The cost of Australia's most expensive private schools in 2023

Sending your child to Australia's most expensive private schools costs more than $45,000 per year for grade 12 students.

It's the first time any secondary school has exceeded that mark, with three schools doing so in 2023.

Topping the list as Australia's most expensive private school is likely Victoria's Geelong Grammar School for the second consecutive year.

Tuition for year 10 - 12 students at the elite secondary school will set parents back $46,020 a year in 2023, up 5.4 per cent on 2022.

Edstart, an education payment company helping schools and parents manage fees, confirmed Sydney schools Kambala and SCEGGS Darlinghurst would both be charging more than $45,000 for year 12 students in the upcoming year.

Schools around the country are set to increase their fees in 2023 to match rising operation costs, inflation and cuts to government funding.

"Our preliminary data of over 400 schools is showing wide variances in fee changes in 2023 with almost three-quarters raising their fees by between 3 per cent to 10 per cent," Edstart CEO Jack Stevens said.

Mr Stevens told ACM he was not surprised to see the newly crossed $45,000 mark in both Victoria and NSW.

"To meet these financial demands, many schools have no choice but to pass these costs on to families," he said.

Several NSW and Victorian schools will charge over $40,000 for students' final year of study in 2023.

Melbourne's Mount Scopus Memorial College will charge $40,860, with Melbourne Girls Grammar and Lauriston Girls' School nearly reaching the mark at $38,944 and $39,392, respectively.

Year 12 student fees at Sydney's The King's School have increased 3.6 per cent to $41,460.

Other Sydney heavyweights like Sydney Grammar School and The Scots College, which are yet to publicly release their 2023 tuition fees, already crossed the $40,000 mark in 2022.

With expected increases, Sydney's Ascham School, Reddam House, Cranbrook School and Trinity Grammar School are all likely set to join them with fees over $40,000.

Among Queensland's elite schools, Brisbane Grammar School will charge $30,320, Brisbane Girls Grammar School $28,555 and Brisbane Boy's College $27,380 in 2023.

A year of 2023 senior schooling will cost $30,600 at WA's Scotch College, $22,320 at Tasmania's The Friends' School, $28,475 at the ACT's Canberra Grammar School and $29,418 at SA's Pembroke.

Despite these increased costs, the most recent Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Annual Statistical Report found enrolments in private schools were rising in Australia.

The survey found that 57.2 per cent of high school students were enrolled in government schools in 2020, down from 63.4 per cent in 2012.

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Queensland University of Technology school of teacher education and leadership research fellow Anna Hogan said parents who can afford "elite independent schools" will continue to pay for increasing fees.

"Because they genuinely believe that they're getting something that they can't get anywhere else," Dr Hogan said.

Dr Hogan said parents should be asking themselves whether the most expensive education is actually the best available.

"In Australia, we really do suffer from this idea of the private school is the best school and the more you pay, the better your experience is going to be," she said.

"The question is: what are you actually paying for?"

Beyond education, Australia's most expensive schools draw in families with the "full rounded experience" of extracurricular programs, pastoral care and the promise of future opportunities afforded.

According to Edstart's 2022 School Fees Report, Victoria and NSW topped the country in median costs over the past year but most notably in highest fees - a trend expected again in 2023.

Edstart will release their 2023 School Fees Report in late January.