By Lucy Carroll
Sydney private school fees have broken the $51,000 mark for year 12 as some of the wealthiest institutions raise charges by an average of 7 per cent.
At least a dozen independent schools will charge more than $45,000 for a year’s education in 2025 as principals point to higher salaries, rising operating costs and cuts to government funding as reasons for the rises.
The Scots College in Bellevue Hill will raise combined fees and levies to $51,258 for year 12.Credit: Louise Kennerley
Several schools have more than tripled their tuition costs since 2005 and, at the current rate of increase, fees will exceed $65,000 a year by the end of the decade.
In a letter to parents in December, Scots College principal Ian Lambert said fees were the main source of income for the school, with price increases needed to meet the college’s operating costs including salaries, maintenance and upcoming capital works.
“We are mindful of the current economic climate and the challenges of rising costs and inflation, and we must balance this with our commitment to delivering exceptional education, services and facilities,” Lambert wrote.
Scots will increase fees by 5.6 per cent, bumping the school’s combined fees and levies to $51,258 for year 12.
The Bellevue Hill boys’ school told parents it would open its new student centre in April, almost six years after plans for the building resembling a baronial castle were approved. The college has also lodged a new development application with Woollahra Council to rebuild its pool for water polo.
A Herald survey of 30 high-fee schools shows Scots, Cranbrook and SCEGGS Darlinghurst will charge more than $49,000 for year 12 tuition and levies this year.
The King’s School, Glenaeon Rudolf Steiner School and International Grammar recorded some of the steepest rises of 8 per cent or more, about triple the rate of inflation.
The fee rises come three months after the state government awarded public school teachers a 10 per cent pay rise over three years, on the back of 8 to 12 per cent public sector teacher increases in 2023.
Cranbrook’s year 12 fees will rise 6.5 per cent to $49,521 for year 12.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
Principals have blamed fee increases on needing to match or surpass public sector wages as competition for teachers intensifies. Many of the wealthiest schools, including King’s and Shore, pay well above public sector rates.
Multiple independent schools have multimillion-dollar facilities upgrades in the pipeline, including new aquatic centres and STEM buildings.
At Glenaeon, the school’s council chair Peter Candotti told parents that “high inflation and unprecedented salary pressure in the teaching market have seen costs escalate at levels significantly higher than any time in recent decades”. The school has lifted fees by 9.5 per cent for its senior years.
St Catherine’s in Waverley, which will lift fees by 4.7 per cent to $44, 606 for the final school year, told its parents the key driver of the fee increase was salary costs.
“We will also have a reduction of combined government funding of $201 per student,” St Catherine’s chief operating officer Andrew Grech wrote.
“Salaries in our sector rise by at least the rate of NSW government teachers and support staff. Until last year, these increases in the government sector were capped. This cap has been removed, resulting in the exceptional increase in 2024 and expected higher increases in future years,” he told parents.
Private schools have been grappling with a loss of government money over the past few years as funding levels are adjusted for fairness under the Gonski model, with changes taking into account parents’ income. Some principals have previously raised fears that fee rises will make the schools out of reach for middle-class families.
The latest increases come as families turn to grandparents to help pay fees, parents extend mortgages and use education loan companies to manage and fund their children’s private school education.
Reddam House, Trinity Grammar and Shore will all lift fees and levies to above $47,000 for year 12.
“Ensuring that we remain competitive and can attract and retain existing staff with the wealth of knowledge they possess has been a key driver in this process,” Reddam’s finance director Rhonda Soulakellis wrote to parents.
At all-girls school Kambala, tuition fees will rise to $48,828 for year 12. The school has this year released its fee schedule on its website but has omitted its levies or extra charges, saying parents will be notified of these costs later in January. If the school’s levies match last year’s, fees at Kambala will also eclipse $51,000 for year 12.
Most schools have released their fee schedules to parents, although Ascham is yet to notify parents of its updated fees.
At Newington, which is set to start transitioning to co-ed from next year, fees will rise by 7.5 per cent. Parents of year 9 Newington students will be charged almost $9000 over three years for a mandatory term-long camp at its new Eungai Creek campus, bringing year 9 costs to more than $47,000.
Newington’s council chair Tony McDonald wrote to parents: “The setting of the fee schedule was not a decision taken lightly. Council and the college executive revised the budget repeatedly to minimise this increase while protecting the sustainability of the college.”
A Herald analysis of school costs shows many of Sydney’s schools have either doubled or tripled their tuition fees since 2005, with Kincoppal in Rose Bay recording one of the biggest increases over two decades.
The independent all-girls Catholic school charged fees of $13,957 in 2005 for year 11 students, and this year will charge $46,466, including levies.
In late December, the union representing staff at 250 NSW private schools reached a pay deal with the Association of Independent Schools, which will lift private school teacher pay about 3 per cent above that of public school teachers.
“This wages deal goes a long way to restoring salaries in independent schools that had been lagging behind government school and Catholic systemic school rates in recent years,” union branch secretary Carol Matthews said.
Independent Catholic school Kincoppal-Rose Bay will lift fees for year 11, including levies, to $46,466.Credit: Louise Kennerley
Under the new agreement for public school teachers, graduate teacher salaries start at $97,618 and top teachers are paid $140,226.
A spokesperson for NSW Education Minister Prue Car said: “Pay is a function of respect, and it has been acknowledged across the education sector that if teachers aren’t paid fairly they will not stay in the profession.”
Association of Independent Schools NSW chief executive Margery Evans said the median tuition fee at a NSW private school was less than $6000 a year.
“Fee increases at low and mid-fee independent schools are kept as low as possible. These schools continue to account for some three-quarters of the growth in independent school enrolments over the past decade,” Evans said.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.