Best Australian private schools under $20,000/year

ICSEA of 1201 places it in roughly the 99th percentile nationally - one of the highest of any Victorian school and the highest of these four; serves a strongly advantaged community. · Consistent academic powerhouse: regularly ranked among Melbourne's top schools on VCE results, with the share of study scores/ATARs above 95 running many times the state average; The Age once ranked it the top co-educational school in Victoria. · Small, single-campus K-12 school (around 750-785 students) with an ~11:1 student-teacher ratio and 26 VCE subjects, marketed on individual attention rather than scale.

Opus Dei Personal Prelature affiliated · Strong HSC academic outcomes · Single-sex Catholic girls north-west Sydney

Oldest secondary school in Brisbane · Strong academic + Mercy social-justice tradition · Very competitive fee for top-tier ICSEA

Very high ICSEA of 1175 - more educationally advantaged than roughly 99% of Australian schools; co-ed, about 711 students Years 7-12 · Signature compulsory Outdoor Education Program embedded across every year level (camping, kayaking, rock-climbing, orienteering) focused on relationships and reflection - a defining part of the school culture · All-inclusive single flat fee covering a maintained Apple laptop, all textbooks/e-texts, standard camps and Outdoor Education days, and student accident insurance

Joint Jesuit + Loreto Sisters foundation · Strong music + drama programs · Mid-fee Catholic co-ed in Perth west

Presentation Sisters tradition · Bayside Melbourne Catholic girls · Mid-fee Catholic option

Two campuses (Valley Gungahlin and Forde) · Newest of ACT's leading Anglican schools · Strong NAPLAN performance for the region

The world's first Jesuit school to go fully co-educational (Reception to Year 12), making the change in 1996; founded by the Jesuits on their 1951 return to Adelaide · Very high socio-educational advantage: ICSEA 1156, among the highest of any school in this group, with roughly 68% of students in the top SEA quarter · 16-hectare (40-acre) Senior School campus at Athelstone; part of the global Jesuit schools network tracing to Messina, Sicily (1548)

Independent Catholic boys' day school founded in 1937 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers, now in the Edmund Rice Education Australia tradition; around 1,130 students across Years 5-12 on Sydney's lower North Shore · ICSEA 1149 (the highest of this comparison set and well above the national median of 1000) · Strong rugby and broader sporting pedigree; alumni include Wallabies captain Michael Hooper, NRL coach Des Hasler, cricketer Jackson Bird, broadcaster Ben Fordham and former NSW Deputy Premier John Watkins

Presentation Sisters Nano Nagle tradition · Strong music + drama programs · Lower-fee Catholic girls option in Perth

Tiered fee structure replacing flat fees gradually through 2031 · Extensive VCE program with 38 level 3/4 subjects available · Strong co-curricular programs including 16 sport types and music ensembles

International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB) for Years 11-12, one of only 18 IB schools in Queensland · Co-educational boarding for Years 7-12 with 120 boarders (25 international students) · Three junior school campuses (Annandale, North Shore, North Ward) plus Year 7-12 campus adjacent to Townsville Sports Precinct (2022)

Edmund Rice tradition · Strong rowing + AFL programs · Toorak elite community at lower fee

Western Australia's first 'vertical' school — a high-rise CBD campus (50 William St plus an expanded Murray St campus) rather than a traditional grounds-based school, and the only co-ed school in the heart of Perth city · Opened January 2015 as the 14th school of the Anglican Schools Commission; small, selective secondary-only model (~289 students, Years 7-12) with a student-to-teacher ratio around 1:11 · Very high ICSEA of 1142 (more advantaged than ~93% of Australian schools), among the highest of the WA schools in this set

Non-denominational Christian K-12 college with the highest ICSEA of this Canberra group (1140), running a Biblically-integrated curriculum across two campuses (Central, Lyneham; Norwest, Charnwood) plus an early learning centre · Began in 1980 as O'Connor Christian School (an outreach of the O'Connor Uniting Church) with 29 students; split from the church and became Brindabella Christian College in 1998 · Outdoor Education elective program (Years 9-12) and a 1:1 device program; now operated under Christian Community Ministries (CCM) following a 2025 change of administration

ICSEA 1139 (93rd percentile nationally); ~1,800 students, one of Brisbane's largest Catholic boys' schools · Boarding for up to ~220 boys (Years 6-12), currently ~170 boarders - a major regional/rural Queensland feeder · Powerhouse sporting alumni: Wallabies captain John Eales, Test cricketer Matthew Hayden and Brisbane Lions forward Charlie Cameron; facilities include the Matthew Hayden cricket complex and an Olympic-size heated pool

Mary Ward Loreto Sisters tradition · Lower-fee Catholic girls option · Strong music + drama programs

IB Diploma alongside SACE · Mercy Sisters Catherine McAuley tradition · Lower-fee Catholic co-ed

Marist Brothers Champagnat tradition · Mid-fee Catholic boys option in Sydney North · Strong rugby tradition

Mercy Sisters Catherine McAuley tradition · WA's oldest girls' Catholic school · Perth CBD campus

Three sub-schools (Junior, Middle, Senior) on a 40-hectare campus · Strong academic results within Anglican Schools Commission · International House for full-fee international students

Originated as Darwin's first private primary school (Montessori, 1989) · Co-educational, non-denominational, parent-governed · Expanded to senior secondary (1997 onwards) on Rapid Creek site

Marist Brothers tradition of holistic education · Strong rugby and cricket programs · Member of Associated Southern Colleges

Lutheran tradition + values · Strong rowing + sport programs · Boarding for regional SA + Pacific

ICSEA 1132 (well above the national average of 1000); large Prep-Year 12 co-ed college of around 994 students on a single Rochedale campus · CRICOS registered (Provider Code 03716F) - accepts international students within the Lutheran Church of Australia Queensland District network · Compulsory experiential programs including a Year 6 Canberra trip and a Year 9 Outdoor Education program, with a VET-rich senior offering (Construction, Hospitality, Fitness)

ICSEA ~1132 (more educationally advantaged than ~92% of Australian schools); ranked 14th among QLD secondary schools and 2nd among QLD primary schools in 2022 NAPLAN · Notable alumni include Adrian Schrinner (Lord Mayor of Brisbane) and bands Violent Soho and Vancouver Sleep Clinic · All-inclusive tuition (camps, government exam fees, laptop program included); academic scholarships up to 50% off tuition via Edutest, plus equity and hardship bursaries

100-acre forest campus with co-educational excellence · Strong academic results with top-10 Queensland standing · Extensive co-curricular music, drama and sport programs

ICSEA 1131 (well above the national average of 1000); ~1,513 students Prep-12 on a single Redlands bayside campus · Notable alumni include Olympic swimmer Shayna Jack, ARIA-charting soprano Mirusia Louwerse and Paralympic wheelchair-basketball medallist Clare Nott · Flat secondary tuition (Year 7-12 all $18,212) with an all-inclusive fee covering the laptop program and curricular/co-curricular activities; won the 2021 ALIA Library Design Award

North Brisbane Anglican co-ed school · Strong music + drama programs · Mid-fee Anglican option

Boarding option for Years 7-12 ($34,400/year for full boarding) · Award-winning independent Prep-Year 12 college with 1,400+ students · Personalised learning experiences across academics, arts and sport