Research
Research
Student-led research on educational access and opportunity in Western Australia.
In August 2026, the Fair Education Project conducted a student-led survey. This examined students experiences with tutoring and preparation for selective-school entry in Western Australia. 330 students responded to the survey, providing their experiences and opinions. This research was designed to better understand the prevalance of external GATE preparation, the most common forms, and family spending on preparation. Additionally, the research asked for student's perspectives on the role of tutoring and personal experiences.
These questions are relevant to the question: to what extent should access to privately purchased preparation influence a students opportunity to compete for a place in a selective school?
Students have direct and personal experiences of the education system, and it is important that their perspectives are represented in discussions about education policy. We hope that this survey provides student perspectives and evidences to these discussions.
This survey is intentionally descriptive and relatively uninterpreted. We believe student-led research is most useful when readers can see what was actually asked and how students responded. In this way, students, educators, researchers and policymakers can consider the findings for themselves.
Tutoring and Selective School Access in Western Australia
Survey Data Release - August 2026