Twenty years on from their first cohort of 16 students, Year 13 has set a new record for the largest cohort ever. 

With 109 teenagers enrolled for 2026, some coming from as far as Canberra, Cairns and even Texas, Year 13 is partnering with more churches and seeing more students take the opportunity to invest in themselves and their faith. 

“It’s exciting!” says the Rev Steve Carlisle, Director of Year 13. “We are able to serve churches by helping these students be on fire for Jesus in a year of transition.”

The growth of the cohort won’t have a major impact on the regular Year 13 activities, including the annual trip to Fiji. “This year we will be running two concurrent trips, with the same activities and outcomes,” Mr Carlisle says. The trips will both happen in July, but in different locations in Fiji. 

Year 13 also runs an intensive option to accommodate students studying from a distance. “Our intensive students come from Cairns, Casino and a couple from Dubbo and Canberra,” Mr Carlisle says. However, distance is no deterrent for other students, with some driving close to three hours each way to attend on-campus. “Weekly, we have students driving up from Canberra and Bathurst, Dungog and also from around the corner in Loftus itself!” 

Tiana Robinson from Crosslight Mortdale decided to sign up for Year 13 as a way to grow in her faith. 

“I haven’t been a Christian for a long time, only three or four years, so it was important for me to build a group of like-minded fellow Christian friends who could help me grow, and also get equipped to serve my community in the best way possible,” she says.

She currently serves at her church in a range of kids and youth ministries, and is also on the tech team. “I knew I didn’t want to go to uni straight away,” she says. “I wanted to do something important to my faith so I can continue to spread it. I think Year 13 is a super-cool way to do that while learning a heap of stuff about the Bible and life.” 

Although Year 13 has broken its numbers record in 2026, Mr Carlisle says there’s still plenty of room for future growth. 

“We would have to double again to outgrow our space,” he says. “We are thankful to God that the program we are running is being helpful to people and their churches, and that there’s trust in Year 13 at the moment. 

“We continue to talk with churches, leaders, parents and interested future students about this program to supercharge their faith in Jesus.”