportion were on leave from either a school setting or early childhood setting (3%) and 2% were non-deployed.^[24]

Figure 2: Deployment of early childhood teacher workforce, 2022

Teachers in early childhood settings

As shown in Figure 2, close to two-fifths (39%) of the early childhood teacher workforce were deployed in an early childhood setting.^[25] Of those deployed in an early childhood setting, the majority (70%) were in teaching roles. Recent data indicates that there are some differences in workforce experiences between registered teachers working in early childhood settings (separate to schools) and the teacher workforce overall – that is, classroom teachers deployed in schools.

In 2022, 90% of teachers in early childhood settings were employed on an ongoing/permanent contract, compared to 74% of classroom teachers. However, 54% of teachers in early childhood settings were working full-time compared to 74% of classroom teachers. Additionally, 30% of teachers in early childhood settings worked less than 4 days a week compared to 16% of classroom teachers. Although the greater proportion of ongoing contracts for teachers in early childhood settings may indicate increased job security, it may also reflect the high demand for early childhood teachers^[26] and the existing shortage of early childhood teachers (Jobs and Skills Australia, 2024).

Working hours also varied in 2022, with 59% of teachers in early childhood settings working more than 40 hours per week, compared to 81% of classroom teachers. However, teachers in early childhood settings were more likely to engage in 30 or more hours of face-to-face teaching per week, reaching 51%, compared to 22% of classroom teachers.

The higher proportion of 30+ face-to-face teaching hours per week and lower proportion of 40+ working hours per week for teachers in early childhood settings likely reflect differences in duties and responsibilities between teachers in early childhood setting and classroom teachers. In particular, teaching in an early childhood setting is likely to require a greater amount of time directly interacting with children (Harrison et al., 2019), which may lead to a higher number of face-to-face hours. In contrast, classroom teachers commonly spend time undertaking duties such as lesson planning and marking (AITSL, 2024c), which may lead to higher overall working hours relative to teachers in early childhood settings.

Deployment by state

Deployment of the registered early childhood teacher workforce varied considerably in each state and territory, reflecting the variety of different settings, registration and qualification requirements across jurisdictions.

In 2022, across each state and territory:

• Between 24% and 76% were deployed in a school setting.
• Between 7% and 60% were deployed in an early childhood setting.
• Between 6% and 19% were deployed as a CRT.
• Between 0% and 6% were on leave or non-deployed.

These large ranges reflect the differences in how early childhood teachers are regulated across jurisdictions. For example, Victoria has a specific early childhood register, which can lead to a higher proportion of the registered early childhood teacher workforce reporting being deployed in an early childhood setting. In contrast, early childhood preschool services in Western Australia and the Northern Territory are primarily co-located within schools, which can lead to a greater proportion reporting being deployed in a school setting.

Learner level taught by early childhood qualified teachers

In the ATWD, considerable progress has been made in understanding the learner levels teachers are qualified to teach. This information is derived from field of education codes in the ITE data or from course name information (and the ACECQA-approved list of early childhood qualifications). However, there are limitations to the data reported due to data quality, particularly for students commencing ITE programs prior to 2012, where age specialisation in ACECQA’s approved list is not available for all programs. In these cases, except for early childhood programs recognised by ACECQA and TRAs (which is what determines the ‘ITE flag’ underpinning the ATWD’s ITE data^[27]), it is not possible to differentiate the age specialisation.

The more recent the year of graduation, the more accurate the identification of age specialisation:

• For students completing their degrees from 2017 onwards, 95% of early childhood/primary ITE completions in the ATWD could be assigned an age specialisation: either birth-5, birth-8 or birth-12.
• This degrades as year of graduation recedes back in time (less than 30% in the 2013 cohort).
• For those with a program not in the ACECQA list or in the list without an age specialisation, manual processing of course names (and reference to course handbooks on ITE provider websites) is used to derive the age specialisations where possible.

In this publication, the ATWD distinguishes between three learner levels that an early childhood/primary qualified teacher could teach in-field: early childhood, foundation^[28] and primary. The early childhood learner level generally includes children aged 3-4 years. The foundation learner level encompasses students in their first year of formal schooling, which varies by jurisdiction, but students must be enrolled in foundation by their 6^th birthday (Productivity Commission, 2021).

In 2022, three-quarters (74%) of registered early childhood teachers^[29] with a birth-5 qualification taught at the early childhood learner level, compared to 32% of those with a birth-8 or birth-12 qualification (Figure 3).^[30]

In contrast, nearly half (47%) of early childhood teachers with a birth-8 or birth-12 qualification taught at the primary learner level, which was notably higher than those with a birth-5 qualification (20%). This difference is not unexpected, particularly given the wider range of learner levels for birth-8 and birth-12 programs relative to birth-5 programs.

Early childhood teachers with a birth-8 or birth-12 qualification were more likely to be teaching at the foundation learner level (27%) than teachers with a birth-5 qualification (11%).

Figure 3: Learner levels taught, by early childhood/primary ITE qualification, 2022^[31]

A notable proportion of the 20% of teachers who reported teaching primary-aged learners with a birth-5 qualification is likely to be accounted for by those who have either:

• Also acquired the training to teach primary age learners, or
• Who may be teaching another learner level in addition to primary age learners.

For the first group, New South Wales data shows that 4.10% of teachers accredited by NESA with an ACECQA-approved birth-5 qualification were also accredited to teach some or all primary learner levels (aged 6 to 8, 8 to 12 or 6 to 12 years). This reflects the difference between a degree-centred classification, and an individual-centred classification based on an individual’s selected electives over the course of their ITE program. Namely, where ACECQA adopts a degree-centred approach, NESA adopts an individual-centred classification approach. Consequently, two individuals with the same program name from the same provider in the same year could have different age specialisations based on their chosen units of study.^[32]

For the second group, among those with a birth-5 qualification in this analysis, 8% were teaching another learner level in addition to primary learners. This could also be attributed to structural factors such as a shortage of qualified teachers or preschool-aged children in certain regions, which can lead to multi-age classrooms in some instances (Ronksley-Pavia et al., 2019). For example, across all early childhood and early childhood/primary qualified teachers in regional and remote areas in 2022, almost three times the number of early childhood qualified teachers were teaching primary learner levels in addition to another learner level (34% vs 12%).

The learner level analysis above indicates that the alignment between early childhood/primary ITE qualification type and learner level taught is not completely rigid. For example, working in regional and remote areas or choosing particular electives over the course of an ITE program may lead to some flexibility in the learner levels that teachers go on to teach after obtaining an ITE qualification.

Years in the profession

In 2022, 75% of the early childhood/primary teacher workforce had less than 20 years of experience in the profession, compared to 53% of the wider teacher workforce (AITSL, 2024c).

Nearly half (46%) of the early childhood/primary teacher workforce had 1-9 years of experience in the profession, 29% had 10-19 years in the profession, 13% had 20-29 years in the profession and 11% had 30 or more years in the profession.

The relative lack of early childhood/primary teachers with 20 or more years of experience, combined with the greater proportion of early childhood/primary teachers with less than 10 years in the profession, may be a result of a combination of factors. These include the introduction of minimum degree qualifications and early childhood registration being a relatively new requirement^[33] compared to primary and secondary teacher registration (ACECQA, 2021). Response bias to the Teacher Survey could also potentially influence the distribution of teacher experience levels.

Figure 4: Years in the teaching profession, registered early childhood/primary teachers, 2022

Career intentions

Job mobility has been steadily rising in Australia over the past decade – that is, people are moving between jobs and careers at an increasing rate (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2023).

The ATWD, through the Teacher Survey, is able to capture the career intentions of the teacher workforce. There are three broad categories of career intentions: ‘leave before retirement’, ‘remain until retirement’, and ‘unsure’.

In 2022, there was a relatively even distribution of career intentions among registered early childhood/primary teachers (Figure 5). One-third (33%) of registered early childhood/primary teachers indicated an intention to remain in the profession until retirement, while a similar proportion reported an intention to leave the profession before retirement (31%). The most common career intention, though only by a small margin, was ‘unsure’, which was reported by 36% of early childhood/primary teachers. Reported career intentions for early childhood/primary teachers did not vary by learner level taught.

This is broadly comparable to the wider teacher workforce.^[34] In 2022, 30% of the wider teacher workforce reported an intention to remain in the profession (-3 percentage point difference), 34% intended to leave the profession (+3 percentage point difference) and 36% were unsure of their career intentions. Read more about career intentions for the wider teacher workforce.

Given two-thirds (67%) of registered early childhood/primary teachers either reported an intention to leave or were unsure of their career intentions in the profession, there is clear scope for establishing targeted retention initiatives.

Figure 5: Career intentions, registered early childhood/primary teachers, 2022

Early childhood teacher supply – the ITE pipeline

The initial teacher education (ITE) pipeline captures the beginning of an early childhood teacher’s professional journey – from commencement to completion of an ITE program. This stage typically precedes entry into the teacher workforce.

In the ATWD, ITE is a program of study undertaken through a higher education provider, which is accredited by a TRA under the Accreditation Standards and Procedures (AITSL, 2015) or an equivalent qualification (like an ACECQA-accredited program) that allows individuals to register to teach with one or more TRAs in Australia.^[35] Early childhood/primary ITE program types offered by higher education providers have varied over time in all states and territories. The differences in program types on offer and their uptake by ITE students over time can influence the composition of the early childhood/primary ITE pipeline. An ‘over time’ examination of program types on offer across all 48 ITE providers in Australia is not included in this publication as the ATWD looks at student data only.

This section summarises characteristics of early childhood/primary ITE students including recent trends in commencements, completions and completion rates^[36] from 2005 to 2021.

Detailed information about all ITE students can be found in the most recent edition of National Trends: Initial Teacher Education Pipeline.

Commencements

Commencements form the first stage of the ITE pipeline. By counting the number of students who commenced a program for the first time each year, commencements provide an important leading indicator of future teacher supply, depending on the level of attrition in each commencing cohort.

Analysis and interpretation of ITE data up to 2021 provides an important picture of the ITE pipeline prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Commencements were influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in relation to student and study characteristics (i.e. mode of attendance and international students).

Number of commencements

A total of 5,814 students commenced early childhood/primary ITE programs in 2021. This was an increase of 1,696 students (+41%) compared to 2012 (Figure 6). On average, commencements grew 4.58% per year from 2012 to 2021.

In the last decade, there were three distinct periods of change in early childhood/primary program commencements. Commencements increased between 2012 and 2015 (+1,815 students, +44%), decreased from 2016 to 2018 (-1,833 students, -31%) and then increased again between 2019 and 2021 (+1,714 students, +42%). The drop in commencements in 2017 and 2018, followed by the increase from 2019 to 2021, may be due to changes to the Commonwealth Grant Scheme (CGS) during this period. This trend was mirrored in the overall number of ITE commencements (AITSL, 2024b).

Figure 6: Number of commencements in early childhood and early childhood/primary ITE programs (combined), 2012 to 2021

Early childhood/primary commencements by program type

The most recent edition of National Trends: Initial Teacher Education Pipeline (2024b) contained a detailed breakdown of early childhood/primary ITE program commencements. This section is an excerpt from that publication and provides the data on early childhood/primary ITE commencements overall.

Commencing student characteristics

Age and gender

In 2021, most commencing early childhood/primary ITE students were women (n=4,237, 96%). This percentage has been largely consistent over time. Women constituted a higher proportion of commencements as learner age decreased – from 94% of birth-12 programs, to 97% of birth-8 programs and 98% of birth-5 programs. In contrast, in 2021, 74% of all commencing ITE students were women, indicating that a considerably smaller cohort of men undertake early childhood/primary ITE programs.

More than a third of commencing early childhood/primary students were aged 31 or above in 2021 (n=1,112, 35%), followed by those aged 20 or younger (n=969, 17%), 23-25 (n=811, 17%) and 26-30 (n=815, 17%). Compared to all ITE commencements in 2021, those commencing early childhood/primary programs were more likely to be 31 years or older and less likely to be younger than 20 years (20 or less: early childhood/primary – 17%, all ITE – 26%; 31 or over: early childhood/primary – 35%, all ITE – 24%). This could be attributed to higher rates of early childhood/primary teacher commencements being admitted on the basis of prior Vocational Education and Training (VET) study, such as VET-qualified early childhood educators who are upskilling. This is discussed in further detail under the section Basis of admission.

Figure 9: Proportion of early childhood/primary ITE commencing students, by age; 2012–2021

In 2021, a higher proportion of students commencing birth-5 programs were aged 31 or over (52%), than in birth-8 (33%) or birth-12 (24%) programs. Accordingly, birth-5 programs had far fewer students aged 20 or less (6%) or 21-22 years old (8%) than the other program types (birth-8, 20 or less: 22%; birth-8, 21-22: 14%; birth-12, 20 or less: 23%; birth-12, 21-22: 17%).

A greater proportion of early childhood/primary students were older than ITE students in general: 35% of early childhood/primary students were aged 31 or above, in contrast to 24% of all students.

Remoteness

In 2021, just under one quarter (24%) of early childhood/primary students lived in a regional or remote area, which has remained stable since 2012 (24%; Figure 10). This was slightly higher than all ITE students (22%).

The proportion of early childhood/primary students who lived in regional and remote areas was higher in birth-12 programs (28%) than in those training to teach younger age groups (birth-5: 21%, birth-8: 20%).

Disability

The proportion of students with disability who commenced an early childhood/primary ITE program in 2021 was 6% (Figure 10). This figure remained relatively stable between 2012 and 2021.

The rate of students with disability varied slightly between early childhood/primary program types. In 2021, it was higher in birth-8 programs, at 8%, followed by birth-12 programs at 6% and finally birth-5 programs at 4%.

Socio-economic status

Socio-economic status (SES)^[38] measures the average economic and social conditions of people who live in a given area and is not related to individual or family circumstances. In 2021, 63% of early childhood/primary ITE students were from a medium SES area, one fifth (20%) were from a low SES area and 18% were from a high SES area. These proportions shifted over time (see Figure 10).

Birth-5 and birth-12 programs had similar distributions of students studying in different SES areas (birth-5, low SES: 19%, medium SES: 64%, high SES: 19%; birth-12, low SES: 18%, medium SES: 63%, high SES: 19%). The spread of students in SES areas commencing birth-8 programs differed. These programs had more students from low SES areas (24%, +5 and +6 percentage points compared to the other programs) and fewer students in high (15%, -4 percentage points) and medium SES areas (61%, -2 and -3 percentage points).

In comparison to all ITE students, in 2021, more early childhood/primary ITE students lived in medium SES areas (+8 percentage point difference) and fewer lived in high SES areas (-7 percentage point difference).

Figure 10: Early childhood/primary ITE commencing students by remoteness, disability and SES, 2012, 2017, 2021

International students

In 2021, 12% of students who commenced an early childhood/primary ITE program were international students, while 88% were domestic students (Figure 11). This was notably higher than all ITE commencements – in 2021, 5% of all ITE commencements were international students.

Commencements by international students notably declined in 2020 and 2021 from a high of 24% in 2019. These decreases were likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, when border restrictions made it more difficult for international students to enter Australia. The number of international tertiary students dropped across all degrees during this period (Hurley, 2020). A similar reduction was seen for all ITE students (AITSL, 2024b), although it was more pronounced in those studying early childhood/primary ITE programs (early childhood/primary: -12 percentage point change from 2019 to 2021, all ITE: -3 percentage point change from 2019 to 2021).

Figure 11: Proportion of early childhood/primary ITE commencements by international students, 2012 to 2021

The percentage of commencements by international students increased as the learner age that ITE students were studying to teach decreased. In 2021, for birth-12 programs, 9% of all commencing students were international students, compared to 11% in birth-8 programs and 18% in birth-5 programs.

Commencing student study characteristics

Mode of attendance

Over half (52%) of students commencing an early childhood/primary ITE program in 2021 studied online (n=2,726), while 42% studied on campus (n=1,283) and less than one-tenth commenced degrees multi-modally – that is, programs featuring both online and on campus modes of attendance (n=455, 6%).^[39] This is reflective of a changing pattern of commencing programs over time (see Figure 12).

Figure 12: Proportion of early childhood/primary ITE commencements by mode of attendance, 2012 to 2021

Early childhood/primary ITE programs showed markedly different distributions of mode of attendance in 2021 (Figure 13). As learner age increased, studying on campus also increased (birth-5: 23%, birth-8: 43%, birth-12: 56%). The opposite pattern was true for online programs – the uptake of online study was higher for programs with a younger learner age focus (birth-5: 74%, birth-8: 45%, birth-12: 38%). Multi-modal programs were most common among students in birth-8 programs (12%) and less so in birth-12 (6%) and birth-5 programs (3%).

The higher proportion of online students undertaking birth-5 programs may be due to a greater proportion of students aged 31 and above within the birth-5 commencing cohort.^[40] Noting that student and study characteristics covary, previous ATWD reporting has shown that students aged 30 and above tend to study online at higher rates than younger students (AITSL, 2024b). Given the large proportion of birth-5 commencements admitted via a VET pathway, as shown below, (and, therefore, who may be already working in the sector as an early childhood educator), the finding that more students in birth-5 programs are 31 and above and studying online, is unsurprising.

Figure 13: Proportion of early childhood/primary ITE commencements by mode of attendance and program type, 2021

In 2021, the distribution of modes of attendance in early childhood/primary programs was quite different from those of all ITE students. Students commencing an early childhood/primary program were much more likely to study online than all ITE students (30%, +22 percentage points) and less likely to study on campus (54%, -12 percentage points) or multi-modally (16%, -10 percentage points).

Full-time status

In 2021, 69% of students who commenced an early childhood/primary ITE program were studying full-time in their first year, while 31% were studying part-time. The proportion of students studying full-time increased 2 percentage points from 66% in 2012.

More early childhood/primary students commenced a part-time program in 2021 compared to all ITE students (18%, a +13-percentage point difference).

As the age of learners that early childhood/primary students were studying to teach decreased, the percentage of students studying part-time increased. In 2021, birth-12 programs had the fewest part-time students (22%), followed by birth-8 programs (33%) and birth-5 programs (42%). As discussed above, the birth-5 commencing cohort had a higher proportion of students aged 31 and above in 2021. Noting that student and study characteristics covary, previous ATWD reporting shows that students aged 30 and above are also more likely to study part-time than younger students (AITSL, 2024b), which may partially explain the higher proportion of part-time commencements for birth-5 programs.

These patterns in study characteristics for commencing students are important to consider because completion rates vary by mode of attendance and full-time status. In general, online study tends to be associated with lower completion rates than on-campus study. Similarly, completion rates are lower for part-time study (AITSL, 2024b). This means high rates of online and part-time commencements among early childhood/primary ITE students may have negative implications for future teacher supply if completion rates continue to follow past trends.

Basis of admission

Students enter ITE programs through different pathways,^[41] including secondary education, previous higher education studies, Vocational Education and Training (VET) and other routes,^[42] like prior work experience. Admission into ITE programs is largely at the discretion of educational providers. It may involve academic criteria, like an Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR)^[43] or previous higher education performance, and non-academic criteria, like written applications and interviews. While postgraduate students tend to be admitted to ITE based on previous higher education, undergraduate students enter via a wider range of admission routes.

Undergraduate admission pathways

In 2021, nearly half of all early childhood/primary students were admitted to their degree through VET (n=2,281, 46%), while close to one in four (n=1,175, 24%) were admitted based on previous higher education and just over one in five (n=1,058, 21%) were admitted via a secondary education pathway. Admission pathways have changed over time and now favour VET admissions more and post-secondary admissions less than they did historically (Figure 14).

Figure 14: Undergraduate basis of admission, early childhood/primary ITE students, 2012 to 2021

Undergraduate admission pathways were very different for early childhood/primary ITE students compared to all ITE students. Students commencing early childhood/primary ITE programs were more than twice as likely to be admitted on the basis of VET (46% vs. 19%) and much less likely to be admitted through a secondary education pathway (21% vs. 38%) or prior higher education (24% vs. 33%) than ITE students overall. This trend was more pronounced in birth-5 programs than birth-8 programs and birth-12 programs.

Undergraduate admission pathways by program type

In 2021, the older the learners an ITE student was training to teach, the more likely they were to be admitted based on secondary education (birth-5: 15%, birth-8: 17%, birth-12: 29%). When students were training to teach the youngest learners, they were more likely to be admitted based on VET (birth-5: 66%), while programs including primary-aged learners had fewer VET admissions (birth-8: 34%, birth-12: 35%). The proportion of ITE students admitted on the basis of prior higher education (birth-5: 13%, birth-8: 41%, birth-12: 23%) varied across program type, while smaller proportions were admitted through an ‘other/unknown’ pathway (birth-5: 6%, birth-8: 8%, birth-12: 13%; Figure 15).

It is possible that many of the VET-based admissions into early childhood/primary programs are VET-qualified early childhood educators who are upskilling to become qualified early childhood teachers. Successful ITE completion by these commencing students may lead to increases in qualification levels within the early childhood sector.

Figure 15: Proportion of undergraduate secondary education and VET admissions, by program type, 2021

Undergraduate admissions by ATAR

In 2021, 21% of all commencing undergraduate early childhood/primary students entered ITE via their secondary education, with 36% of these students admitted based on their ATAR.^[44] Of those students admitted on the basis of their ATAR, just over half (51%) had a score of 70 or greater and 49% of students had an ATAR of less than 69.95.

When compared to all ITE students, early childhood/primary ITE students in 2021 were less likely to be admitted to their degree via their secondary education (21% vs. 38%, -17 percentage points). Of those who were admitted based on their secondary education, early childhood/primary students were less likely than all ITE students to be admitted based on their ATAR (36% vs. 60%, -24 percentage points). Then, of those admitted based on ATAR, early childhood/primary students were less likely than all ITE students to have a score above 70 (51% vs. 72%, -21 percentage points; Figure 16).

Figure 16: Proportion of undergraduate admissions based on secondary education, ATAR and ATAR scores above 70, early childhood/primary ITE students compared with all ITE students, 2021

Enrolments

Enrolments^[45] are the number of students who are actively studying in the ITE pipeline in a given year. These numbers include a combination of commencing students, students who completed during the year and those who were actively studying in an ITE program that year (but not those who deferred for the full year). Enrolment numbers must be interpreted with caution as they are influenced by many factors. They grow when commencements increase, when completions go down, when fewer students study full-time, when more students defer their degrees, when ITE programs increase in length, and when the pass rates of subjects go down.

In 2021, 18,336 students were enrolled in early childhood/primary programs (Figure 17). This reflects a general pattern of increasing enrolments over time, with 11,219 enrolled students in 2012, increasing to 15,683 in 2015 (+15%). Much like overall ITE commencements, there were small drops in the number of enrolled students in 2016 (n=15,492, -1% from 2015) and 2018 (n=15,149, -6% from 2017), followed by steady increases up to 2021 (+21% from 2018). There are more early childhood/primary students in the ITE pipeline than ever before, which may positively impact future teacher supply in early childhood and primary settings if these enrolled students go on to complete their programs of study.

Figure 17: National early childhood/primary ITE program enrolments, 2012 to 2021

Program type

In 2021, enrolments in birth-12 programs were most common (n=8,023, 44%), followed by birth-5 (n=5,387, 29%) and birth-8 (n=4,926, 27%) programs. These proportions have shifted over time, with birth-12 enrolments remaining relatively stable since 2012 (+3 percentage points), birth-8 programs increasing (+8 percentage points) and a corresponding decrease in the proportion of birth-5 program enrolments (-12 percentage points; Figure 18).

Figure 18: National early childhood/primary ITE enrolments by program type, 2012 to 2021

Completions

Completions are the final stage of the ITE pipeline. After successful completion of an ITE program, the next step for ITE students is typically provisional registration and entry into the teacher workforce. As such, ITE completions are a crucial indicator of future teacher supply.

Trends in early childhood/primary completions

In 2021, there were 2,189 early childhood/primary ITE program completions, representing an 18% increase from 2012 (n=1,847), but a 22% decrease from a peak of 2,804 completions in 2017 (Figure 19).

Over the period from 2012 to 2021, there were two distinct periods of change among early childhood/primary ITE program completions: a period of growth from 2012 to 2017, followed by a gradual decline from 2018 to 2021. These periods of change largely follow trends in overall ITE completions. Read more about trends in completions for all ITE students.

From 2012 to 2017, early childhood/primary ITE program completions increased by 52% (+957 completions), at an average growth rate of 8.6% per year. However, from 2018 to 2021, completions declined by 20% (-615 completions), decreasing by an average of 4.9% per year to reach levels last seen in 2013.

Figure 19: Early childhood/primary ITE program completions, 2012 to 2021

Number of birth-5, birth-8 and birth-12 completions

From 2012 to 2021, birth-8 and birth-12 program completions generally trended upwards over time, while birth-5 program completions decreased (Figure 20). However, it is important to note that changes to ITE program offerings and their uptake over time may influence trends in completions across each of the early childhood/primary ITE programs.

Over the period from 2012 to 2017, birth-8 programs (+301%, +708 completions) and birth-12 programs (+94%, +554 completions) recorded large gains in completions. Over the same period, completions in birth-5 programs declined by 30% (-305 completions).

From 2017 to 2021, all 3 early childhood/primary ITE program types recorded a decline in completions. Birth-8 program completions fell by 30% (-216 completions), with birth-5 (-21%, -201 completions) and birth-12 (-17%, -198 completions) program completions also declining. Birth-5 programs were the only program type to record an increase in the number of completions from 2020 to 2021 (+23%, +93 completions).

Figure 20: Early childhood and early childhood/primary ITE completions by program type, 2012 to 2021

Changes to the composition of early childhood/primary completions

The composition of early childhood/primary ITE program completions has changed from 2012 to 2021 (Figure 21).

Over the period from 2012 to 2021:

• The proportion of birth-5 program completions decreased from 55% to 23% (-32 percentage points).
• The proportion of birth-8 program completions increased from 13% to 34% (+21 percentage points).
• The proportion of birth-12 program completions increased from 32% to 43% (+11 percentage points).

The increase in the proportion of birth-8 and birth-12 completions, which equip ITE students to teach at the early childhood and primary learner levels, indicates a growing offering of, and uptake in, programs that expand the range of learner levels that ITE graduates are trained to teach.^[46] These differences in program offerings and their uptake can influence the composition of the early childhood/primary ITE pipeline, and may have workforce supply implications depending on where graduates go on to teach.

Figure 21: Proportion of early childhood/primary ITE completions by program type, 2012 to 2021

Completions by students and study characteristics

Mode of attendance

Over the period from 2012 to 2021, there has been a notable increase in the proportion of early childhood/primary ITE students who completed their studies through a program that was offered either fully or partly online (Figure 22).

In 2021, nearly three-quarters (72%) of ITE students who completed a birth-5 program studied through an online or multi-modal mode of attendance, a substantial increase from 29% in 2012 (+43 percentage points). This trend was also reflected among students who completed a birth-8 program, with over half (56%) studying online or multi-modally, an increase of 7 percentage points from 2012 (49%). The proportion of students who completed a birth-12 program through online and multi-modal study also doubled from 20% in 2012 to 41% in 2021 (+21 percentage points).

The rise in online and multi-modal program completions reflects broader trends across all ITE programs. Since 2012, there has been an increasing proportion of students studying partly, or fully, online.

Birth-5 (72%) and birth-8 (56%) programs recorded a higher proportion of completions through online and multi-modal modes of attendance compared to all ITE students (46%), while birth-12 programs (41%) recorded a slightly lower proportion.

Figure 22: Proportion of online and multi-modal early childhood/primary ITE completions by program type, 2012, 2017, 2021

Full-time status

From 2012 to 2021, the proportion of early childhood/primary ITE students completing their studies part-time has increased across all program types (Figure 23).

In 2021, 56% of ITE students who completed a birth-5 program were studying part-time, compared to 27% in 2012 (+29 percentage points). Birth-8 programs also experienced an increase in the proportion of part-time students from 2012 to 2021, increasing from 27% to 35% (+8 percentage points), while birth-12 programs recorded a 16-percentage point increase from 13% to 29% over the same period.

Figure 23: Proportion of part-time early childhood/primary ITE completions, 2012, 2017, 2021

The higher proportion of students completing birth-5 ITE programs on a part-time basis and through an online mode of attendance may be due to covariance with other student characteristics. In particular, students in birth-5 programs were more likely to be mature-aged than those in birth-8 and birth-12 programs.^[48] Older students are more likely to study part-time and/or online relative to younger students, possibly due to family commitments and financial considerations (AITSL, 2024b).

Completing student characteristics

Characteristics of students who have completed an early childhood/primary ITE program vary across program types and include gender, domestic student status, disability status and socioeconomic status. These characteristics are presented below in Table 2.

Across both undergraduate and postgraduate early childhood/primary ITE programs in 2021:

• Most students who completed an early childhood/primary program in 2021 were women. Though this is also true for all ITE students, it is much more pronounced for early childhood/primary ITE students.
• Four-fifths (80%) of birth-5 and birth-8 program completions were by domestic students, compared to 89% of birth-12 program completions.
• Between 5 and 7% of students who completed an early childhood/primary program in 2021 reported having a disability, which is comparable to all ITE students.
• Depending on program type, 16 to 21% of early childhood/primary completions were by students in a low SES area. This is broadly comparable to all ITE students.

Completion rates

Students’ progress through the ITE pipeline on different timelines to others in their cohort.^[49] Within any given cohort, there are three possible student outcomes each year: students could have completed their studies, discontinued their ITE program or remained enrolled.

Completion rates help with understanding the progression of early childhood/primary students, in a given cohort, through the ITE pipeline. Completion rates are typically calculated as the proportion of a commencing cohort who completed an ITE program. For this publication, this includes completion of an undergraduate program over a 10-year timeframe, with the completion rate at 6 years used to compare completion rates over time. Trends in completion rates can be useful for estimating potential future teacher supply, because they show what proportion of commencing students in a cohort is likely to complete their degree. Read more about completion rates.

In this publication, postgraduate completion rates are not reported for early childhood/primary programs as there are too few postgraduates undertaking some degree types for the rates to be meaningful. Additionally, for undergraduate completion rates data, birth-8 and birth-12 programs have been collapsed and are reported together. 

Undergraduate completion rates

Undergraduate 6-year completion rates declined across early childhood/primary ITE programs from the 2013 to 2016 commencing cohorts, in line with broader completion rate trends across all ITE programs during this period (Figure 24).

From the 2013 cohort to the 2016 cohort, birth-5 program completion rates declined from 59% to 52% (-7 percentage points), while birth-8/birth-12 program completion rates declined from 54% to 44% (-10 percentage points).

The decline in completion rates over this period was driven by year-on-year falls from 2013 to 2015 for all program types. However, in 2016, completion rates for birth-5 programs increased by 5 percentage points to 52%, compared to 2015. Birth-8/birth-12 completion rates declined by 1 percentage point to 44% over the same period. The increase in birth-5 completion rates for the 2016 cohort, in conjunction with the rise in the number and proportion of birth-5 program commencements from 2018 to 2021, may help to mitigate the effects of the recent decline in birth-5 completions.

Over the period from 2013 to 2016, the decline in completion rates across the birth-5 (-7 percentage points) and birth-8/birth-12 program cohorts (-10 percentage points) was slightly greater compared to all ITE programs, where completion rates fell by 6 percentage points from 55% to 49%.

Figure 24: Undergraduate (6-year) completion rates; early childhood, early childhood/primary and all ITE programs, 2013 to 2016

Future undergraduate completion rates by program type

In general, undergraduate early childhood/primary ITE programs are 4 years in length.^[50] While not all students complete in this timeframe, 4-year undergraduate completion rates can act as a leading indicator for completion rates among future cohorts that are still progressing through the ITE pipeline. Importantly, examining 4-year undergraduate completion rates allows for the examination of more recent ITE cohorts – up to and including the 2018 commencing cohort for undergraduates.

Birth-5 programs

For undergraduate birth-5 program cohorts from 2013 to 2016, 4-year completion rates declined from 51% to 40% (-11 percentage points; see Figure 25).

• In the 2013 birth-5 program cohort, a further 8% went on to complete by 6 years.
• In the 2016 birth-5 program cohort, a further 12% went on to complete by 6 years.

Consequently, there has been an increase in the proportion of cohorts that complete their birth-5 programs between 4 and 6 years after commencement.

From the 2016 to 2018 cohorts, the 4-year completion rate declined from 40% to 24% (-16 percentage points).

If we assume, based on the 2016 cohort, that a further 12% of the 2018 cohort will go on to complete by 6 years post-commencement (by the end of 2023), and given that the 4-year completion rate for the 2018 cohort is 24%, the 6-year completion rate for the 2018 cohort will be 36%. This is 16 percentage points lower than the 6-year completion rate in the 2016 cohort (52%).

Figure 25: Undergraduate 4-year completion rates, birth-5 programs, 2005 to 2020

Birth-8/birth-12 programs

For undergraduate birth-8/birth-12 cohorts from 2013 to 2016, 4-year completion rates declined from 37% to 29% (-8 percentage points; see Figure 26).

• In the 2013 birth-8/birth-12 cohort, a further 17% went on to complete by 6 years.
• In the 2016 birth-8/birth-12 cohort, a further 15% went on to complete by 6 years.

Therefore, a fairly stable proportion of undergraduate birth-8/birth-12 cohorts have historically completed their undergraduate programs between 4 and 6 years after commencement.

From the 2016 to 2018 cohorts, the 4-year completion rate declined from 29% to 26% (-3 percentage points).

If we assume, based on the 2016 cohort, that a further 15% of the 2018 cohort will go on to complete by 6 years post-commencement (by the end of 2023), and given that the 4-year completion rate for the 2018 cohort is 26%, the 6-year completion rate for the 2018 cohort will be 41%. This is 3 percentage points lower than the 6-year completion rate in the 2016 cohort (44%).

Figure 26: Undergraduate 4-year completion rates, birth-8/birth-12 programs, 2005 to 2020

The 2018 undergraduate cohort 6-year completion rates have been estimated solely based on previous trends for 4-year undergraduate completion rates by program type and do not account for differences in terms of student and study characteristics between commencing cohorts. It is possible, therefore, that the completion rates in the 2018 cohorts may differ from the figures estimated here.

Conclusion

Early childhood teachers deliver quality education to young Australian children as part of the broader early childhood workforce, and the importance of early childhood education on a child’s long-term academic and developmental outcomes is pronounced. For the first time, the ATWD has been able to provide a national picture of both the early childhood/primary ITE pipeline and the early childhood teacher workforce in Australia, by drawing on data from ITE providers, TRAs and the Australian Teacher Workforce Survey. Improvements in data collection through the ATWD have also afforded more detailed insights on the ITE qualification types (birth-5, birth-8, or birth-12) that early childhood teachers have obtained, providing greater visibility of how qualifications may relate to specific workforce experiences.

Early childhood and early childhood/primary teachers form a critical part of a child’s educational journey from preschool to primary school. Workforce data showed that early childhood teachers are qualified to teach across a range of learners, with birth-5 qualified teachers more likely to teach early childhood learners, while birth-8 and birth-12 qualified teachers were more likely to teach at foundation and primary learner levels. Although early childhood teachers had generally been in the profession for fewer years compared to the wider teacher workforce, three quarters of the early childhood teacher workforce were aged between 30 and 60 years old (75%). This, combined with the fact that many early childhood/primary ITE students are admitted based on prior VET study, may indicate that some early childhood teachers have worked earlier in their careers as early childhood educators, before choosing to upskill to become early childhood qualified teachers.

The early childhood teacher workforce data also showed scope for targeted retention initiatives to mitigate outflows. Compared to the broader teacher workforce, reported intentions to leave the profession before retirement were slightly lower for early childhood/primary teachers, with around one-third (31%) intending to leave, and a further 36% who were unsure of their career intentions, highlighting that there are opportunities to improve retention for this part of the workforce.

Demand for early childhood teachers continues to increase, particularly as jurisdictions across Australia establish increased preschool hours for 3- and 4-year-old children. The potential future supply pool of early childhood qualified teachers through ITE may not keep up with this increased demand. Though overall early childhood/primary ITE program commencements and completions have followed a general upwards growth trend since 2012, program completions have declined in more recent years, by an average of 4.9% per year since 2018. This broadly reflects trends in overall ITE programs and coincides with a rise in online commencements for early childhood ITE programs in recent years, which tend to be associated with lower completion rates.

As additional data becomes available over time, ATWD reporting will increasingly be able to identify key trends, issues and challenges impacting the early childhood/primary teacher workforce in Australia.

Appendix

Technical notes for the Australian Teacher Workforce Survey

Sample size

In 2022, 4,031 early childhood/primary registered teachers responded to the Australian Teacher Workforce Survey. The below table lists the total sample size of registered early childhood/primary teachers for each variable reported throughout the publication that uses Survey data, by order of appearance in text: