Schools in Cairns: Public, Private & University Guide

Cairns' education landscape reflects its character as a rapidly growing tropical city with a significant Indigenous Australian population and a strong connection to the diverse cultures of the Asia-Pacific region: the Far North Queensland schools are notable for their cultural diversity, their proximity to the Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal Australian communities of Cape York and the Gulf Country, and the challenges of providing education in the remote and very remote communities of the region. Within Cairns city itself, the education system has improved significantly as the city's population has grown and diversified.

Government Schools in Cairns — the Queensland Department of Education operates approximately 80 government schools in the Cairns regional area (the Cairns, Tablelands, and Cape York regions). Cairns' most regarded government high schools include Cairns State High School (one of North Queensland's most academically focused government secondary schools), Edge Hill State School, and Trinity Bay State High School. The Queensland Academy for Creative Industries (QACI) does not have a Cairns campus, but the Queensland Academies' distance education programs provide some access to specialist programs for Cairns students. The Education Queensland International (EQI) program operates at several Cairns schools, providing homestay and education programs for international students.

Private Schools in Cairns — Cairns' independent school sector includes several well-established institutions: Trinity Anglican College (Edge Hill, one of Cairns' most prestigious independent schools), St Augustine's College (Cairns, the largest Catholic secondary school in the region), Cairns Adventist College, and the Smithfield Christian College provide the main private education options in Cairns. The Catholic Education Cairns Diocese operates numerous Catholic primary and secondary schools across the Far North Queensland region. Boarding options from remote and very remote families are available at the larger Catholic secondary schools in Cairns.

James Cook University Cairns — the James Cook University (JCU) Cairns campus (Smithfield, 10km north of the Cairns CBD) is one of Australia's most distinctive university campuses: JCU's research focus on the tropics (the Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change, the TropEco research cluster, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies) makes it the world's foremost university for tropical sciences. JCU Cairns offers undergraduate and postgraduate programs in nursing, education, psychology, science, business, and the arts, and the campus serves as an important research gateway for the Great Barrier Reef, the Wet Tropics rainforest, and the Cape York Peninsula. The partner TAFE Queensland campus at Cairns provides vocational education and training for the tourism, hospitality, and construction sectors that dominate the Cairns economy.

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