Victoria is a state located in the south-eastern corner of Australia. It is the smallest mainland state in area but the most densely populated and urbanised. Victoria began in the 1830s as a farming community. The discovery of gold in 1851 transformed it into a leading industrial and commercial centre. Victoria is the second most populous Australian state, after New South Wales, with an estimated population of 5,037,700 as at September 2005. Melbourne is Victoria's capital and largest city, with more than 70% of all Victorians living there.

More than 70% of Victorians live in Melbourne, located in the state's south. The sprawling Melbourne metropolitan area is home to an estimated 3.7 million people. Other important urban centres include Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Shepparton, Mildura, Warrnambool and the Latrobe Valley.

Victoria's public school system dates back to 1872, when the then colonial government legislated to make schooling both free and compulsory. The state's public secondary school system began in 1910. Before then, only private secondary schooling was available. Today, a Victorian school education consists of seven years of primary schooling, including one preparatory year, and six years of secondary schooling. The final years of secondary school are optional for children aged over 15 (16 as of 2007). Victorian children generally begin school at age five. On completing secondary school, students earn the Victorian Certificate of Education. Students who successfully complete their secondary education also receive a tertiary entrance ranking, or ENTER score, to determine university admittance.

Victorian schools are either publicly or privately funded. Public schools, also known as state or government schools, are funded and run directly by the Victorian government. Students do not pay tuition fees, but some extra costs are levied. Private fee-paying schools include parish schools run by the Roman Catholic Church and elite independent schools similar to English public schools. Independent schools are usually affiliated with Protestant churches. Victoria also has several private Jewish and Islamic primary and secondary schools. Private schools also receive some public funding. All schools must comply with government-set curriculum standards.

As of August 2005, Victoria had 1,613 public schools, 484 Catholic schools and 208 independent schools. Just under 537,000 students were enrolled in public schools, and 289,000 in private schools. Nearly two-thirds of private students attend Catholic schools. More than 455,000 students were enrolled in primary schools and more than 371,000 in secondary schools. Retention rates for the final two years of secondary school were 77% for public school students and 90% for private school students. Victoria has about 60,200 full-time teachers.

Victoria has nine universities. The first to offer degrees, the University of Melbourne, enrolled its first student in 1855. The largest, Monash University, has an enrolment of nearly 56,000 students - more than any other Australian university. The number of students enrolled in Victorian universities was 241,755 at 2004, an increase of 2% on the previous year. International students made up 30% of enrolments. The largest number of enrolments were recorded in the fields of business, administration and economics, with nearly a third of all students, followed by arts, humanities, and social science, with 20% of enrolments.

Victoria also has 19 government run TAFE institutes. The first tertiary institution in the state was the Melbourne Mechanics Institute (established in 1839), which is now the Melbourne Athenaum. The oldest institution still offering courses is Swinburne University of Technology, whose oldest antecedent was founded in 1854.

More than 1,000 adult education organisations are registered to provide recognised TAFE programs. In 2004, there were about 480,700 students enrolled in vocational education programs in the state.

(Australian Bureau of Statistics, Department of Education and Training (Victoria), Department of Education, Science and Training (Commonwealth), National Centre for Vocational Education Research) (Ref Wikipedia)