Most affordable private schools in Australia

Newest Catholic school on Sunshine Coast (opened 2019) · Growing towards 1,500-student enrolment across Prep-Year 12 · Motto 'Journey with Compassion' reflects Brisbane Catholic Education values

Low-cost Catholic P-12 schooling: Senior (Years 10-12) tuition just $2,680/yr, among the most affordable in this group · Large Prep-to-Year 12 college (~1,491 students) named for Assisi, the Umbrian home of St Francis and St Clare · Roman Catholic college within the Brisbane Catholic Education network on the northern Gold Coast

Marist heritage (founding principal Br Mat Murphy, 1982) · Diocese of Wollongong systemic secondary school · Tiered fee structure: tuition, family/P&F levy, building levy

International Baccalaureate (IB) · CareerTools careers program · Formed from the 1983 amalgamation of St Paul's College and Holy Cross College

Townsville's largest secondary school for girls (opened 1963 with 50 students, now 688 students) · Sisters of the Good Samaritan tradition; 14% Indigenous enrolment, 10% language background other than English · Wide variety of subjects and vocational programs; combined school musical with Ignatius Park College and St Patrick's College

Atherton Tablelands Christian school · Founded 1984; day school · Australian Curriculum provider

Catholic boarding secondary (Y7-12) · Atherton Tablelands location (west of Cairns) · Founded 1921; 170-180 boarders capacity

Formerly St Pius X High School; rebranded 2025 as Year 7-12 co-ed · Part of Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle systemic schools · Means-tested 50% tuition reduction for low-income families

Becomes a full Year 7-12 college in 2027 (first Year 11 cohort 2026) · Part of Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle systemic schools · Inner-Newcastle Catholic option in the rapidly growing Mayfield catchment

Among the most affordable private schools in Greater Geelong, with an all-inclusive flat fee of $3,500/year for Years 7-12 and $1,800/year for Foundation-Year 6 under the new 2026 structure · Generous sibling discounts of 20% (second child) and 40% (third+), making it accessible for larger families · Small, close-knit semi-rural campus (~310-370 students) on the former Chanel College site at Lovely Banks, ~10km from central Geelong, with a chaplaincy and house pastoral structure

Co-educational Prep-12 community focused · Affordable Catholic systemic fees · Redlynch Valley location, 10 min from Cairns CBD

Single-sex boys (with girls boarding available) · Boarding available for boys and girls · Affordable Catholic secondary education

Single-sex girls Catholic school · Affordable Catholic secondary education · Community-focused values

The most affordable of these four by a wide margin — Senior School (Years 10-12) tuition is just AUD 4,100/year, reflecting its mission to keep Catholic education accessible in Adelaide's northern suburbs · ICSEA 988 — serving a working-class catchment across Salisbury, Elizabeth, Gawler, Virginia and Para Hills parishes; School Card families (income up to $74,189) get a further 50% tuition discount · Founded 1979, named after Saint Thomas More with the motto 'God's Servant First' (his final words before execution); ~747 students Year 7-12

Brigidine Sisters / Kildare Ministries heritage · Single flat annual tuition rate covering curriculum + IT + camps + excursions · Geelong's primary Catholic systemic girls' school option

First co-educational non-state school in Queensland (opened 1968 as a girls' school, soon went co-ed) · Established by the Missionary Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception; Catholic secondary college (Years 7-12) · Affordable Catholic senior tuition (~$4,908/yr) with a ~1,225-student community at Burleigh Waters

One of Victoria's largest Catholic secondary schools for girls (~1,420 students) · Sisters of Mercy heritage (founded 1860) · Edstart payment-plan partnership

Small K-6 Christian primary (around 137 students) in Margate, south of Hobart in the D'Entrecasteaux Channel region, with a low 1:9 student-teacher ratio · Highest ICSEA of this Hobart group at 1070 - more educationally advantaged than roughly 79% of Australian schools · Guaranteed placement progression to Calvin Christian School (Kingston) for Year 7; founded 1988 as an offshoot of Calvin within Christian Schools Tasmania

Affordable Catholic education with growing enrollment to 920 students · Part of educational precinct with USC, Chancellor State College and primary school · Flying Start program from Year 7 (added 2015)

Co-educational Years 7-12 Catholic secondary college on Hobart's Eastern Shore, opened in 1994 on the former Mornington Primary School site · Strong applied-technology and trades offering with specialist facilities for Food Technology, Building and Construction, Design and Technology, plus Drama, Music, Dance and Fine Arts · Junior Secondary (Years 7-9) and Senior Secondary (Years 10-12) structure with named patron St Mary MacKillop, Australia's first saint

One of Hobart's oldest Catholic schools, founded in 1888, with a long-standing tradition in the inner-north suburb of New Town · Co-educational Kinder-Year 10 model with a structured transition to Guilford Young College for Years 11-12 (senior classes moved there in the 1990s) · Established music, sport and faith-formation programs within a mid-sized community of around 940 students

Affordable day school option in Highfields · Ecumenical Christian ethos · Accessible to families seeking lower-cost private education

ICSEA 954 (ACARA) — a low-fee, accessible Catholic girls' college pitched well below the Adelaide independent average; 2026 fees held flat to 2025 for lower-income bands · Income-banded tuition (Band 1 full fee, Band 2 mid, Band 3 School Card) so families pay according to gross household income — the senior Year 12 full fee is only $5,600 plus a $200 ICT levy · Founded 1947 by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (Chevalier MSC tradition); 1:1 laptop programme with each student issued an OLSH College device, and an established VET pathway with subsidy scheme

Affordable, all-inclusive fee model on Hobart's Eastern Shore at Rokeby, where secondary tuition ($5,785, 2026) bundles stationery, excursions, camps, swimming and all subject levies · Part of Christian Schools Tasmania (CST), the network descended from Calvin Christian School, Australia's first Christian parent-controlled school (Kingston, 1962) · Parent-controlled, Bible-based Christian education with a Fee Assistance Program; opened 1979 and extended to secondary in 1988

The first co-educational Catholic college in Tasmania, formed in 1973 from the merger of the Salesian Savio College and the Dominican Holy Name School · Salesian heritage on the historic 'Boys Town' site at Glenorchy, run in the tradition of St John Bosco and named for the schoolboy saint Dominic Savio · Strong vocational and trades pathway plus established music and performing-arts programs, feeding senior students to Guilford Young College for Years 11-12

Tasmania's only K-12 co-educational Catholic college, having added Year 11 in 2023 and Year 12 in 2024 with a brand-new senior campus · New $multimillion Huntingfield Senior Campus (opened 2024) with purpose-built science and arts rooms, an exam hall, VET facilities, a gym, cafe and Year 11/12 common room · Three-campus structure (Kingston Beach K-4, Huntingfield Middle Years 5-8, Huntingfield Senior Years 9-12) serving the fast-growing Kingborough region

Cairns' leading academic school · 1,062 students (2023); established 1983 · STEM building (S-Block) opened 2015

Oldest co-educational Catholic college on the Gold Coast, set on 40 acres on the Southport/Ashmore border · Founded by the Christian Brothers in 1964; became co-educational following amalgamation with the Star of the Sea Mercy school around 1991 · Affordable Catholic secondary tuition (~$6,300/yr) with capital, IT and P&F levies on top

Oceanfront Strand campus with state-of-the-art facilities (East Precinct opened 2020 by award-winning M3 Architecture) · Catholic day and boarding school in Mercy tradition; boarding with air-conditioned single and multi-dorm facilities · Combined Schools' Musical harnesses talent across three Townsville Catholic colleges

Senior secondary Catholic college (Years 11-12 only) · Two campuses: Glenorchy and Hobart City · Established by Archdiocese of Hobart with five religious orders