Who can enrol as a School-based student?
Students at Queensland Government or non-government schools or other schools of distance education in Queensland, can enrol
with Cairns SDE subject to places being available. A student enrolled at another school may apply to study a
subject provided they are unable to study that subject at their base school.
This could be because:
the school does not offer that subject.
the school offers that subject, but the school’s timetable does not allow the student to study that subject at their
base school.
the student has commenced study in that subject in a previous school and wishes to continue their course of
study.
All School-based enrolment queries must be intitiated by the student’s base school (not the student’s parent/carer). If you are an interested parent, please contact your student’s base school.
Please note:
Before proceeding with an enrolment, schools should read the information below presented on this page.
Acceptance into subjects is only where capacity exists.
Student may enrol in up to two subjects with the Cairns SDE.
A diagnostic test must be completed before
enrolling a student
in the Y8-12 languages
program if the student has no language prior learning record.
Students must meet the course entry recommendations when enrolling in other subjects. They can be found in Course
Overviews.
An ICP Form must be completed for students studying a language 2 or more year levels above or below.
Students will need to keep up to date with work returns and submission of assessment to remain enrolled.
To ensure students are successful in their chosen subjects, students should be enrolled no later than week 3 of the term.
Students continuing from Year 5 into 6, from Year 7 into 8, from Year 9 into 10 and from Year 11 into 12 do not need to be re-enrolled.
All school based enrolment applications are to be emailed to schoolbasedenrolments@cairnssde.eq.edu.au
To ensure timely processing, please provide all the following completed forms and information in one email - appropriate Enrolment Form, Report Card, Langauge Diagnostic Test (if applicable), Online Services Consent Form.
To assist with processing, separate emails should be sent for each individual student or year level class.
Primary State School enrolments
Primary State Schools who are unable to offer a language to their students are eligble to enrol their class or classes with the Cairns SDE. Year 5 and 6 Languages Courses run for the entire year. As all course content is contained in the respecitve language QLearn Course no additonal resources are needed and consequently there will be no subject fee from 2025 and no need for completion of an Online Services Consent form.
Principals should complete this survey if their school is not already registered with Cairns SDE as a Partner School, to express interest for the following year.
Year 7 to Year 12 State School enrolments
Students enrolled at a Queeland School who are unable to access a subject of choice as per criteria above, are welcome to enrol at the Cairns SDE. The student's base school must make the enrolment. Subject fees apply. These are payable by the base school.
Non-State School enrolments
Non-State Schools are also welcome to enrol students if they meet the criteria above. Please refer to the Statement of Fees for the Distance Education fee and Subject fees. These are payable by the base school.
EQI Interntional students
Education Queensland International accredited schools may enrol their internatioinal students at the Cairns SDE. International Students are now able to enrol in up to two subjects. International Students enrolled after day 20 will be charged a fee by term. This fee is payable by the base school.
Text books and fees
Primary Schools
There will be no subjects fees for school based students ine years 5 and 6 from 2025.
Secondary State Schools Years 7-12
Schools with be charged subject fees per student to cover subscription costs as per the Online Services Consent Management Form. Refer to the links section for Textbook and Resource Requirements.
Statement of fees
The Statement of Fees provides the cost per subject for non-state schools and the subject fees for each subject for all students.
The Statement of Fees for 2025 is still be updated. Please see the 2024 version for indicative pricing.
Cancellation of enrolment
We ask that school based supervisors adise Cairns SDE as soon as possible when a student leaves their school or when they wish to not continue with the study of the subject they have enrolled into at Cairns SDE. The appropriate form to use is the School Based Enrolment Cancellation form.
Responsibilites of Base Schools
Complete the relevant SDE enrolment forms and submit before day 8 of the school year or one month before the commencement of the second semester.
Appoint a school based supervisor who will liaise with the Cairns SDE and the base school student and parents on a regular basis. The school based supervisor will also provide on-site student support including ensuring that the student is prepared for lessons and has the correct materials; monitoring that student work and assessment is finished and uploaded by the due date as per the Work Rate Calendar; providing active supervision for summative assessment under exam conditions; and arranging catch-up assessments for any absent students.
Provide a suitable learning environment for the student.
Maintain close contact with Cairns SDE teachers through the school based supervisor.
Advise the Cairns SDE if the student leaves their school or wishes to exit the subject in a timely fashion by completing and submitting the school based cancellation form.
Ensure that the distance education fees and / or subject fees are paid by the due date. State schools will be invoiced by week 7 of each term. Non state schools will be invoiced on student enrolment.
In cases where a whole
class is enrolled, the base school is to provide a supervising teacher who will monitor
students' behaviour during live lessons and tutorials.
As the Main Learning Provider, the base school is responsible for submitting an AARA to the QCAA Portal wherever applicable. The base school needs to notify and forward a copy of such AARA to Cairns SDE subject teachers before the assessment date. Before Cairns SDE subject teachers can issue a comparable task in Year 11 and Year 12 assessments wherever required, the base-school must negotiate with Cairns SDE subject teachers for a suitable assessment date and record it in the AARA document for QCAA.
Who to Contact?
If you are a parent of a student who is already enrolled in a school, please speak with the person responsible for distance education enrolments at that school.
If you are a school based officer please contact our school based enrolments team:
Email: schoolbasedenrolments@cairnssde.eq.edu.au Telephone: +61 7 4080 9225