Victorian schools that will cost you $500k to send two kids

Parents wanting to send their children to Melbourne private schools will need to budget up to half a million dollars. See the full list.

The cost of sending two siblings to the state’s most expensive school, Geelong Grammar, is now at $680,552.

Parents who want to send two children to Victoria’s most elite private schools will fork out more than half a million dollars over eight years.

Eighteen Victorian schools now charge more than $500,000 for two children to attend from year 5 to 12 – plus the cost of uniforms, books and camps.

It comes amid warnings to families to brace for further hikes in private school fees amid rising inflation and soaring costs of living.

The cost of sending two siblings to the state’s most expensive school, Geelong Grammar, is $680,552 for year 5 to year 12.

This total includes $74,112 per child for year 9 at the Timbertop campus in the High Country, which was famously attended by Prince Charles in 1966.

The next priciest schools for two children from year 5 to 12 are Mount Scopus Memorial College ($574,695), Lauriston Girls’ School ($568,960), Melbourne Grammar ($563,640) and Scotch College ($562,152).

These figures don’t take into account future fee hikes or additional charges.

Parents often fork out several thousands dollars above the stated annual fees to cover camps, excursions, uniforms, books, security levies and other compulsory fees.

The annual fees stated include sibling discounts where clearly listed on the school’s fee schedules, but not other reductions, such as early payment discounts.

Futurity Investment Group, which offers education saving plans and loans, anticipates further rises in private school fees.

Futurity group executive Kate Hill said the new figures were in line with the company’s own 2021 research, which showed the average cost of sending one child to private school in Melbourne from prep to year 12 was just over $400,000.

Mount Scopus Memorial College Principal Rabbi James Kennard whose school charges over $574k for two students.

“If you do the full 13 years of schooling for two children, you could be looking at in excess of $800,000,” she said.

Ms Hill said many private schools had kept fees as low as possible over the past two years due to Covid, but parents should now expect bigger fee rises.

“With everything going up (in cost), as well as the expectations parents have of what schools will deliver, those costs are very likely to continue increasing,” she said.

Many schools offer hefty family discounts for additional children and small reductions for payments upfront.

It can be difficult for parents to compare fees because private schools differ widely in what they cover in the annual fees published on their websites.

Hawthorn’s Scotch College also costs more than half a million dollars for two students. Picture: Tony Gough

While some annual fees only include tuition, other private schools include additional costs.

At least 30 Victorian schools now charge more than $30,000 per child per year in year 12.

According to peak body Independent Schools Australia, more than one in five secondary school students attends an independent school.

It says independent school enrolments have grown by 20 per cent, or more than 105,000 students, in the past 20 years – the highest growth rate of any school sector.

While Victoria’s most expensive schools are beyond the budget of most families, Independent Schools Australia says almost half of independent schools charge fees of $5000 a year or less and only 10 per cent charge fees above $20,000.