All schools are required to give priority enrolment to children who live inside their zone or catchment area.

School zones

A ‘school zone’ is a defined geographic boundary surrounding a school from which the school accepts its core intake of students.

Most high schools in metropolitan Adelaide are zoned, and a number of primary schools are zoned.

Shared school zones

Some schools have a shared zone or shared areas, which allows students living in a shared zone to nominate a preferred local school.

In a shared zone, schools work collaboratively to accommodate student preferences where possible.

The allocation depends on available spaces and considerations such as a sibling being at the school, distance from home to the school, curriculum needs, social and family links, and transport needs. In cases where a school in a shared zone has enrolment pressure, students may need to be directed to another school in the shared zone.

School catchment areas

A ‘catchment area’ is a geographic area surrounding an unzoned school that is closest by road, as per the find a school zone or catchment area tool, than any other unzoned school.

Bus routes

In outer metropolitan Adelaide and regional SA, the school catchment area may also include children whose home is greater than 5km from their nearest school, and who can access the school bus service or a transport allowance as per the school transport policy (PDF 382 KB) .

View zones

The find a school zone or catchment area tool will tell you which school zone you live in and show a map of the school zone. If you live in an area that is not part of a school zone, it will show you the closest school by road (catchment area).

You can also view online maps of all school zones by enrolment year.