Western Australia reported the lowest high school student to teacher ratio for any state in 2013, followed by Victoria, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics last week.

The ABS reported that the secondary student to teacher ratio in WA was 11.5 (for both state and non-government high schools), while the national average was 12, which was the same as three previous years.

Tasmania had the highest ratio at 12.6.

Nationwide the ratio for secondary government schools was 12.4, while it was 11.5 for non-government schools.

The figures also showed Year 12 retention rates had increased to 80.7% nationwide, up from 79.3%. The ACT recorded the best retention rates at 90.4%, followed by South Australia.

The ABS reported that the overall number of primary and secondary schools across Australia fell from 9393 to 9427 during the year. South Australia reported the biggest fall, from 750 to 722, thanks largely to the merging of several state schools.

The number of state schools fell from 6697 to 6661 over the year, while the number of Catholic schools rose from 1713 to 1717 and independent schools fell from 1017 to 1015.