Public sector remains biggest education provider in South Australia with 170,000 students in 520 schools

State schools offer special interest courses ranging from music to sport to space studies.

About 170,000 students were enrolled in South Australia’s 520 public schools in 2016 – the biggest sector of South Australia’s 785 schools.

Public schools offer special interest courses, ranging from the space school at Hamilton Secondary College to 19 music-focus schools including Brighton High School to dance drama at Golden Grove High to sport and physical education at Henley High School.

There were about 11,500 Year 12 students and about 11,200 Year 8 students entering public secondary schools in 2016.

All government high schools offer a core set of subjects and students often have a different teacher for each subject. 

Special interest courses are offered at some schools. Glenunga International High School’s special interest is students with high intellectual potential, Golden Grove on dance drama, Brighton on music (one of 19 music-focus schools), Henley on sport and physical education.

In 2017, Hamilton Secondary College introduced its space school with a simulated Martian crater and landscape, a mission control room and briefing room.

The new Liberal state government in 2018 introduced the concept of four schools teaching students entrepreneurial skills and attitudes, emphasising creativity, problem solving and collaborating.

One hundred places places for students with special needs were planned in 2017 for each of the two new schools likely to be in the Munno Para region and the southern school in the Sellicks Beach/Aldinga region.

Government high schools are usually co-educational (boys and girls). The only girls-only public high schools are at Mitcham and the Roma Mitchell Secondary College at Gepps Cross. Some schools (R-12, area, colleges) are on the same site as a primary school.

Some metropolitan high schools don't have a geographic zone for students. These include those with an adult education or specialised focus such as Urrbrae Agricultural School.

The Australian Science and Mathematics School is based at Flinders University campus. A school is based also at the Adelaide Women's and Children's Hospital.