Revealed: Full cost of R-12 education at 25 top Adelaide schools

Weighing up private or public education? We’ve done the maths, see how much 13 years at Adelaide’s most elite schools will set you back.

Parents face a bill of up to $330,000 to put a child through 13 years of education at Adelaide’s top private schools – but that isn’t stopping them from placing babies on the waiting list for a spot in a reception class.

The Advertiser has analysed the minimum compulsory costs to send a child to 25 Adelaide private schools from reception to year 12.

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St Peter’s College topped the list at $329,650, followed by St Peter’s Girls School at $310,540.

There were four other schools – Walford Anglican School for Girls, Pembroke School, Scotch College and Prince Alfred College – where an R-12 education would cost more than $300,000.

The cheapest option among the 25 independent and Catholic schools analysed was $70,260 for an R-12 education at St Paul’s College in Gilles Plains, followed by $73,480 at Trinity College in Evanston South.

The costs were calculated based on 2023 fees published by schools and would be higher when inflation and fee increases are factored in each year.

Teacher Lisa Pannunzio and partner Chad Gencheff hope to send their son James, 2, to an early-learning centre attached to a private school next year to secure a spot when he starts reception.

While Ms Pannunzio, 38, said spending the money was “a big decision”, she was willing to pay private school fees to give her child “a really good education”.

“There are sacrifices that need to be made and it’s a lot of money,” Ms Pannunzio said.

“We just feel that there’s a little bit more attention given to our child going to a private school.

“At a government school you’ll get your stock standard classes but you’ll get those extra subjects at a private school.”

The couple, of Lockleys, put James and his younger brother Charlie, aged two months, on waiting lists for multiple private schools just after they were born.

“The schools we’ve been looking at are middle ground, we’re looking at the Catholic system between $2500 to $4000 a year,” Ms Pannunzio said.

Lisa Pannunzio and partner Chad Gencheff want to send their son James, 2, to a private school. Picture Matt Turner.

Catholic Education SA executive director Dr Neil McGoran said private schooling did not have to be costly and some Catholic primary school fees started from “as little as $50 a week”.

He described the investment as “money well spent”.

“Our schools provide students with many opportunities inside and outside of the classroom, helping them to be thriving, capable learners as well as extraordinary human beings,” Dr McGoran said.

Association of Independent Schools of SA chief executive Anne Dunstan said the median annual independent school fee was about $4250 per year, or $55,250 for 13 years of education.

“In some schools the fee structure is all inclusive, in others there are additional costs for co-curricular programs, camps or technology,” she said.

“Independent schools work hard to maintain fees at affordable levels so that they can deliver a quality education for all students and their families.”