Victoria’s most expensive schools revealed amid 2021 prices hike

Many of Victoria’s top private schools have once again hiked their prices after promising fee freezes in the depths of the pandemic.

Claire HeaneyExclusive

2 min read

January 20, 2021 - 8:40AM

Education

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Victorian private school fee rises have been pegged at 0.4 per cent for 2021, reflecting the tough post-lockdown landscape.

The Edstart analysis also reveals Victoria no longer dominates the most expensive top 10 school list in Australia, although Geelong Grammar remains the premium school at $42,792 for year 12.

Last year, Victoria accounted for 61 per cent of the high fee paying schools charging more than $30,000 for year 12, with New South Wales accounting for 39 per cent.

This year, Victoria dropped to 49 per cent and NSW jumped to 51 per cent. Edstart said no other state exceeded $30,000.

A school fee finance company, Edstart said its review of publicly available data showed there was a big drop in the rate of fee increase this year, with the average increase across Australia falling from 2.83 per cent last year to 1.05 per cent in 2021. The report is based on advertised school fees for 400 schools nationally and 102 Victorian schools.

Edstart chief Jack Stevens said the past four years had seen a steady decline in school fee inflation, but the pandemic accelerated this trend.

Geelong Grammar is Victoria’s most expensive school. Picture: Mark Wilson

“Nearly 40 per cent of schools did not increase their fees in 2021, a huge jump from 7 per cent of schools in 2020,” he said.

“This included Australia’s most expensive schools with over half of higher-fee schools in the country keeping their fees flat. A larger number of schools also decreased their fees this year to provide fee relief to families.”

Compared to the rest of Australia, Victoria had the biggest reduction in school fee inflation at 2.75 per cent.

Geelong Grammar School, which held its fee steady, topped the state and national list.

In Victoria, it was followed by Mount Scopus Memorial College ($38,850); St Catherine’s School ($38,560); Wesley College ($38,040); Lauriston Girls’ School ($36,840); Bialik ($36,817); Melbourne Girls’ Grammar School ($36,784); Melbourne Grammar School ($36,180); Scotch College ($35,925); and Camberwell Grammar School ($35,080).

The list did not include the King David School because its fees were not publicly available by the January 17 cut-off. Last year its fees were $37,304.

Scotch College was among the first schools to tell families in 2020 it would freeze this year’s fees.

Edstart noted nationally more than half of the higher fee schools, those charging $30,000 plus at year 12, did not increase their fees. Nationally, one in 10 schools analysed decreased fees, compared to 2 per cent in 2020.