During academic year 2023-2024, the number of students enrolled in pre-primary, primary, and secondary education totalled 60,197 - a 1.2 per cent increase compared to the previous academic year, the NSO said Friday.

The number of non-Maltese students enrolled in pre-primary to secondary education during 2023-2024 increased by 8.3 per cent when compared to the previous academic year.

The majority of non-Maltese students attended either State-run or private institutions. Nearly one in every four students enrolled with private institutions were non-Maltese (24.8 per cent), while in State-run institutions 23.1 per cent of students enrolled were non-Maltese.

The absolute majority of students enrolled in Church-run institutions were Maltese (99.2 per cent). 65.6 per cent of non-Maltese students enrolled in pre-primary to secondary education during 2023-2024 were third-country nationals.

The majority of the 60,197 students enrolled in pre-primary, primary, and secondary education were male (51.8 per cent). During academic year 2023-2024, 45.5 per cent of the students enrolled were aged between 5 and 10 years, while 38.1 per cent of students were aged between 11-15 years. 

State-run institutions accounted for 59.6 per cent of total enrolments, while 26.7 per cent attended church-run institutions. Students enrolled in independent schools accounted for 13.7 per cent of total enrolments at these levels. Total students enrolled in mandatory education during 2023-2024 stood at 50,645. Of these, 54.4 per cent attended primary school, while the remaining 45.6 per cent attended secondary school. When compared to academic year 2022-2023, students increased by 0.7 per cent and 2.3 per cent in primary and secondary schools respectively.

The average class size for all schools at the primary level was 18.6 students per class, and 19.2 students per class at secondary level. When analysing class size by type of school, the lowest class sizes at both primary and secondary levels were seen in state schools, while church schools held the highest average class sizes at both levels. The highest average class size of primary education was recorded in Year 6 with an average of 19.1 students per class. Furthermore, in secondary education, Year 8 recorded the highest average of 19.8 students per class.

The district hosting the largest number of school levels in 2023-2024 was the Northern Harbour District (33.7 per cent), followed by the Southern Harbour District (19.8 per cent).

In parallel, the majority of students attended schools located in the Northern Harbour District (37.6 per cent), followed by the Southern Harbour District (16.6 per cent). The district hosting the smallest share of enrolled students was the district of Gozo and Comino with 7.3 per cent.

More than a quarter of enrolled students resided in the Northern Harbour District (26.5 per cent) while 19.8 per cent of students resided in the Northern District.

When looking at the dynamics of commuting from residence to school, more than two-thirds of all enrolled students attended schools within the same district of residence (69.0 per cent). Conversely, 31.0 per cent of students attended schools outside their district of residence.

When examining the foreign languages studied at secondary level, Italian was the most popular language, with more than half of the students learning it (53.3 per cent). Fewer than a quarter of students studied French (23.5 per cent), while 16.1 per cent studied Spanish and 12.2 per cent studied German. Additionally, there was an increase of 8.5 per cent of students learning Spanish when compared to the previous academic year.

When comparing language uptake by sex, the largest disparity between the sexes can be seen in the French language, where during this academic year, 29.8 per cent of female secondary school students took up the French language, whilst 17.6 per cent of male secondary students studied French, a difference of 12.2 percentage points.