Low-fee private schools prove popular with parents

Enrolments in some NSW schools are growing more than three times faster than public and Catholic schools.

Parents are increasingly shelling out for their children to attend a private school, according to the latest enrolment figures.

Private school enrolments in NSW are growing more than three times faster than public and Catholic schools, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Last year private schools enrolled 3,518 more students than the year before (up 2.06%), Catholic schools grew by 1633 students (up 0.64%) and public schools grew by 4,444 students (up 0.55%).

The growth is not coming from high-fee exclusive “sandstone” private schools like The King’s School and SCEGGS Darlinghurst that charge between $38,000 and $41,000 a year, which are largely at capacity.

Low fee private schools are increasingly popular with parents.

Parents are instead opting for low-fee private schools such as Assyrian Church of the East school St Narsai Assyrian Christian College in Horsley Park ($4,014 a year), Islamic school Al-Faisal College in Liverpool ($2,109 a year) and non-demoninational Christian school Australian Christian College ($3,279 a year) in Marsden Park.

The median fee paid by parents in NSW for a private school education is now close to $5,200 a year.

“The quality of education in NSW is very good across all three sectors (public, Catholic and private) but parents are increasingly attracted to small, faith-based schools in their neighbourhoods,” Association of independent Schools NSW boss Geoff Newcombe said.

Catholic schools are more popular than any time in the past five years.

“There’s not a lot of difference between an independent school that charges around $2000 or $3000 a year and what parents have to pay in extras at public schools.

“There are definitely more and more independent schools in lower-socio-economic status suburbs, which is where we’re growing.”

Enrolment growth at Catholic schools was the strongest since 2015 and the sector is expecting even stronger growth next year on the back of $178 million invested this year upgrading its schools in the city’s fastest growing pockets.

The statistics also revealed there is an average of one teacher per 11.5 students at private schools, 13.9 students at Catholic schools and 14.9 students at public schools.