Public school students in Queensland might as well start looking this early for a possible new school as 55 state schools have been listed on the drawing board due for the padlock soon.

In a departmental briefing from August 8, 2012, released under a Right to Information application, it was revealed the state schools being considered for closure include 14 schools in the Far North Queensland region, 10 in North Queensland, eight in North Coast and Darling Downs and South West, seven in Metropolitan, six in Central Queensland, and two in South East.

The closure is being eyed to allow the state government incur savings of at least $17 million.

Although John-Paul Langbroek, Queensland's Education Minister, confirmed there are plans of such a move, the list still has to be refined.

"That list of 55 is just something the (education) department came up with," Mr Langbroek told 612 ABC Brisbane regarding the departmental memo obtained under Right To Information laws by The Courier Mail.

"We are (still) working on the new criteria to come up with a list," he told reporters in Brisbane on Monday.

Whatever money or amount that will be generated from the closure "stays within the education department to provide new schools and improve facilities."

The departmental briefing noted $13 million could be saved per year from 2013-2014, plus $2.8 million in maintenance liability if the schools were eventually closed.

"This is a matter of accepting the fact that we have schools which are under-utilised, sometimes ageing, crumbling relics that have got a very, very low number of students in them."

At present, a number of Queensland schools experience attendance as low as 40 per cent. Some students in the cities opt to study via distance education because their school can't provide all the curriculum offerings due to poor enrolment numbers.

He clarified rural and remote schools with less than five students will not be included in the firing line.

"Those rural and remote schools...are not included for 2013 consideration at all. In other words, we have said rural and remote students with less than five students are not considered especially if they are more than 20 kilometres from another school in 2013," Mr Langbroek said.

"We want to be able to create more opportunities for people to be able to go to schools that are well-attended and have got increasing numbers, as opposed to some areas that have as little as 40 per cent utilisation and low numbers of students in facilities that are crumbling," he said.

The complete and final identity list of the schools up for closure have yet to be revealed. The Education Minister said it will be disclosed soon.

"Over the next couple of months, we're going to release more of those details once we've got individualised student plans and we've consulted with principals and teachers and parents in those communities to make sure we've got alternative plans for them," Mr Langbroek said.