Low-fee privates with similar marks to elites revealed; see list of schools with fees below $10K
New Catholic primaries and secondaries are planned for Victorian growth areas, as demand soars for places at high performing, low-fee private schools.
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Enrolments are surging at many Catholic and Christian schools as families discover many charge much lower fees than elite private schools and produce similar or better marks.
Soaring living costs are prompting families to weigh up which schools provide the best bang for their buck, and finding low-fee private schools are often hard to beat for academic performance and facilities.
A boom in popularity has led to a string of new school openings in growth areas as many Catholic primary and secondary schools bulge at the seams.
And more schools are set to open soon, in some of Victoria’s most booming growth corridors.
Catholic Education Commission Victoria executive director Jim Miles said enrolment growth over the past five years had been most rapid in Melbourne’s west, where an extra 3521 students have enrolled, and north, with 2206 more students.
Two new schools opened this year – St Lawrence of Brindisi Catholic Primary
School in Weir Views, near Melton in the west, and Holy Cross Catholic Primary School in Mickleham in the north.
Mr Miles said two more would open next year, in Gladstone Park and Tarneit North, with a third opening planned in Clyde North in 2024.
New Catholic secondary campuses are expected to open in Melton South in 2023 and
Doreen in 2024.
For under $10,000 a year, parents can send their children to Catholic and Christian schools with average VCE study scores of 30 or above, matching or bettering some costly elite privates.
The state’s most expensive private school, Geelong Grammar, which charges parents $43,660 in tuition fees for Year 12 students, had a median VCE study score of 32 in 2021.
Several Catholic schools, including Geelong’s Sacred Heart College and Ferntree Gully’s St Joseph’s College, achieved the same median score as Geelong Grammar, but at a fraction of the cost.
Geelong’s Sacred Heart College charges $8100 a year at Year 12, while Ferntree Gully’s St Joseph’s charges just $6500.
Some schools include additional costs beyond tuition fees in the annual fee.
Meanwhile St Joseph’s College in Geelong, which has annual fees of $6184, also performs highly academically and is famous for turning out famous musicians, actors and elite sportsmen, including many high profile AFL players.
For less than $3000 a year, the all-girls Killester College in Springvale achieved an average study score of 31 last year.
Killester College principal Sally Buick said anecdotal evidence suggested cost was a factor behind the Catholic school’s increase in waiting lists and enrolments.
“This year there are 120 per cent more applications than three years ago at this stage of the process (for students commencing in 2024),” she said.
Since opening in 2020 with 150 Year 7 students, Geelong’s Iona College has grown to 260 Year 7s starting next year.
Iona College principal Damian McKew said he anticipated growing to 1400 students as the Catholic school expands to Year 12 by 2025.
“I think our emphasis on community is an important reason that parents are attracted to
Catholic education,” he said.
“We want our students to not only be the best that they can be academically, but also to be
forces for good in the world, support the marginalised, and make a difference in their
communities.”
Iona’s opening has come as a relief to Geelong’s St Joseph’s College, which had been forced to turn away scores of local families seeking a Catholic education each year.
“We used to be oversubscribed madly,” St Joseph’s principal Tony Paatsch said.
“We were knocking back probably over 100 families that we just couldn’t accommodate and that was enrolling over 330 students at each year level.”
St Lawrence of Brindisi principal Bill Hill said the school opened this year with 182 students from Prep to Year 6 and anticipated about 600 students by 2026.
“As the Melton South area continues to grow, enrolment applications are far exceeding our
capacity at this stage,” he said.
Rita and Praveen Vincent, from Weir Views, switched to the Catholic system after sending Isabella, 9, to a state school for Prep and Year 1, and find it offers greater focus on values, better discipline, and a friendlier environment.
“Every morning, all the teachers and the principal are at the front welcoming the kids, and the kids are so happy to see them,” said Mrs Vincent, whose children attend St Lawrence of Brindisi.
Low-cost Christian schools are also facing strong growth, particularly Wyndham Christian College, Victory Christian College in Bendigo, Rivercrest Christian College in Clyde North, and Waverley Christian College’s Narre Warren South campus.
A new low-fee independent Christian school, Bendigo Christian College, is set to open next year on the grounds of Bendigo Baptist Church to meet growing demand in the city.
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