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The great Sydney divide - public versus private schooling - is more stark than ever, new figures reveal.
The figures show, for example, that more than nine out of 10 high school students (93 per cent) in Dover Heights go to an independent school.
In contrast, virtually all secondary students in the south-western suburb of Airds attend a government school.
Hunters Hill has the highest Catholic high school attendance in Sydney, with 66 per cent of students at a Catholic school, followed closely by Riverview (63 per cent) and Botany (53 per cent).
Dover Heights and its neighbour Bellevue Hill also have a high proportion of primary students at private schools. In both areas, 59 per cent of primary school-aged residents attend independent schools.
The data is based on a Fairfax Media analysis of the 2016 census and does not show enrolments at schools within suburbs and also does not assume that children attend schools near their home.
In North Sydney, 77 per cent of students go to public primary schools. But when it comes to secondary education, just 22 per cent are at state schools.
Other suburbs with a similar drift from the public system to the private sector for high school include Greenwich, Paddington, Summer Hill, Darlinghurst, Surry Hills and Manly.
While Airds has the highest public school attendance (97 per cent), other western Sydney suburbs are not far behind, including Homebush West (90 per cent), Canley Vale (88 per cent), Macquarie Fields (87 per cent) and Cabramatta (86 per cent).
Emma Rowe, a lecturer in education at Deakin University, said the background of parents influenced their choice of school for their children.
"The resources you have will play a big role in what school you go to," Dr Rowe said. "Low socio-economic status [SES] parents who earn a below-average wage are simply locked out of elite schools, but there are always exceptions.
"You will have parents who may not have high levels of education themselves sending their children to private schools or parents in high SES neighbourhoods who choose public education because they believe in it."
When it comes to school choice, there's a "big income divide", according to the director of the Australian Institute of Family Studies, Anne Hollonds. "The higher your income level the more likely you are to see you have options and shop around," she said.
Research conducted by the institute last year found that students whose parents' income was in the top quarter were more than twice as likely to attend an independent school, compared to those whose parents' income was in the middle to upper-middle range.
It also found that school choice was influenced by convenience, the attendance of relatives at the school, religious or philosophical values and academic results.
"Parents are a lot more knowledgeable about the academic side since NAPLAN," Ms Hollonds said.
"We are more savvy ... than when we didn't have that data and all you could do was ask your neighbours."
with Henrietta Cook
