Adelaide’s most expensive private schools, from St Peter’s College to PAC, and how much they cost

Are you better off paying up to $300,000 in fees to put your child through a top private school, or saving the money to buy them a house? Experts have their say.

Counting the cost from Reception through to Year 12 at Adelaide’s top private schools reveals parents are paying almost $300,000 in fees at current rates, which are likely to increase over time.

St Peter’s College on Hackney Road comes out on top as the most expensive school, closely followed by St Peter’s Girls, then Pembroke School, Wilderness School and Prince Alfred College.

The survey has prompted debate about the value of a private school education as a wise investment and as Catapult Wealth director Tony Catt says, “everyone has an opinion”.

“There’s never a right answer and there’s never a wrong answer, in terms of the pros and cons of that investment,” Mr Catt said.

“I find it just boils down to the child, in terms of the education needs and wants, where they feel the most comfortable and get the best outcomes, and where they’ll maximise their own abilities.”

If a family chose instead to invest the $20,000 a year for 12 years at a 6 per cent rate of return, rather than paying private school fees, they would have almost $400,000 by the time the child finished schooling.

Mr Catt is an old scholar of Prince Alfred College and his son Angus, 15, is following in his footsteps, while his daughter Maegan, 17, is in Year 12 at Wilderness School. He believes a good education is priceless.

“You can never put a number on the value that a kid would get out of a good education,” he said.

“I think trying to monetise it is a road to nowhere.”

Catapult Wealth director Tony Catt at home with his son Angus (Year 10, Prince Alfred College) and daughter Maegan (Year 12, Wilderness School) talks about private school fees. Picture: Keryn Stevens

Some clients plan ahead and “build a nest egg” from the day a child is born, then pay fees using the investment returns.

If a family invested $260,000 at birth, or $350,000 on the first day of school, at a 6 per cent rate of return, they would be able to pay fees of about $20,000 a year (plus inflation) off the investment growth.

However if that family left the principal to grow instead, the investment portfolio would be worth double the original investment $700K when the child finished school.

Others manage when the time comes by putting less into super for a while, or even renting instead of owning a home, to increase cash flow.

But it’s highly unusual for a family that has decided against private school to then invest the $300,000 for their child future instead.

“I don’t see too many parents that actually actively put that money aside for a deposit on a house for a child, or a car,” Mr Catt said.

“It ends up getting lost, in I’ll call it ‘general revenue’.”

Catapult Wealth director Tony Catt at home with his daughter Maegan, son Angus, and Molly the dog Picture: Keryn Stevens

Immediate past president and chair of the Real Estate Institute of SA, independent auctioneer Brett Roenfeldt said Adelaide had been “very much a private school territory for many parents”.

“However, in saying that there are some wonderful public schools, I’ll just use Marryatville High School as an example, where you don’t have to pay that sort of sort of money, and you still get wonderful schooling,” he said.

“Parents can invest the money, in an investment property that may provide dollars for a deposit for their son or your daughter later on in life.”

Many parents have been known to buy into the tight Marryatville High School zone and then later on, their kids might end up living in the unit through their university years, “and of course they’ve got capital appreciation there and much lower school fees as well, so they’ve got the best of both worlds”.

Property in the vicinity of Glenunga International High, Adelaide and Botanic High Schools is also highly sought after.

Immediate past president and chair of the Real Estate Institute of SA, independent auctioneer Brett Roenfeldt.

Otherwise, about $285-300K would buy an unrenovated two-bedroom cream-brick unit in the eastern suburbs, a small courtyard block of land in the inner-northern suburbs around Enfield and beyond, or a reasonably well-presented three-bedroom home in Elizabeth, Salisbury or Parafield Gardens, Mr Roenfeldt said.

Alternatively, parents could use $300K “as the benchmark and borrow $300K to wield the buying power of $600K, in the current market that would buy a brand new three bedroom two bathroom townhome”.

“Depending on your borrowing capacity, borrow $400K with a $300K deposit and grab something around Magill with development potential,” he said.

Independent Schools SA chief executive Carolyn Grantskalns believes “a great education sets you up for life and our schools provide a great education”.

“One of the reasons that higher-fee schools charge higher fees is because they get less government funding,” she said.

2021 Head of the River, Winner Schoolboy First VIII, St Peters College at West Lakes in March. Picture: Michael Marschall

Part of the appeal is the breadth of the curriculum, with a wide range of subject offerings.

There’s also a really wide range of co-curricular activities such as music, sports, chess, outdoor education, camps and debating.

“All of that adds to the cost of running the school, obviously,” Ms Grantskalns said.

“Parents make a choice about what they want the educational experience for their children to be and they look for a school that matches their family values.

“Parents will consider a range of schools. They’ll often visit several schools, and they’ll then pick the school that feels like the right fit for their family. That might be partly about affordability and location, but it will also be around their view that this represents good value for money, because the school has very high academic standards and a very broad co curricular program, and a set of values that the family support.”

While the full cost at the most expensive schools is a large number, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to parents in the school community.

“Parents don’t enter into enrolling their child without being conscious of how much it’s going to cost over the life of the child’s time at that school,” Ms Grantskalns said.

“Because the last thing you want is for your child to start at a school, and then to have to withdraw them after they’ve made their friendship group and become part of the community.”

Another approach to consider is spending money on tutoring, either to support a state education or prepare to win a scholarship for discounted private school fees.

The Australian Council for Education Research administers the scholarship assessment process. Parents register and pay for each school they wish to apply to.

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