Drop in enrolments at private single-sex schools
Single-sex private schools are losing students to their co-ed rivals despite recording excellent academic results. Here’s how enrolment trends have changed.
Education
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Single-sex private schools are losing pupils to coeducational colleges, the Herald Sun can reveal.
While five-year growth in the private sector continues to be strong, a number of leading girls’ schools are struggling to hold on to their students.
Enrolments at prestigious girls’ schools such as St Catherine’s in Toorak have declined from 656 to 587 between 2016 and 2021, Genazzano College from 1079 to 834 and Mentone Girls’ Grammar from 717 to 655, new My School data shows.
A total of 27 per cent of girls’ schools have lost students, compared to 23 per cent of boys’ schools and just 13 per cent of co-ed schools.
Other girls’ schools to decrease in number include Korowa Anglican Girls’ School, Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar and Catholic Ladies’ College in Eltham.
This is despite such schools posting excellent academic results.
At the same time, female enrolments at co-ed schools such as Ivanhoe Grammar, Wesley College and Carey Grammar have gone up.
Alliance of Girls’ Schools Australasia executive officer Loren Bridge said enrolment demand across girls’ schools remained strong amid enrolment numbers changing year on year.
“Parents still often prefer single-sex schools for their girls and sending their boys to co-ed schools,” she said.
She said school enrolment numbers and the number of enrolments they can offer change for a range of reasons.
“There has been a lot of inter-suburb and interstate movement recently, and parents have reflected over the past couple of years on how important education really is.”
Although there are fewer boys’ schools overall, only three have posted declining student numbers over the past five years: Xavier College, Whitefriars and De La Salle College.
Other boys’ schools such as St Kevin’s College, Trinity Grammar, Mazenod College, Salesian College and Brighton Grammar are thriving.
Co-ed schools that have grown substantially include Haileybury, Donvale Christian College,
Bacchus Marsh Grammar and Hume Anglican Grammar, which has gone from 902 students in 2016 to 1671 in 2021.
Co-ed schools to decline in number include St Margaret’s Berwick Grammar, St Michael’s Grammar, Overnewton College, Geelong Grammar and The Kilmore International School.
Most state schools have maintained stable enrolment numbers or seen slight increases, but enrolments at 12 of the top 100 public schools have dropped.
These include Mount Waverley, Brighton and Mentone secondary schools which have dropped slightly.
Camberwell High has decreased from 1276 to 1057 pupils.
Three country high schools in Donald, Wangaratta and Rosebud also dropped.
Two girls-only schools have decreased slightly – Mentone Girls’ Secondary College and Matthew Flinders Girls’ Secondary College.
State high schools that have gone up significantly include those in the growth areas of Mernda, Montmorency and Narre Warren.
Other big increases in enrolments have been posted at city co-ed schools including Albert Park College – from 1036 to 1551 students – Coburg High, from 406 to 1125, and McKinnon Secondary College, from 1995 to 2328.
Deborah Barker, principal of St Kevin’s College, said the all boys’ Toorak school will be at capacity for the next decade based on current enrolment projections.
“Debating, music, drama and musicals are regularly celebrated, and the Year 9 Rice program, where boys experience up to two weeks’ immersion at varied locations around the country, is rewarding and memorable for our boys,” she said.
Ms Barker said the school has a rigorous academic program, more than 20 choices of sport and all students participate in community service.
“St Kevin’s College is incredibly appreciative that our community values what we do,” she said.
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