The Sydney Morning Herald logo

School fees

Advertisement
Private schools composite

The public and private Sydney high schools most popular with parents

While enrolments in public high schools are down, others have recorded astronomical growth. Search the full list.

  • Christopher Harris and Craig Butt

Latest

Brisbane’s All Hallows’ School.

Brisbane school charged parents $1370 more than published fee. How did your school fare?

Compulsory charges at the girls’ school rose by 12 per cent in 2025, but public documents showed a jump of just 4.4 per cent. Search your school’s 2026 fee increase here.

  • Catherine Strohfeldt
Brisbane parent Dom Woodall sends (from left) Lilly, Jagger, Thea, Zaeyan, and Tais to different Catholic schools.

Brisbane’s Catholic schools top nation for cost of education: report

Between 40 and 90 per cent of schooling costs from prep to year 12 sit outside school fees, and Brisbane families are among the hardest-hit, according to new data.

  • Catherine Strohfeldt
The Scots College in Bellevue Hill will charge parents almost $55,000 for year 12 this year.

We looked at fees at 32 private schools. One is charging almost $55,000

An analysis of 32 schools across Sydney shows fees at most schools have increased well above inflation.

  • Christopher Harris and Emily Kowal
Parents at Christ Church Grammar School are complaining of a plan to increase class sizes.

Backlash at upmarket primary school over class size shock

Parents cry foul as $35,000-a-year private school in Melbourne increases class sizes next year.

  • Noel Towell
Brisbane Grammar School.

Brisbane’s most expensive schools outstrip inflation as fees soar past $35,000

Across Brisbane’s private schools, fee increases in 2026 will average 5.8 per cent – well above the city’s current inflation rate of 4.7 per cent.

  • Catherine Strohfeldt and Felicity Caldwell
Advertisement
The Sydney Church of England Grammar School in North Sydney.

The north shore private school that has joined the $50,000 fees club

Principals say private schools are likely to lift fees 4 to 7 per cent next year, and at the current rate of increase, prices could top $70,000 within the next seven years.

  • Lucy Carroll
Brisbane Grammar School’s new STEAM precinct, which opened in 2024 and features 15 lab spaces of university standard, a specialised laboratory for biological dissections, art studios and a kiln room and a 300-seat open auditorium.

‘Keeping up with the Joneses’: The factors pushing families to private schools

Elite facilities and children’s opinions are increasingly swaying families when choosing a school. But some have little choice.

  • Catherine Strohfeldt
Brisbane

Where do Brisbane’s richest families send their kids? Search your school here

The median family income of parents at one Brisbane school exceeds $340k, but many private school families still begin saving years in advance.

  • Catherine Strohfeldt and Craig Butt
Where in Melbourne would you find the “Castle on the Hill”?

The 100 most expensive Melbourne public schools revealed

Parents at some public schools are paying thousands more in voluntary fees than parents at schools in other areas.

  • Alex Crowe