Spectrum Analysis and Somerset Education GeoMapping Plus for Schools

By Peter Buckingham

Spectrum Analysis and Somerset Education are proud of their on-going relationship to provide online mapping to schools through the Somerset Education Portal.

We are pleased to announce that updated information is now available through the Somerset Education Portal and Spectrum Analysis GeoMapping and GeoMapping Plus Products.

The Somerset Education Portal provides easy access to complimentary GeoMapping for participants in the annual Financial Survey for Schools (FSS).

GeoMapping Plus provides more detailed demographic analysis for a small additional fee.

What can you view with your GeoMapping Subscription?

Watch this short video to gain an instant rundown on what you have access to.

The GeoMapping Plus upgrade includes additional information that schools will find valuable including:

1. ACARA updates

The mapping now includes the latest ACARA data with enrolment numbers up to 2024 for 9,000+ schools across Australia. The data includes teaching and non-teaching staff numbers and a comparison for each school in Student / Teaching Staff ratio. We have also added an average fee estimate based on the government data for comparison to your school and others.

2. ACECQA Child Care and Early Learning Centre ELC Data

We have added 17,000 Child Care and Early Learning Centres from Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) data. This can be great information for marketing your school to future Prep students.

Our codes allow us to see different types of Early Learning Centres:

3. Census 2021 and Census 2016 data for comparisons

We have now included data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census 2016 and Census 2021 so you can make comparisons of information relevant to schools around population, household income and specifically about how many school age and pre-school children live in the area, and whether they go to a Government, Catholic or Independent school, and the relevant percentage. On top of this is the Language Spoken at Home for the area as an indication to the ethnicity of the area.

4. Population forecast 2022 – 2032 from the ABS

This data gives the population estimates from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and is prepared every five year cycle for the Department of Health to assist in placement of hospitals and medical facilities. In our view, this is the best National data that is available, and comes at Standard Area 2 (SA2) level. We have broken this down to give an estimate at Pre-school / ELC level, Primary school level and then Secondary school level, and finally for a P – 12 school. Our upgrade changes the way we see it and therefore breaks it into approximate levels. This is one of the most important layers in our mapping as it shows expected growth for every area.

5. SEIFA data – released in May 2023

The Socio Economic Index for Areas (SEIFA) has also been included.

This looks at every area in Australia to give a comparative score to assess what the residents can afford to do. The average of the SEIFA score for Australia from the 2021 census was 1004, and top areas like around Double Bay in Sydney or Toorak in Melbourne score up near 1200, and low socio-economic regional areas may drop to numbers like 600 – 800. This is a better way for comparing areas Australia wide rather than just the Average Household Income. This is one of the best indicators of the parent’s ability to pay fees.

Summary

Using the Somerset Education Portal and Spectrum Analysis’ GeoMapping Plus gives you a wealth of information to assist you in making the best possible decisions for your school.

For more information, contact either John Somerset or Peter Buckingham below.