Understanding student enrolment records
What information is included in student enrolment records and why they are important.
On this page
What are enrolment records
Student enrolment records are proof that a child enrolled at a school.
All enrolment records will have a student’s:
- name
- date of birth
- date of enrolment
- their unique Victorian Student Number (VSN) — required for all enrolment records since 2008
- a parent or carer’s name and contact details
- their address at the time of enrolment
- the date they stopped being enrolled at the school (if applicable).
Schools in Victoria have been required to keep enrolment records since at least 1872, when schooling became compulsory for all children in Victoria. Today, the rules for keeping enrolment records are set out in the Education and Training Reform Regulations 2017 (Vic).
Enrolment records may also include:
- academic results
- health information
- class or grade numbers
- names of siblings
- previous and later schools attended
- other emergency contacts.
Why some enrolment records have more information than others
Most schools require parents or carers to complete a detailed enrolment form.
These forms can include information about the student’s health and educational history, family background, languages spoken, nationality, additional needs, student risk, court orders, care arrangements, and more.
The school then uses this information to create the main enrolment record, called a summary enrolment record.
Older enrolment records, especially from secondary and technical schools, may include extra details such as academic achievement or health conditions.
Why enrolment records are important
The law says that schools must record the enrolment of all their students.
The state uses enrolment records to:
- confirm that children have been enrolled at school as required by law
- allocate funding to schools
- allocate staff
- allocate other resources and facilities.
You can use your record to:
- confirm your enrolment at the school for employment, citizenship, legal and other purposes
- establish that you were educated at a specific time
- conduct family history research
- confirm an official date of birth or the spelling of your name.
This type of record is considered so important that it is classified as ‘permanent’ by the Public Record Office Victoria and can never be destroyed.
Where enrolment records are kept
Depending on when the record was created, summary enrolment records are held by:
- Department of Education
- Public Record Office Victoria
- open Victorian government schools
- some historical societies.
If your enrolment record is not available
If your enrolment record is not available, you can use these records to prove your enrolment at a school:
- index to pupil registers
- admission forms/cards
- attendance rolls
- mark books/sheets
- student reports
- transfer notes/books and/or exit forms
- formal class photographs
- school magazines and yearbooks
- published school histories.
To learn more about unavailable records, see Why some records are unavailable.
How to access your records
Detailed instructions on how to access all your school records, including your enrolment records, is available at Get school records.
Student enrolment records through the years
Changes to student enrolment record-keeping over time.
Updated 27 March 2026
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