Suburbs where private school students outnumber public pupils

Private school kids outnumber state school students by as much as five to one in some suburbs, as the private school belt continues to expand.

Heathdale Christian College principal Ross Grace with his students. Picture: Ian Currie

Nearly 20,000 more Victorian students are attending private and Catholic schools compared to five years ago, new Census data shows.

The private school belt now stretches well beyond the leafy east, with three local government areas — Stonnington, Boroondara and Bayside — having nearly twice as many private high school kids as state school students.

From Malvern, Ashburton and Glen Iris in the east to Mentone and Cheltenham in the south and Balwyn North in the northeast, private school kids outnumber state by as much as five to one.

The Bayside LGA has the highest concentration of private school students. Picture: David Geraghty

The highest percentage of private school students is in the Bayside local government area, which has more than 70 per cent of secondary students enrolled in private schools, such as Brighton Grammar, Star of the Sea College and Haileybury College.

There are also a number of country areas where there are now more private school students than public, including Wangaratta, the Surf Coast, and the Macedon Ranges.

And some areas, such as Glen Eira in Melbourne and Glenelg in the state’s southwest, have equal numbers of public and private students.

Michelle Green, chief executive of Independent Schools Victoria, said new enrolments were particularly strong in independent schools charging annual fees of $7500 or less.

“In metropolitan Melbourne, the fast-growing Melton local government area on the urban-rural fringe last year recorded the highest rate of increase in independent school enrolments, up 18 per cent,” she said.

“The most recent increase came despite the disruption to school operations, financial pressures, economic uncertainty, a drop in migration, and low rate of population growth, attributed to Covid-19.”

Ross Grace, the executive principal of Heathdale Christian College, said his school, which is based on two campuses at Melton and Werribee, had increased in size from 1500 to 2100 since 2016.

Heathdale Christian College has two campuses in Melbourne’s outer west. Picture: Ian Currie

“We have had a recent influx of students from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, who want a good standard of education,” he said.

“We have a very rich cultural mix out here, and many families who choose us for the spiritual dimension.”

The 2021 Census Data also shows Buloke in the state’s west has the highest percentage of state school students overall — 22 per cent of all enrolled students in the area compared to 0.9 per cent private. The lowest percentage of private school kids is in the West Wimmera, with just 0.6 per cent.

Overall, the proportion of students in each sector hasn’t changed from 2016, with 55 per cent in state secondary schools, 23 per cent in Catholic schools and 20 per cent independent.

But a rise in the population has seen the numbers overall increase by 29,000 for state schools, 7561 for Catholic and 10,700 for independent.