The curriculum in South Australia, explained for parents.

Ask three South Australian parents what curriculum their kids follow and you might get three answers: the Australian Curriculum, Version 9, or the new SA Curriculum. They're all describing the same thing from different angles.

Here's the short version. The content comes from the national Australian Curriculum, Version 9, written by ACARA. South Australian public schools teach it through the SA Curriculum for public education, which the Department for Education has built on top of Version 9.^[1][3]

Adapted, not rewritten

The department chose to adapt the national curriculum rather than write its own. In Parliament in 2024, the Education Minister described moving staff onto adapting Version 9 instead of drawing up a separate plan to adopt it.^[3] The aim was to keep the national content while giving teachers clearer units, sequences and resources to plan with.

So the topics your child meets in each year are the national ones. What the SA Curriculum adds is the "how": the order lessons come in, the examples used, and the material teachers get.

Maths came first

The department put maths at the front of the queue, with a new public-school maths curriculum and financial literacy resources rolled out ahead of other subjects.^[2] English followed, with a stronger focus on reading.^[1] Other subjects, such as the arts and languages, are coming through in stages.

Schools are moving across at their own pace within that plan. Some say they expect to be fully on the new curriculum by the end of 2026 or 2027. Catholic and independent schools make their own choices, though most also teach Version 9. If you're unsure where your school is up to, ask.

How to read a curriculum code

Codes turn up on worksheets, in school newsletters and on our lessons. They're built the same way every time. Take AC9E5LY05:

Maths has six strands: N for Number, A for Algebra, M for Measurement, SP for Space, ST for Statistics and P for Probability.^[6] English has three: LA for Language, LE for Literature and LY for Literacy.^[7]

What an A to E grade means

SA schools send home two written reports a year, and from Year 1 each subject is graded on a five-point scale, usually A to E.^[4] The grades are judged against the achievement standard for that year level.

The one to remember is C. It means your child is achieving what's expected at their year level.^[5] It's not a polite word for average and it's not a warning. A and B mean they're working beyond the standard. D and E mean there are gaps worth talking to the teacher about.

Where NAPLAN fits

NAPLAN is a separate national test in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9, and it's the same in South Australia as everywhere else. Our NAPLAN guide explains it.

If you've moved interstate

Queensland, the ACT, Tasmania and the Northern Territory teach Version 9 much as SA does. Victoria and New South Wales adapt it more heavily and move some topics between years. Coming from either of those, a small gap or a repeated topic in the first term is normal.