Listed: Migrant enrolments soar at Queensland’s Top 100 public and private schools

Migrant students are flocking to our best public and private schools, changing demographics and boosting NAPLAN scores. See which schools have the biggest levels of growth.

Enterprising migrant families are flocking to top Queensland public and private schools, leading to changing demographics and higher academic results, new data shows.

Migrant students have increased four-fold at some schools over the past decade, exclusive analysis of enrolment trends shows.

Some large private schools now have seven out of 10 students from language background other than English (LBOTE) families – many of them from China.

Many of the leading public schools in the country have as many as 97 per cent of students coming from non-English speaking backgrounds.

Analysis of the changing demographics at the Top 100 private schools in the nation shows the proportion of LBOTE students has increased in 86 out of 100 cases, with the biggest jump of 52 per cent at Redeemer Lutheran College in Queensland between 2014 and 2024.

School leaders and migrant families say these choices are driven by academic excellence and the high value migrant families place on education.

Many migrant students overperform in NAPLAN, helping raise the performance of the schools they attend while also enriching their culture, exclusive analysis of year 7 and 9 NAPLAN results by News Corp Australia shows.

Despite English often being a second or third language, LBOTE students outperform their peers across the country. Since 2008, the gap between these students has exploded from just two points to 21.

The Heights School in South Australia has increased its proportion of students from migrant families from 16 per cent to 51 per cent – including Muhammad and Minha at the front, and Paarth and Abbas at the back. Picture: Dean Martin

These figures reflect the importance migrant families place on their child’s academic success.

In Queensland, the gap in NAPLAN performance between migrant and non-migrant students has jumped from two points in 2014 to 15 points this year.

In the same time, the proportion of migrant students has risen 5 per cent in the Sunshine

State.

Big increases include Rochedale School, which went from 14 per cent in 2014 to 66 per cent in 2024.

Other Queensland private schools with large increases in migrant students include John Paul College (15 to 49 per cent), St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School (11 to 43 per cent) and Clayfield College (13 to 33 per cent).

Independent Schools Australia CEO Graham Catt said independent schools “reflect the cultural diversity of modern Australia, and around one in three independent students have a language background other than English”.

Graham Catt, CEO Independent Schools Australia, welcomes the increase in migrant families to independent schools.

“This diversity is reflected in school cultures, enriching the learning experience and helping to prepare all students for a global future. We know that the biggest reason families choose a school is because it aligns with their values, and their aspirations for their children,” he said.

“The diversity of independent schools means that families from other cultures can make a choice – whether it is based on faith, cultural background, a particular educational philosophy, or academic results.”

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Originally published as Listed: Migrant enrolments soar at Queensland’s Top 100 public and private schools