The Melbourne public and private high schools most popular with parents

Fee hikes of thousands of dollars at private and Catholic schools across Victoria have not deterred families enrolling their children as year 7 students, as many campuses soar to their highest intakes ever.

Many high-fee private schools such as Caulfield Grammar and Haileybury – where fees increased more than 4 per cent this year – have increased their year 7 intake over the past five years, but it is the low- and mid-fee schools which are enjoying the strongest enrolment growth.

About two-thirds of the 222 Victorian private and Catholic high schools have recorded booming year 7 intakes in the past five years, The Age’s analysis of Australian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (ACARA) data has found.

It comes as the portion of students in non-government education has slightly risen nationally. The latest ACARA figures show that Victorian secondary students in non-government high schools comprised about 43 per cent of all enrolments, an increase of less than 1 percentage point since 2020.

The school with the biggest growth in Year 7s since 2020 is St Francis Catholic College in Melton, where principal Marlene Jorgensen said the school had responded to the influx of families to the area. Demand was so acute it led the four-decade-old school to open a second campus in nearby Cobblebank in 2023.

“So it’s about the location and about the demographics, but we also have an excellent product,” Jorgensen said. “The families that come to our school align well with our values of equity and access and seeing everyone as individuals.”

St Francis is in a balancing act as it strives for students to receive a quality education and sense of community, while it keeps a lid on fees – they are currently $5269 for year 7 students – and it constructs new buildings in preparation for enrolling a further 1000 students by the end of this decade.

“An underlying principle is we want to provide quality education at affordable prices just so we ensure equity and access. Yes, it’s rapidly growing, but it’s still a low socio-economic area,” Jorgensen said.

The school is among several non-government campuses in the growth suburbs which have had enrolments surge, including Hume Anglican Grammar in Mickleham, Marymede Catholic College in South Morang, and Iona College Geelong in Charlemont.

Away from the booming growth corridors, Mentone Grammar is among several independent schools that have recorded a sustained enrolment rise. In 2025, the co-ed school had 2008 students, up from 1375 a decade earlier. It had the ninth-biggest growth in the state in the past five years among the year 7 intake.

“Over the last 10 years we’ve grown from what you would probably call a mid-sized school to a generally large school,” Mentone Grammar principal Andy Müller said.

He said the school was not aiming to expand beyond its student numbers and campus size. “It would be doing a disservice to those students who are currently here by squeezing more and more people in for the sake of it. I think it would actually detract from the education we offer,” Müller said.

Fees at the school are $36,433 for year 7s, and have risen 9.5 per cent since 2024. “I think our fees are still pitched at an affordable level for many of the families in the area,” Müller said. “We’re 20 per cent below some of the higher typical leafy eastern suburbs schools.”

Families had been increasingly drawn to the school because its education was focused on developing a person as a whole, he said.

“Yes, teaching and learning and academic education is our core business. But we are about providing opportunities to students so they can find their niche, experience a whole range of different types of activities. It’s not an either-or situation,” he said.

ACARA data shows that 180 of the 312 government schools recorded fewer year 7 enrolments in 2025 than 2020. However, the total number of year 7 students enrolled at government schools in 2025 was higher than in 2020, partly due to surging enrolments in growth areas.

In the western metropolitan area, Western Heights Secondary College in Geelong surged by 135 students year 7s in that period, Staughton College in Melton had an increase of 114 year 7 students, and at Alamanda K–9 College in Point Cook the intake grew by 128 students.

A Victorian government spokesperson said parents were choosing government schools in record numbers.

“Victorian public schools are the best in the country, with nation-leading academic results, wellbeing support for students and extracurricular activities,” the spokesperson said.

“Labor has delivered 100 new schools and more than 2300 school upgrades across Victoria – making sure every child, no matter their postcode, can rely on a world-class public education.”

Search the interactive table above to compare your school’s year 7 enrolments in 2020 and 2025. (The table does not display schools that did not offer year 7 in 2020.)

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