More families choosing private schools despite soaring tuition fees and cost of living

Nationally, most students were still enrolled in government schools (63.4 per cent), followed by Catholic schools (19.9 per cent) and independent schools (16.8 per cent).

Independent Schools Australia projects that by 2033 independent schools will enrol 19.7 per cent of students nationally. It forecasts more than 280 new schools or campuses being built to meet the demand, most in Victoria, NSW and Queensland.

Its chief executive, Graham Catt, said the enrolment figures showed families were prepared to make significant sacrifices to provide their children with the education they believed was best for them.

“With cost-of-living pressures at an all-time high, families are prioritising investment in their children’s futures,” Catt said. “They believe this investment is also a critical role for governments, and that their choice of school should be supported – not undermined.”

More Victorian families are opting for independent secondary schools than ever. Enrolments increased 4.4 per cent last year, compared with a rise of 2.1 per cent at Catholic schools and 1.9 per cent at government schools.

Private school enrolments have surged in Melbourne’s western suburbs, including Melton and Wyndham, where demand for public schools is forecast to outpace supply.

In Melton, which has five public secondary colleges and more than 37,000 school-aged children, independent school enrolments have grown 36 per cent since 2021, while Catholic schools have grown by 16 per cent.

A public secondary college for Cobblebank is among 19 new public schools the Victorian government has slated for opening in 2026, the majority in Melbourne’s outer suburbs.

Pooja Mathur enrolled her children Rishith, 16, and Rivaan, 11, in a public primary school when the family moved from London to Melbourne’s outer east six years ago.

Mathur toured public colleges when Rishith was transitioning to high school, but ultimately settled on Tintern Grammar – an independent school in Ringwood East.

She said the school’s values and academic record, her impression of staff during initial meetings and the subjects offered all influenced the decision.

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Mathur said she felt Rishith hadn’t had the same opportunities to excel at public school that he now had at Tintern.

“He’s a very smart child,” she said. “There are a lot of areas where he could have shone, but he was not even given the opportunity.”

After deliberating over the cost, Mathur moved Rivaan to join his older brother at Tintern for his final primary school years.

“I can earn money throughout my life, but these are the joys and the beautiful memories that I wanted to give to my kid. I don’t think anything matters beyond that,” she said.

University of New England education expert Sally Larsen said that while private schools didn’t necessarily mean better academic outcomes, there was a public perception that they were better for students’ grades.

Larsen said parents also chose schools based on what extracurricular activities were offered, and public institutions didn’t have big advertising budgets to showcase those programs to families.

She said the trend towards increasing enrolments at private schools would probably exacerbate social inequalities.

“We see education as the great leveller – you get a good education and you can move up in the world,” Larsen said.

“We don’t know what extent that is being affected by this kind of sorting mechanism of different types of families sending their kids to different types of schools … now that it has started it’s going to be really difficult to change it.”

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