Private school spend grows fastest

Government spending on private schools increased faster in the past five years than for public schools.

And data in a new Productivity Commission report shows private schools on average get $1.2 million a year more funding from all sources than public schools.

The commission's 2014 report on government services also confirms the burden on public schools from educating the vast majority of disadvantaged students.

In 2011/12 all governments in Australia spent $47.1 billion on school education.

A little more than 77 per cent of this was spent on public schools, which make up 71 per cent of all educational institutions.

Governments spent an average of $5.45 million per public school and $3.8 million per private school.

But the report says government money makes up only 57 per cent of the total income private schools raise each year, with the rest coming from fees and other fundraising efforts.

That means private schools were getting an average total income of $6.67 million.

Government spending per public school student increased by about 2.4 per cent a year between 2007/08 and 2011/12.

In the same five-year period, government spending per private school student increased by about 3.4 per cent a year.

That means spending on private schools generally grew higher than inflation each year, while spending on public schools was mostly below inflation.

The report said government schools provide education for a high proportion of students from special-needs groups, who generally require more resources.

In 2012, nearly 85 per cent of all indigenous students and almost three-quarters of all students with a disability attended public schools.

Student-to-teacher ratios were lower in public primary schools than private primary schools, but higher in public secondary schools than private ones.

The average number of students per teacher dropped from 14.3 in 2004 to 13.8 in 2012.