More than $50,000: Australia's most expensive schools in 2025 revealed

Three Australian schools are charging more than $50k a year in school fees for Year 12 students in 2025.

Edstart's annual School Fees Report analysed the fees of 902 non-government schools across the country, reporting the most expensive institutions, median fees and fee increase percentages by state and territory.

The report found regional tuition fees rose by 5.6 per cent on average and fees nationally jumped by 6.03 per cent in 2025.

The most expensive NSW school Kambala charged $51,703 for annual tuition for Year 12. This was followed by The Scots College ($51,258) and SCEGGS Darlinghurst ($49,936).

In Victoria the most expensive private school continued to be Geelong Grammar ($52,612), followed by Wesley College ($47,574) and St Catherine's School ($47,120).

ACT private school students again experienced the largest increase in fees for any state or territory with average tuition fees rising by nine per cent.

The highest tuition in the capital was Canberra Girls' Grammar School ($32,790). This was followed by Canberra Grammar School ($32,630) and Radford College ($25,120).

Tasmania's most expensive schools were The Friends' School ($24,640) and The Hutchins School ($24,640) followed by Fahan School ($23,445).

While fees were more expensive in metropolitan areas, regional non-government schools continued to experience price rises, the report found.

In NSW, regional fees on average increased by 7.48 per cent with the median tuition fee of $8,973.

Sydney's east has a median fee of $38,190.

In Victoria regional fees increased on average by 4.66 per cent with a median tuition fee of $7,260.

Melbourne's inner south-east has a median fee of $40,879.

The report identified staff wages as one of the key drivers behind school fee increases in 2025.

"New enterprise agreements at both independent and Catholic schools in various states over the past 18 months have resulted in significant pay rises for teaching and operational staff, meaning schools have had to adjust their fees in order to fund the additional cost," the report found.

Edstart CEO Jack Stevens told ACM higher tuition fee increases in schools in regional areas compared to last year was most likely the result of more schools with a lower capacity to contribute (CTC) score outside of the capital cities.

CTC score is based on the median income of parents of students at a non-government school.

"There is a gap in government funding this year that is impacting lower CTC schools more, which means they're under pressure to increase their fees more to compensate for lower funding indexation, in order to cover higher wage costs," he said.