This paper shows that public schools bear the greatest burden of disadvantage but are not resourced to overcome its effect on learning outcomes. 

It draws on school profile data from the My School website to examine the family socio-educational background of students in public, Catholic and Independent schools. It also examines the extent of concentration of students from low socio-educationally families in the three school sectors. Both the family background of students and the concentration of advantage/disadvantage in schools have a profound influence on student achievement.

In the case of students from low socio-educationally families there is a “double jeopardy” effect on achievement in that they tend to be disadvantaged because of their own family circumstances and this is exacerbated when they form a high proportion of enrolments in the schools they attend.

The author argues it is imperative that governments at all levels ensure that public schools are fully funded to improve school outcomes for disadvantaged students.

Key findings

• Public schools enol the vast majority of students from the lowest socio-economically advantage (SEA) quartile. Students from low SEA families comprise a much larger proportion of public school enrolments than in private schools. Just over 90% of schools with more than 50% of their students in the lowest SEA quartile were public schools. 
• By contrast, much larger proportions of students in Catholic and Independent schools are in the top SEA quartiles than in public schools. 
• Public schools face an enormous challenge in improving school outcomes for low SEA and other disadvantaged students because they are under-resourced and face large shortages in human and material resources.