Moving your family to Melbourne but not sure which school to send your children to? We’ll give you a rundown of the best schools in Victoria’s capital to help you make that choice.
Moving to Melbourne with your children to a new life in a new land is incredibly exciting, but can also be a little scary.
How can you safeguard your children’s education in an unfamiliar country, and how do you know that your children will be able to settle into a new school?
Luckily Melbourne has plenty of high quality schools, and Australia ranks among the highest in the world for education standards.
We’ve put together a list of the top-rated private schools in Melbourne based on the all-important factor of academic performance, price of tuition, teaching standards, as well as things such as the range of co-curricular activities on offer.
Let’s be clear on one thing: this is not a ranking of Australia’s best private schools based on pure academic metrics. We think that is ridiculous, as this doesn’t consider co-curricular activities, location, or very importantly – the price of the school!
Going to a good school does not have to send you broke. Here’s a list of the best private schools in Melbourne, as well as links to detailed information about how much they cost (after all, "Best" needs to consider price!).
The ranking of schools expressed in this article are author’s research-based information and is not an objective ranking.
Best Private Schools in Melbourne, Victoria
Mentone Grammar Private School Melbourne
01395844211
| Early Learning Centre | Yes |
| Primary School | Yes |
| High School | Yes |
| Course Range | K-12 |
| Main Gender | Co-Education |
| Boarding School | Yes |
| Estimated No. of Students | 1548 |
| School Fees | Fair
Link To School Fee Page: |
With its well-known Together-Apart-Together learning model, Mentone Grammar teaches boys and girls in coeducational Middle Years (5–9) classes that are divided by gender. From Early Learning through Year 4, as well as from Years 10 through 12, students are educated in a fully co-educational setting.
We are conveniently located near the beach and public transportation. In addition to our Mentone Campus, our School has 17 hectares of lush playing fields in Keysborough and a beachside camp on the Peninsula in Shoreham.
Mentone Grammar welcomes you. I hope you enjoy learning about our school and viewing the images that depict the happy, healthy, and high-achieving environment that we strive to provide for our community.
All members of our School Community are encouraged to develop holistically. We accomplish this through our well-known Together-Apart-Together coeducational model. From the Early Learning Centre to Year 12, we provide age and stage appropriate programmes designed to engage the modern learner in a dynamic environment. We do so by utilising some of the best Teaching and Learning resources available in the country. All of these resources recognise the importance of everyone's well-being while also providing them with the opportunity to learn to the highest level possible.
Caulfield Grammar Private School Melbourne
0395246300
| Early Learning Centre | Yes |
| Primary School | Yes |
| High School | Yes |
| Course Range | K-12 |
| Main Gender | Co-Education |
| Boarding School | Yes |
| Estimated No. of Students | 3,170 |
| School Fees | Fair
Link to the school fee page: |
Because of our size and scale, we are able to offer a diverse range of broad and balanced programmes to our students. Despite this, we don't feel 'too big' because students are spread across multiple campuses. We have all of the benefits of scale without ever making students feel like small fish in a big pond.
One of Melbourne's three campuses—Caulfield, Wheelers Hill, or Malvern—is where students go to school every day. Our campuses in Yarra Junction and Nanjing offer our students specialised education programmes. One school on five campuses.
We believe in developing a mind for life, so that students have the mental, emotional, and academic skills they need to pursue whatever path they choose.
We live in a rapidly changing world, and we have no idea what the future holds for our students. We help students develop the competencies, self-confidence, and resilience skills needed to cope with and overcome life's changes and obstacles in order to prepare them for unwritten futures. It's what we like to call 'a mind for life'.
We are committed to assisting our students in observing their individual minds and abilities beyond their mental state, while also reflecting on social, physical, and humanitarian qualities.
Shelford Girls’ Grammar Private School Melbourne
01395247413
| Early Learning Centre | Yes |
| Primary School | Yes |
| High School | Yes |
| Course Range | K-12 |
| Main Gender | ELC - Co-Education
Primary to High School - Girls |
| Boarding School | Yes |
| Estimated No. of Students | 515 |
| School Fees | High
Link to the school fee page: |
Our School has a strong academic tradition and provides a diverse range of subjects for our Junior School students up to VCE level. Shelford has outstanding Visual and Performing Arts programmes, extensive sporting opportunities, and a strong co-curricular programme that includes study tours and camps, debating, and a one-of-a-kind Year 9 Challenge programme.
Our students thrive because they learn in a community that nurtures, stimulates, and challenges them while also encouraging them to be courageous. Our girls can explore, be curious, and try new things in a supportive, positive environment where high standards and the pursuit of excellence are part of the School's historical fabric.
Students are encouraged to pursue their passions and develop lifelong interests beginning with Foundation. Small class sizes allow our teachers to get to know each student and individually nurture them so that they can reach their full potential.
Academic ability is important for future success, but the challenges of the twenty-first century require students to develop a wide range of skills and abilities. Innovation, creativity, communication, empathy, adaptability, and social skills are in high demand. In an ever-changing and unpredictable world, education plays a critical role in assisting young people in developing lives with meaning and purpose.
Firbank Grammar Private School Melbourne
0395915188
| Early Learning Centre | Yes |
| Primary School | Yes |
| High School | Yes |
| Course Range | K-12 |
| Main Gender | ELC to Year 6 - Co Education
Year 7 to Year 12 - Girls Only |
| Boarding School | Yes |
| Estimated No. of Students | 1,100 |
| School Fees | Low
Link to the school fee page: https://www.firbank.vic.edu.au/current-students-parents/payments-fees-donations/ |
Firbank Grammar School is a day and boarding Anglican school for students in ELC to Year 12. We have three campuses in Melbourne's bayside suburbs.
In Brighton, we have two campuses. Our girls Junior School, which serves students from ELC to Year 6, is located in Middle Crescent, and our girls only Senior School, which serves students from Year 7 to Year 12, is located in Outer Crescent.
We value student input and opinions. Every day, our students have a voice and actively contribute to the School through their work in the classroom or in the community. We give them the right mix of education and real-world experience so they can forge their own path. That's how Firbank operates.
Presbyterian Ladies' College Private School Melbourne
0894246555
| Early Learning Centre | Yes |
| Primary School | Yes |
| High School | Yes |
| Course Range | Prep to Year 12 |
| Main Gender | Girls Only |
| Boarding School | Yes |
| Estimated No. of Students | 1450 |
| School Fees | Low
Link to the school fee page: https://www.plc.wa.edu.au/enrolments/enrolling-at-plc/schedule-of-fees/ |
The beautiful Peppermint Grove campus, as well as the distinctive Blackwatch tartan uniform and PLC Pipe Band, bear witness to our Scottish heritage. The belief in educational excellence, combined with a whole-person approach to intellectual, social, emotional, and spiritual development, is perhaps the most significant legacy of our Scottish tradition.
PLC students are encouraged to think critically and compassionately, to take responsibility for their own learning, and to participate in local and global issues in an informed and engaged manner.
A PLC education is limitless; it is a mindset and approach that your daughter will carry with her for the rest of her life. Our goal is to pique her interest so that she can discover her unique passions and strengths across a broad curriculum. At PLC, we care about each girl and help her develop the abilities, skills, and confidence she needs to become an inspiring young woman.
Ruyton Girls’ Private School Melbourne
1398192422
| Early Learning Centre | Yes |
| Primary School | Yes |
| High School | Yes |
| Course Range | Prep to Year 12 |
| Main Gender | Girls Only |
| Boarding School | Yes |
| Estimated No. of Students | 1450 |
| School Fees | Low
Link to the school fee page: |
As an independent, forward-thinking girls' school, we are dedicated to preparing girls for a lifetime of learning, leadership, and global community engagement. We have faith in girls.
At Ruyton, we nurture each girl's intellectual, physical, social, and emotional qualities in a nurturing and safe environment, allowing her to thrive.
Ruyton's culture places a high value on effective learning, which builds on our solid academic reputation. We are dedicated to advancing the education of every girl by fostering their intellectual curiosity, imparting the skills necessary for learning, and motivating them to reach their full potential as learners and members of society. We support outside-the-classroom learning because we think it can be beneficial, and we collaborate with the neighbourhood to foster development, exploration, and sustainability.
Camberwell Grammar Private School Melbourne
0139835177
| Early Learning Centre | Yes |
| Primary School | Yes |
| High School | Yes |
| Course Range | Prep to Year 12 |
| Main Gender | Girls Only |
| Boarding School | Yes |
| Estimated No. of Students | 1450 |
| School Fees | Low
Link to the school fee page: |
Our Admissions Office handles student admissions and holds regular tours and information sessions throughout the school year. It also manages the school's scholarships and international student enrolment. The School Prospectus describes the opportunities available to new students, while the Enrolment Booklet contains detailed information on the curriculum, VCE results, the Pre-Preparatory Centre, and transportation to and from the School.
The key intake years are those in which additional classes are added. Our primary student intake years are Pre-Preparatory*, Year 4 and Year 7. Some places are also available at other year levels, such as Year 9, but these are dependent on individual vacancies as they arise. We usually know about vacancies in non-intake years by October of the year before the year of entry. For more information, please contact the Admissions Office.
Haileybury Private School Melbourne
haileybury.com.au
01399046000
| Early Learning Centre | Yes |
| Primary School | Yes |
| High School | Yes |
| Course Range | K-12 |
| Main Gender | Co-Education |
| Boarding School | No |
| Estimated No. of Students | 3,927 |
| School Fees | Medium
Link to the school fee page: |
Haileybury was named Australian School of the Year at the 2018 Australian Education Awards and was ranked as the number one primary school for boys and girls in Victoria and the number two secondary school in Victoria based on national academic testing results by the Australian.
Haileybury has high standards for both its students and teachers. In the Senior School, we anticipate that 45% of boys and girls will be placed in the top 10% in Australia, 75% in the top 20%, and 90% in the top 30%.
We believe that graduates should have strong core academic skills, broad analytical thinking abilities, and the ability to operate in a rapidly changing world. For students from Melbourne, Haileybury offers a variety of international engagement opportunities, such as spending time at the Haileybury International School in Tianjin (China) or visiting partner schools in Timor-Leste, the Philippines, Japan, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Learning begins at an early age at Haileybury through flexible and creative programmes in our Early Learning Centres. The core literacy and numeracy skills are developed in the Junior Years through explicit, direct instructional learning. To broaden analytical thinking and problem solving in the Middle Years, a combination of explicit instruction and student-centered learning is used. An enthralling Year 9 development programme fosters independence and resilience. The three-year VCE Program in the Senior Years, combined with a diverse range of subject options, ensures that programmes are available to suit all students' interests and abilities.
Haileybury's commitment to a strong social education programme that includes fulfilling potential, supporting individual resilience, and developing personal character values enhances our academic programmes. I believe in social justice principles and am committed to the School developing our students accordingly.
Melbourne Grammar Private School
01398657555
| Early Learning Centre | No |
| Primary School | Yes |
| High School | Yes |
| Course Range | K-12 |
| Main Gender | Prep to Year 3 - Co- Education
Year 7 and Year 9 - Boys |
| Boarding School | Yes |
| Estimated No. of Students | 1,800 |
| School Fees | Medium
Link to the school fee page: https://www.mgs.vic.edu.au/admissions/applying-and-find-out-more/tuition-and-boarding-fees |
The learning environment at Melbourne Grammar School is distinct. We are dedicated to instilling in each student a fundamental love of learning.
We believe that learning should be motivated by curiosity rather than a desire for external reward. We want our students to wonder at the world, to question current paradigms, and to push themselves to go beyond their current understanding.
Our ability to question received knowledge is one of the characteristics that distinguishes us as humans. Our goal is to instill this quality in those who are a part of Melbourne Grammar School - our students and teachers - and doing so requires us to think outside the box.
This method takes us much further than simply learning to complete tasks and recite facts. That is, with each new learning task, we must ask ourselves: what can this student truly achieve? How far can we progress towards new knowledge and ideas?
LOCAL STUDENT TUITION & BOARDING FEE SCHEDULE
| Tuition | Fees per term | Fees per annum |
| Year 12 | $11,880* | $35,640 |
| Year 11 | $8,910 | $35,640 |
| Year 10 | $9,550 | $38,200 |
| Year 9 | $8,910 | $35,640 |
| Years 7 - 8 | $8,360 | $33,440 |
| Prep - Year 6 | $7,145 | $28,580 |
| Boarding | ||
| Year 12 | $9,300* | $27,900 |
| Years 7 - 11 | $6,975 | $27,900 |
*Levied Terms I, II and III
OVERSEAS STUDENT TUITION & BOARDING FEE SCHEDULE
| Tuition | Fees per term | Fees per annum |
| Year 12 | $17,540* | $52,620 |
| Year 11 | $13,155 | $52,620 |
| Year 10 | $13,795 | $55,180 |
| Year 9 | $13,155 | $52,620 |
| Years 7 - 8 | $12,610 | $50,440 |
| Boarding | ||
| Year 12 | $13,260* | $39,780 |
| Years 7 - 11 | $9,945 | $39,780 |
*Levied Terms I, II, III