Private schools slap parents with higher fees for 2022

Expensive private schools are feeling the pressure to raise tuition fees next year | See the list of increases for Australia’s top schools

Sydney’s St Andrew’s Cathedral School will increase tuition fees for senior students by 3.25 per cent next year – to $35,373. Picture: Hollie Adams

Elite private schools will bill families with mortgage-sized fees next year after many froze tuition costs early in the pandemic.

St Andrew’s Cathedral School in Sydney will charge tuition fees of $35,373 for senior students next year – a 3.25 per cent increase.

In a letter to parents, school chairman Ray Jarratt blamed federal funding cuts, a pay rise for teachers, and rising lease and insurance costs for the increase.

He said a 2.5 per cent pay rise for all staff next year would cost the school $3 million, while the school was having to hire extra staff to cover a larger than normal number of staff on maternity leave.

He said the school would lose some federal government grants due to funding reforms affecting all private schools. “Please be assured that the school is aware that educating your child is a costly business and we do not wish to charge more than we need to sustain the ongoing health of the school,’’ Mr Jarratt wrote.

“Any parents or caregivers experiencing financial stress are invited to contact (the school) if you wish to discuss options, such as extended payment terms, that might be available within our normal operating constraints.’’

The Essington School in Darwin is also blaming federal funding changes for a 14.9 per cent rise in fees to $12,830 next year.

“We are entering a phase of rebuilding the school (and) the new funding model offers Essington significantly less funding than previously,’’ principal Brian Kennelly said. Top private schools will bill families with mortgage-sized fees next year after many froze tuition costs early in the pandemic.

School fees now exceed mortgage payments for many families.

The King’s School in Sydney, which counts former NSW premier Mike Baird among its “old boys’’, will increase its fees by 4.5 per cent – twice the rate of inflation – to $40,007.

The Association of Heads of Independent Schools Australia, representing private school principals, said schools were trying to limit fee increases given the financial strain on many families due to Covid-19 restrictions.

“Schools are being as conservative as they can with any increase in school fees, and are very mindful of the precarious nature of parents’ financial circumstances,’’ chief executive Beth Blackwood said on Sunday.

“There will be movements in staff salaries and that will be factored into school fees, given that wage costs are 70 per cent of their budget.’’

Beth Blackwood

A survey of private school fees by The Australian reveals most schools will keep their 2022 fees in line with inflation.

Australia’s priciest private school, Geelong Grammar, has a waiting list for its Timbertop campus, despite increasing fees by 2.6 per cent to $43,660 for senior ­students.

That’s the equivalent to the annual interest payment on a $2m mortgage and well above the median annual home loan repayment of $39,496 for Victorian homeowners.

The school received $8.3m in Jobkeeper payments in 2020.

Teacher pay rises will drive a 3.5 per cent rise in fees for students at the exclusive Trinity Grammar School in Melbourne, where parents will pay $35,872 for senior students to attend next year.

The school had frozen salaries and fees this year, but will grant staff a 3.25 per cent pay rise in 2022.

Australia’s oldest Anglican school for girls, St Catherine’s School in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, will raise fees by 2 per cent to $37,322 next year.

Queensland’s most expensive school, Brisbane Grammar – which had slashed fees by 10 per cent last year to compensate for classroom closures – will increase senior school fees by 2.7 per cent to $29,000 next year, rivalling the state’s average home loan repayment of $31,899.

The elite school pocketed $3.1m in Jobkeeper to top up staff salaries last year.

Its sister school, Brisbane Girls’ Grammar will increase its fees by 2.8 per cent to $27,325 next year.

The Anglican Church Grammar School in Brisbane, better known as Churchie, will increase its senior fees by 3.5 per cent to $24,784 in 2022 while Brisbane Boys’ College will hike fees by 3 per cent to $28,088.

Edstart, which provides flexible payment plans used by many private schools, predicts that many schools will have to raise fees next year to catch up on pandemic price freezes.

“There’ll be more pressure on the school budget in 2022 due to factors like rising cost bases, ­reduced government funding for some schools, and having not ­increased their fees this year to help families during Covid ­disruptions,’’ Edstart chief executive Jack Stevens said. “As a result, schools are likely to feel the pressure to increase fees next year’’.

Ms Blackwood said enrolments in private schools had grown slightly during the pandemic, as parents looked to tech-savvy schools to make home learning easier for students during lockdowns.

“Particularly in Victoria and NSW, independent schools were able to pivot very quickly to the online learning world,’’ she said.

“They by and large had the resources to be able to do that.

“In times of uncertainty, parents want some surety so school communities make them feel connected and secure.’’

Independent Senator Rex Patrick on Sunday demanded that profitable schools repay the $750m in federal government Jobkeeper payments handed to 700 private schools during the pandemic. “Hundreds of private schools who did not need support took money from hardworking parents via the Jobkeeper scheme,’’ he said.

“Now they’re reaching into the back pockets of parents to take money a second time.’’

Most of Sydney’s most expensive schools, including Sydney Grammar, Knox Grammar, SCEGGS, Cranbrook and Scots College, have yet to reveal their 2022 tuition costs.