Top 10 NSW private schools with highest incomes

NSW’s top private schools are raking in the cash with multimillion-dollar bumper profits. SEE how much the elite schools earn.

The state’s most exclusive private schools have reported millions of dollars in income, with elite Knox Grammar at Wahroonga topping the list with an income of $12.4 million.

An analysis of the wealthiest schools in NSW, based on their annual reports, reveals the extent of the cash pouring into their coffers.

In 2022 Knox reported revenues of $131.6 million, and expenses of $119.3 million — leaving it with a total comprehensive income of $12.4 million, according to annual reports filed with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.

The north shore school, which charges fees of $34,00 for Years 11 and 12 pupils, received government revenues of $14 million, with each schoolboy receiving an average $1243 per year from the state government and $2862 from the federal government.

By way of comparison, a public schoolboy from the government-run North Sydney Boys High is funded $13,170 per year from the state government and $3310 from the federal government.

Other schools reporting high incomes include Barker College at Hornsby and St Andrew’s Cathedral School in the Sydney CBD, which both banked $10.2 million income in 2022.

Barker College, which charges $41,200 for Year 12 students, received $15.7 million in government funds, with the funds allocated annually to pupils averaging out at $1586 from the state government and $2850 from the federal government.

Knox Grammar School reported the highest income for private schools in 2022.

A public schoolgirl at Hornsby High receives $13,099 a year from the state government and $3702 from the federal government.

The Scots College, which charges $48,630 for Year 12 boys, banked $9.4 million.

Private religious school Malek Fahd Islamic School came fifth in the top 10 private schools reporting income, with a cool $5.9 million.

Cranbrook School in Bellevue Hill reported $5 million in total comprehensive income in 2022.

The Greenacre-based school had revenues of $54 million — including $43 million in government funds — and spent $48 million in expenses.

Malek Fahd Islamic School reported a comprehensive income of $5.9 million. Picture: James Gourley

Barker College in Hornsby.

Education expert Glenn Fahey — the director of education with the Centre for Independent Studies, points out that schools put aside money for maintenance and capital works — and that it’s often public schools who often put away more money as they are “conservative about spending”.

“Proportionally, government schools tend to carry over a lot more funds because they are conservative with spending, they worry about their budgets,” he said.

Mr Fahey said a number of high-profile private schools had tended to become “scapegoats” in the public debate about education funding – yet they were more frequently the schools that received little or no government funding.

Centre for independent Studies education expert Glenn Fahey. Supplied

Ascham School at Edgecliff.

And that despite an “increasingly hostile environment” towards non-government schools from some quarters, Australians should be encouraging private schools to raise funds because that “relieved the burden on taxpayers”, he said.

“Unions and the progressive left tend to caricature particular types of schools that actually receive little or no government funding,” Mr Fahey said.

“Especially when the school has large new buildings under way, which are usually from parent contributions and alumni.

“So that sort of envy that you sometimes hear about in these debates is really poorly informed and and not driven by the evidence that the vast majority of school funding goes to government schools.”

The key issue in education was the quality of teaching in the classroom “which has very little relation to the funding”, Mr Fahey said.

“Parents spend very large sums of money — not just at the very top end of town but in all kinds of households — showing many parents value education very highly,” he said.

“The settlement in Australia has long been a bipartisan settlement, that in Australia we do support our non-government school sectors fairly generously, and that’s created a very pluralistic school system that reflects the breadth and diversity of Australia and the different faiths and traditions. And that’s something that we should really welcome.”

Kambala School in Rose Bay

Girls at the exclusive Rose Bay Anglican school Kambala receive $1091 a year per student from the state government and $2752 from the federal government.

That compares with female students from Bankstown Girls High, who receive $17,526 a year in state government funds and $4692 in federal funds.

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