Enrolment

School zones

A school zone defines an area’s designated neighbourhood government school (local school). Every Victorian student has a legislated right to enrol at their local school.

School zones are published on the Find my School website.

For students living in metropolitan Melbourne, Ballarat, Bendigo or Geelong, their local school is usually the nearest government school in a straight line from the student's permanent address. In all other areas of Victoria, it is usually the nearest school by the shortest practical route, recognising the additional travel distances often experienced in regional settings.

The department reviews school zones annually. Zones may be adjusted to reflect the opening of new schools, changing provision at existing schools (for example, relocating a campus or changing year levels offered), improving school accessibility, or managing enrolment demand. The Minister for Education (or delegate) approves any changes to school zones.

A small number of school zones have been adjusted to:

• improve school accessibility to align with geographical and structural barriers such as rivers and freeways (noting that a main road is not usually considered to be a barrier to accessing a school)
• support schools with very high local enrolment demand, to ensure that the needs of the school's local community are being met.

When a school zone is adjusted then the zones from surrounding schools are also adjusted to ensure that all students are designated a local school.

Other types of schools

Schools with specific enrolment criteria including English Language Schools and Select Entry Schools, do not have zones. For more information, refer to: Designated Purpose Settings.

Specialist schools do not have zones as they are not designated neighbourhood government schools under the Education and Training Reform Act 2006. For more information, refer to: Enrolment in specialist schools.

Sample wording for school websites

Schools must include links to Find my School and the Placement Policy on their school website. Sample wording for use on school websites is:

Our school zone is available on findmyschool.vic.gov.au which provides the most up-to-date information on school zones in Victoria.

Students living within our school zone are guaranteed a place at our school. This is determined based on your child's permanent address.

Our school manages enrolments using the Placement Policy. This is done to ensure that students can enrol in their local school or enrol at another school if there is a place available.

For more information about our school zone, please contact our school. For answers to frequently asked questions about school zones and enrolling in Victorian government schools, visit School zones.