Boarding school fees: The 10 most expensive in Australia
Victoria has the steepest median boarding fees, but the title of most expensive school goes to another state. See how fees at 138 of the nation’s top boarding schools compare.
The cost to send a child to private boarding school in Australia is equal to nearly half the average wage, but for campuses in Victoria, parents should be prepared to shell out significantly more.
Victoria’s median annual fee for a Year 12 boarding student is $61,610 – a whopping 42 per cent more than the national median of $43,348.
Often quoted as “the” most expensive school in Australia, Geelong Grammar charges $72,040 for Year 12, but has been knocked off its throne this year by Sydney boys’ school Cranbrook, where Year 12 annual fees for boarders hit $73,536.
More than 80 per cent of Geelong Grammar’s 600 senior students live and learn full time on the school’s 245ha Corio campus, which counts Prince Charles, Kerry Packer, former prime minister John Gorton and Rupert Murdoch among its notable alumni.
The illustrious boarding school is one of 14 in Victoria that implemented fee freezes this year in response to the pandemic.
Despite the ban on price hikes, 12 Victorian schools still charge more than $60,000 a year, and seven schools in the state are among the 20 most expensive in Australia.
NSW, meanwhile, is home to the remainder of the top 20 pricey schools, but also has 11 schools that charge less than $40,000 for Year 12, while Victoria has a mere six in that price bracket – and none of those are in Melbourne.
The lack of rural boarding schools in Victoria is one reason the state leads the pack in median boarding fees, according to Australian Boarding Schools Association chief executive Richard Stokes.
“We have very few rural and remote kids in Victoria, which means we have very few rural boarding schools,” Mr Stokes said. “Rural boarding schools include Hamilton, where their fees are lower. Ballarat, where their fees are lower, then Gippsland Grammar and that’s it.”
NSW has significantly more regional and rural campuses.
“If you just compare capital city boarding schools, Sydney would win,” Mr Stokes said.
The disparity between teachers’ wages from state to state was another factor that increased costs at schools in NSW and Victoria, Mr Stokes said.
“NSW pays their teachers more (than Queensland) to be honest; probably 20 per cent higher wages,” he said, “and Victorian teachers are on a par (with NSW).”
Elite schools in the southeast states paid a premium to attract the highest calibre teachers and staff, Mr Stokes said.
High fees also reflected the fact independent schools had lifted their game considerably in the past decade, boosting the number of teachers, wellbeing support for boarding communities and the quality of services – from food and transport options, to student rooms and campus buildings.
“The reason boarding costs have gone up so much – and they have gone up – is the expectation placed on boarding schools,” he said. “Today is a much better experience for a boarding student, but it is better because there are more staff, and they come at a cost.”
The Weekly Times compiled a list of current combined tuition and boarding fees for Year 12 students at 138 independent and Catholic open-entry schools. State schools, residential colleges and selective entry schools are not included in the list, to allow accurate comparison of state medians.
NSW’s median Year 12 fee is $53,588, reflecting the state’s larger number of regional schools that offer fees below $50,000. Canberra and South Australia’s median fees are more than the national median, while Queensland and the Northern Territory are the least expensive places to send a child to boarding school, with medians below $33,000.
MEDIAN YEAR 12 TUITION AND BOARDING FEES
VIC (23 schools) $61,610
NSW (35 schools) $53,588
ACT (2 schools) $51,925
SA (11 schools) $51,135
WA (19 schools) $44,321
TAS (6 schools) $38,850
QLD (39 schools) $32,756
NT (3 schools) $32,170
AUSTRALIA (138 schools) $43,348
AUSTRALIA’S MOST EXPENSIVE SCHOOLS
Here are snapshots of the 10 most expensive boarding schools in Australia, listed from lowest to highest total fees for Year 12 students.
10. KAMBALA
Established 131 years ago with 12 girls in a terrace house at Woollahra, Kambala has grown into one of Australia’s leading girls schools, moved campuses twice and now boasts sprawling grounds in Sydney’s Rose Bay, where the focus is on educating the “whole girl”. The senior school has more than 550 students in Years 7-12, accommodating about 95 boarders in two houses – historic Tivoli house for Years 7-9 and purpose-built Fernbank, where Years 10-12 enjoy more independent living.
Year 12 tuition and boarding total: $65,500
Gender: Girls
Location: Rose Bay, Sydney, NSW
9. THE KING’S SCHOOL
Nestled in 129 hectares of parklands in the middle of Sydney, The King’s School senior campus is designed to impress. Its extensive sporting grounds and teaching facilities give young men plenty of space to maximise their academic and extra-curricular potential. The school has more than 1400 senior students, and a history of nearly 200 years.
Year 12 tuition and boarding total: $65,537
Gender: Boys
Location: North Parramatta, Sydney, NSW
8. KNOX GRAMMAR SCHOOL
One of the younger schools on this list, established a mere 97 years ago, Knox has a boarding community of 200 boys in Years 7-12. The senior campus has 2000 students in total, with a curriculum structured especially for boys, involving a healthy dose of innovative technology.
Year 12 tuition and boarding total: $65,670
Gender: Boys
Location: Wahroonga, Sydney, NSW
7. PRESBYTERIAN LADIES’ COLLEGE, SYDNEY
Home to nearly 1400 girls from early learning to Year 12, PLC Sydney is one of Australia’s oldest and most respected schools for girls, established in 1888. Boarders live on campus in a small community of 64 girls, in Years 7-12.
Year 12 tuition and boarding total: $66,240
Gender: Girls
Location: Croydon, Sydney, NSW
6. ST CATHERINE’S SCHOOL, MELBOURNE
Known for its small class sizes, “one campus advantage” and personal approach, St Catherine’s School prides itself on being a leader in maximising girls’ wellbeing as well as their academic achievement. This is particularly evident in the historic Illawarra boarding house, run by director of boarding Sue Collister, who has been at the helm for the past 14 years. Located on the boutique Toorak campus, the house caters for about 50 girls.
Year 12 tuition and boarding total: $66,520
Gender: Girls
Location: Toorak, Melbourne, VIC
5. BARKER COLLEGE
Operating as a boys school for its first 85 years, Barker College added girls to the mix in 1975. The coeducational senior school has notable alumni including a clutch of professional male and female cricketers, retired supreme court judge Terry Buddin SC, Australian ambassador to the Philippines Steven Robinson and University of Oxford immunologist Dr Alex Spencer.
Year 12 tuition and boarding total: $66,661
Gender: Co-ed
Location: Hornsby, Sydney, NSW
4. SHORE, SYDNEY CHURCH OF ENGLAND GRAMMAR
Established in 1889, Shore welcomed girls to its early primary classrooms in 2003, but from Year 3 up it is strictly a male affair. With 200 boarders, about half of whom come from regional and rural communities, the boarders are split into four houses, with a focus on Christian values.
Year 12 tuition and boarding total: $66,936
Gender: Boys
Location: Lower North Shore, Sydney, NSW
3. THE SCOTS COLLEGE, SYDNEY
A Presbyterian boys school known for producing accomplished rugby players, businessmen and doctors, The Scots College has an enrolment of about 1800 students, including 250 boarders in Years 7-12. In addition to its Bellevue Hill campus, it has an outdoor education campus called Glengarry in the Kangaroo Valley for Year 9 students.
Year 12 tuition and boarding total: $69,090
Gender: Boys
Location: Bellevue Hill, Sydney, NSW
2. GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Google “Australia’s most expensive school”, and Geelong Grammar pops to the top of the list. Students can bring their horses to school, spend a whole year living and learning in the High Country at Timbertop during Year 9, and benefit from some of the best educational resources in the nation – with the institution a pioneer of the Positive Education movement. Its drop to No. 2 in this list may be just a temporary blip, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. But the school’s sensitive response to the economic hardship caused by the pandemic is as impressive as the adaptability and leadership shown by the school during last year’s lockdowns, when all students and staff were tested for Covid on campus to ensure residential learning could continue.
Year 12 tuition and boarding total: $72,040
Gender: Co-ed
Location: Corio, Geelong, VIC
1. CRANBROOK SCHOOL
This all-boys school in Sydney’s Bellevue Hill has slipped into the top spot this year, as Australia’s most expensive school. Year 11 and 12 fees for a boarding education are a whopping $73,536 – $1500 more than Geelong Grammar. Its Years 7-10 fees also trump the Corio school. Cranbrook’s current headmaster Nicholas Sampson was previously principal of Geelong Grammar, from 2000-2004, and has an ambitious vision for continuing to build on Cranbrook’s strengths.
Year 12 tuition and boarding total: $73,536
Gender: Boys
Location: Sydney, NSW
GLOBAL COMPARISON
Families that can afford Australia’s expensive schools, could equally consider a top-tier British boarding education without stretching the budget too much.
With 19 prime ministers in its alumni, including current PM Boris Johnson, as well as Ian Fleming, George Orwell, Prince William and Prince Harry, and celebrities from Bear Grylls to Eddie Redmayne, Eton College charges $76,501 a year for senior boarders, and is one of the UK’s most well-known schools.
Fees at leading US boarding schools, meanwhile, top $90,000 for senior students, with Woodside Priory School in California’s Silicon Valley asking more than $99,000 ($US76,880).
Weekly earnings in the US and UK are significantly less than Australia’s current average of $1762, meaning private boarding education in those countries is even more out of reach for normal households than it is here.
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