500 Queensland private school fees vs NAPLAN results revealed

We’ve analysed NAPLAN results of almost 500 Queensland private schools in comparison with current school fees to show where parents can get academic bang for buck.

Some of Queensland’s most affordable private schools have punched alongside $30,000-a-year rivals for plucky NAPLAN rankings to give the state’s newest prep parents an ultimate schools guide.

A Courier-Mail trawl of nearly 500 private school websites has revealed the minimum fees for tuition and levies for 2023 and analysed across five years of NAPLAN results to show where parents can find academic bang for their buck.

Unsurprisingly, the top two secondary school performers were city schools in Brisbane Girls Grammar School and Brisbane Grammar School, both charging annual fees of more than $28,000.

However, significantly more affordable schools charging just a fraction of the elite counterparts were among the high achievers.

On the secondary school front, St Rita’s College at Clayfield, which this year charges tuition fees of just $9930, was ranked 15th overall in NAPLAN from 2017 to 2021.

Similar schools with annual fees of about $15,000 included All Hallows’ School which came in fifth, Ormiston College in seventh and Mt St Michael’s College in at twelfth.

All four schools were all ahead of the likes of Brisbane Boys’ College, Clayfield College and The Southport School which each charges fees in excess of $20,000.

St Rita’s principal Dale Morrow said the school had a strong commitment to providing education to young women to equip them to make choices about their careers and futures.

Mrs Morrow said it was vital for the instruction to prepare the women for a future that was in their own hands.

“This ethos continues today where the college fees are set at a rate which offers an affordable choice to as many families as possible,” Mrs Morrow said.

“Academic outcomes are important as part of any education however, offerings including co-curricular activities such as a wide range of sport, opportunities to study music, participate in debating, speech and communication, outdoor education and the Arts.”

On the primary school front, city schools St Columba’s at Wilston, St Ignatius at Toowong and St Agatha’s Primary School at Clayfield all finished in the top 50, ahead of the likes of John Paul College, St Hilda’s School and Toowoomba Grammar.

Parents Lucy and Bayden Tierney with Peggy and Rupert outside St Agatha's Primary School at Clayfield where little Rupert is “loving life”. Picture: Richard Walker

For Hendra parents Bayden and Lucy Tierney, St Agatha’s Primary School at Clayfield “ticked all the boxes” for son Rupert and Peggy, who is in daycare.

Mr Tierney said the pair did their homework on the school in comparing its fees, its academic performance and its perks for enrolling multiple children.

He said affordability and NAPLAN were two key indicators.

“Just what you get value for money, its great based on the results they get. It’s also an extremely good feeder school for later in high school for boys and girls,” Mr Tierney said.

“We did a bit of research on other schools too but this one felt at home straight away. Plus, it’s significantly more affordable in you have more than one child.”

Education expert Jack Stevens said the current economic crisis had increased school fees in some cases by 10 per cent which in turn had crippled parents’ budgets.

The chief executive of Edstart said some parents would prioritise school fees over repayments, including mortgages.

”A lot of them were impacted in various ways by the pandemic and … they put other payments on hold, like their mortgages, so they could continue paying school fees,” Mr Stevens said.

“We said to them that if they needed to put school payments on hold or reduce them, we can work something out. I find it fascinating how much people prioritise education payments.

“As we have come out of Covid, there have been no significant changes to parents making school fee payments or schools having to offer discounts, but I suspect this might happen in the future.”

The education expert had predicted the spike in fees last September saying it was inevitable given the rising inflation, skyrocketing building and maintenance costs and teacher pay rises.