ATAR and HSC results of NSW’s cheapest private schools

Private schools with fees as low as $3000 per year have some of the highest ATAR results in NSW. Some of the cheapest schools with the highest results can now be revealed.

NSW schools with private fees as low as $3000 a year are delivering some of the state’s best ATAR results – with one such school recording an enviable band six rate of 32 per cent.

There has been a surge in prices for NSW’s top private schools in recent times, with some schools costing more than $400,000 per student across 13 years of schooling.

But parents don’t always need to fork out top dollar for a great education

Fresh data sourced by NewsLocal has revealed the most affordable private schools and their 2021 ATAR rankings.

These results show parents don’t always need to pay the highest price for their children to top the academic ladder.

Two of last year’s top-performing affordable schools were independent Islamic colleges.

Al-Faisal College which costs $2760 for Year 12 students. The school was the 26th top-performing school in NSW, closely followed by Greenacre’s Al Noori Muslim School, which costs $2250 for a senior student, which was ranked 32nd.

A number of Catholic schools also outshone their more expensive counterparts, with examples including Parramatta Marist High School (ranked 53 in NSW) which achieved better ATAR results than North Sydney’s Shore School (ranked 54) and Hornsby’s Barker College (ranked 55).

Parramatta Marist only costs $4356 for Year 12 students, while SHORE and Barker cost $37,350 and $35,860 respectively.

Other high performing Catholic schools include Hurstville’s Bethany College, which costs $2673 for Year 12 and was ranked 63rd in the state, placing it above the far more expensive Lane Cove’s Saint Ignatius’ College, which costs over $30,000 for Year 12.

Kingsgrove’s St Ursula’s College, which costs $2647 for Year 12, as well as Bexley’s St Mary and St Mina’s College, which costs $4290, also performed strongly, both ranking among the top 70 schools in the state.

The King's School performed well below many of its less expensive counterparts.

In the data detailed below, a school’s ‘success rate’ is the percentage of band sixes students achieved.

A high school’s ‘rank’ shows where they stand in comparison to other NSW schools — for example, the selective public school, James Ruse Agricultural High School, is ranked number one in the state.

In the list below, some of the fees are tuition-only, while others are all-inclusive.

Schools with low fees and great achievements

Tangara School for Girls

Tangara School for Girls, located in Cherrybrook in Sydney’s north west, welcomes students from Kindy to Year 12.

Principal Rita Sakr said she was thrilled by the results and mentioned Tangara’s unique mentoring program as a key factor in the school’s success.

According to Ms Sakr, Tangara’s mentoring program is all about creating “the ideal environment for every student to achieve both academic and personal success”.

“No two students are alike and our mentoring program and regular communication with parents ensures that we can respond effectively to the challenges and strengths unique to every child,” Ms Sakr said.

Parramatta Marist High School

Parramatta Marist High School is the second oldest all-boys high school in Australia.

It costs under $4500 for Year 12 students and achieved a success rate of 25.53 in last year’s HSC.

Principal Mark Pauschmann described Parramatta Marist’s goal as being “a school that encourages mutual respect, partnership, healthy relationships and appreciation of all members of the community”.

St Clare’s College Waverley

St Clare’s College is a Catholic school for girls from Year 7 to Year 12. The school has an innovation hub, hospitality kitchens which mirror industry standards, science labs and a drama studio.

In 2021, 63 per cent of students at St Clare were ‘Distinguished Achievers’ in the HSC, 33 per cent achieved an ATAR above 90, with the median ATAR of this group of students being above 93 per cent.

St Clare's College Waverley, (L-R): Lily Simos, Grace Baker, Kerrie McDiarmid, Ayla Riza, Kate O'Sullivan.

Principal Kerrie McDiarmid said she put St Clare’s high results down to the school’s “holistic” approach.

“In 2021, we had a targeted focus on growth data and introduced a mentoring program that allowed staff to use this data to work with students to help them meet their individual potential,” Mrs McDiarmid said.

“We also introduced an alumni academic coaching program, where our 2020 Distinguished Achievers came back to the college and ran HSC workshops after school.”