Queensland independent schools the fastest-growing in Australia

Queensland’s independent schools are the fastest-growing of any sector in the country, with a flux of new campuses across the state and surging enrolments leeching from state schools helping to boost numbers in the sector.

The number of independent school students in Queensland grew by 4.7 per cent from 2024 to 2025, Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Thursday revealed – eclipsing the national average of 3.4 per cent.

Christopher Mountford, chief executive at industry body Independent Schools Queensland, said the state’s independent schools had grown each year for seven years.

“Parents want access to high-quality, affordable schooling options that reflect their values and meet their children’s needs,” he said.

“Independent schools continue to deliver that choice for communities across Queensland.”

Mountford claimed more than half of Queensland’s 240 independent schools had fees lower than $6000 a year – although some of the state’s most expensive institutions also recorded healthy increases.

Brisbane’s three largest independent schools – St Peter’s Lutheran College, Brisbane Grammar School and Anglican Church Grammar School, or Churchie – all increased student numbers by up to 2.2 per cent between 2024 and 2025.

In actual students, this was an increase of between 17 and 50 students, or about one to two classrooms.

The three independent boys’ schools averaged a cost of $31,737 for a year 12 student in 2025, with Brisbane Grammar claiming the title as the most expensive school in the state and Churchie taking third place.

Three-quarters of new students in Queensland’s private schools were still enrolled at independent schools – equating to just over 7100 people.

Nationally, this difference was the largest increase any state recorded in a single sector, and was followed by Victorian independent schools, which grew by just more than 6100 students.

By comparison, state school enrolments shrunk by 0.6 per cent, or about 3200 students.

The Education Department said demand for state schools “remains strong”, with the sector’s almost 1300 schools still making up two-thirds of all enrolments.

“The Queensland government is delivering 15 new schools in a record $1.09 billion investment, including new primary schools in Caloundra South and Ripley Valley, and six special schools to provide choice to parents and help all students reach their potential,” a department spokesperson said.

In the past 10 years the state has constructed 17 new schools, 11 of which are less than five years old.

The Queensland independent sector has built 42 new schools since 2016, while 14 new Catholic schools were opened across the same period.