The Melbourne public and private high schools most popular with parents
Fee increases worth thousands of dollars to Victoria’s private and Catholic schools have not deterred parents from enrolling their children as Year 7 students, as many campuses reach their highest ever enrollment.
Many high-fee private schools, such as Caulfield Grammar and Haileybury, where fees have risen by more than 4 per cent this year, have increased year 7 intakes in the last five years, but it is low- and medium-fee schools that have enjoyed the strongest enrollment growth.
Nearly two-thirds of Victoria’s 222 private and Catholic high schools have seen a boom in year 7 enrollment in the past five years. Age‘s analysis of Australian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (ACARA) data.
This is due to the fact that the proportion of students in non-state education has increased slightly across the country. The latest ACARA figures show Victorian secondary students at non-state secondary schools make up about 43 per cent of all enrollments; This is an increase of less than 1 percent since 2020.
The school with the biggest growth in Year 7s since 2020 is St Francis Catholic College in Melton. Here, principal Marlene Jorgensen said the school is responding to the influx of families coming to the area. Demand was so intense that it led the four-decade-old school to open a second campus in nearby Cobblebank in 2023.
“So it comes down to location and demographics, but we also have a great product,” Jorgensen said. “Families who come to our school align well with our values of equality, access and seeing everyone as individuals.”
St Francis is engaged in a balancing act as it strives to ensure students receive a quality education and sense of community, while capping fees (currently $5,269 for 7th graders) and constructing new buildings in preparation for enrolling 1,000 more students by the end of this decade.
“Our basic principle is that we want to offer quality education at affordable prices to guarantee equity and access. Yes, it is growing rapidly, but it is still an area with a low socio-economic level,” Jorgensen said.
The school is among a number of non-government campuses in the growing suburbs showing increases in enrollment, including Hume Anglican Grammar in Mickleham, Marymede Catholic College in South Morang and Iona College Geelong in Charlemont.
Outside of rapidly expanding growth corridors, Mentone Grammar is among the few independent schools to record a sustained increase in enrollment. In 2025, the number of students of the mixed school increased from 1375 ten years ago to 2008. It has recorded the ninth largest growth in the state in the past five years among 7th-year acquisitions.
“Over the last 10 years we’ve gone from what you would probably call a medium-sized school to a large school overall,” said Mentone Grammar principal Andy Müller.
He said the school does not aim to expand beyond the number of students and campus size. “That would be doing a disservice to the students who are here now by squeezing in more and more people. I think that would actually overshadow the education we offer,” Müller said.
Fees at the school are $36,433 for 7th graders and have increased 9.5 percent since 2024. “I think our fees are still affordable for most families in the area,” Müller said. “We’re 20 percent below some schools in the higher typical, greener eastern suburbs.”
Families are increasingly attracted to schools because education focuses on developing the whole person, he said.
“Yes, teaching, learning and academic education are our core business. But we’re about providing opportunities for students to find their niche, to experience a wide variety of different types of activities. It’s not a one-or-two situation,” he said.
ACARA data shows that 180 of 312 public schools recorded lower 7th grade enrollment in 2025 than in 2020. However, the total number of 7th graders enrolled in public schools in 2025 was higher than in 2020, due in part to increased enrollment in growth areas.
In the western metropolitan region, the number of Year 7 students at Western Heights Secondary School in Geelong increased by 135 during the period; Staughton College in Melton has an increase of 114 year 7 students and Alamanda K–9 College in Point Cook has an increase of 128 students.
A Victorian government spokesman said parents were choosing state schools in record numbers.
“Victorian state schools are the best in the country, with nation-leading academic results, student welfare support and extracurricular activities,” the spokesman said.
“The Labor Party opened 100 new schools and More than 2,300 school upgrades across Victoria – ensuring every child can count on a world-class public education, no matter their postcode.”
Search the interactive table above to compare your school’s year 7 enrollments in 2020 and 2025. (The table does not show schools not offering year 7 in 2020.)
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Jackson Graham is an education correspondent for The Age. He previously worked as an explanatory reporter.Connect via email.
