Choosing a private school in Melbourne is rarely about a single league table. Fees, ICSEA, sector, gender model, boarding and program strengths all matter, and the right answer depends on your child and your budget. Below are the Melbourne schools in our register, with their published 2026 fees and ICSEA scores, so you can compare like with like. Every school links to its full profile, and the complete city ranking lives at best private schools in Melbourne on our site.
Melbourne private schools at a glance (2026 fees and ICSEA)
Fees shown are indicative Year 12 day tuition for 2026. Boarding, where offered, is charged separately. ICSEA has a national average of 1,000.
| School | Suburb | Sector / gender | Year 12 fee 2026 | ICSEA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Presbyterian Ladies' College | Burwood | Presbyterian, girls | $40,000 | 1,210 |
| Lauriston Girls' School | Armadale | Independent, girls | $46,800 | 1,197 |
| Scotch College | Hawthorn | Presbyterian, boys | $47,877 | 1,193 |
| Camberwell Grammar School | Canterbury | Anglican, boys | $44,366 | 1,185 |
| Trinity Grammar School | Kew | Anglican, boys | $44,984 | 1,184 |
| Methodist Ladies' College | Kew | Uniting, girls | $43,785 | 1,183 |
| Carey Baptist Grammar School | Kew | Baptist, co-ed | $42,660 | 1,182 |
| Melbourne Grammar School | South Yarra | Anglican, boys (co-ed Prep-6) | $46,230 | 1,180 |
| Haileybury | Keysborough | Independent, co-ed (parallel-gender) | $41,685 | 1,177 |
| Wesley College | St Kilda Road | Uniting, co-ed | $45,206 | 1,169 |
| Loreto Mandeville Hall | Toorak | Catholic (Loreto), girls | $39,810 | 1,168 |
| Caulfield Grammar School | St Kilda East | Anglican, co-ed | $40,770 | 1,157 |
| Xavier College | Kew | Catholic (Jesuit), boys | $40,880 | 1,153 |
| Brighton Grammar School | Brighton | Anglican, boys | $41,068 | 1,147 |
| Genazzano FCJ College | Kew | Catholic (FCJ), girls | on request | 1,131 |
Fees are sourced from each school's published 2026 schedule or the Good Schools Guide listing; ICSEA values are from the ACARA MySchool register. Genazzano gates its 2026 tuition behind a request form. Always confirm current figures with the school before deciding.
How to choose a private school in Melbourne
Start with the practical filters, then judge fit. Set a realistic annual budget that includes the extras, decide whether single-sex or co-ed suits your child, and shortlist by location and sector before you ever look at a ranking. ICSEA and fees tell you about the community and the cost, not the day-to-day experience, so the open day and a chat with current parents matter more than any league table. Our full list of the best private schools in Melbourne lets you filter by sector, gender and suburb.
The elite eastern-suburbs independents
Scotch College in Hawthorn (ICSEA 1,193) is Australia's oldest secondary school, founded in 1851, with elite APS sport across cricket, football and rowing and a national boarding house of around 160 students. Year 12 day tuition for 2026 is around $47,877, the highest in our Melbourne set.
Melbourne Grammar School in South Yarra (ICSEA 1,180) is one of Victoria's oldest and most academically prestigious schools, with 28 Head of the River rowing titles, an internationally touring symphony orchestra and a median ATAR consistently above 90. Camberwell Grammar School in Canterbury (ICSEA 1,185) and Trinity Grammar School in Kew (ICSEA 1,184) are strong AGSV boys' schools, with Trinity running a coordinate VCE program with neighbouring Ruyton Girls' School. Haileybury in Keysborough is the largest independent school in Australia, with 4,600-plus students and a parallel-gender model that runs separate boys' and girls' classes on shared campuses.
Leading girls' schools
Presbyterian Ladies' College in Burwood has the highest ICSEA in Victoria (1,210), has offered the IB Diploma since 1990 and has been a six-time consecutive Australian Schools' Chess Champion. Lauriston Girls' School in Armadale (ICSEA 1,197) runs a compulsory Year 9 residential at its Howqua rural campus and a national-medal rowing program.
Methodist Ladies' College in Kew (ICSEA 1,183) was the first school in the world to introduce 1:1 laptops, back in 1990, and offers both VCE and IB pathways with Marshmead and Banksia outdoor campuses. Loreto Mandeville Hall in Toorak is the top-ranked Catholic girls' school by VCE results, with one of the strongest school rowing programs nationally.
Strong Catholic and co-ed options
Melbourne's congregational Catholic schools sit just below the elite independents on fees. Xavier College in Kew (Jesuit, ICSEA 1,153) carries 30 APS football premierships and an elite rowing tradition, while Genazzano FCJ College in Kew is Victoria's only Catholic all-girls boarding school. On the co-ed side, Carey Baptist Grammar School in Kew (ICSEA 1,182) has offered the IB Diploma alongside VCE since 1997, Caulfield Grammar School in St Kilda East pioneered the overseas-campus model with its Nanjing site for Mandarin immersion, and Wesley College is the only Victorian school offering the IB from early childhood to Year 12. Brighton Grammar School rounds out the bayside boys' options, with 2025 STEM Racing world champions and the Crowther Centre for boys' education research.
How to use ICSEA and fees together
- ICSEA is a community measure, not a quality score. A score above 1,000 means the student community is, on average, more socio-educationally advantaged. It does not directly measure teaching or results.
- Fees buy facilities and co-curricular breadth, not guaranteed outcomes. Several Melbourne schools post similar ICSEA scores across a $5,000-$8,000 fee spread, so price is not a reliable proxy for the community.
- Match the gender model and sector to your child. Melbourne's leading schools split fairly evenly between single-sex and co-ed; the right fit matters more than the brochure.
- Factor in the extras. Uniforms, IT, camps, music tuition and boarding can add $5,000-$45,000 a year on top of headline tuition.
Boarding in Melbourne
Melbourne's leading schools draw boarders from regional Victoria, interstate and overseas. Melbourne Grammar, Scotch College, Wesley College (at its Glen Waverley campus), Methodist Ladies' College, Presbyterian Ladies' College, Caulfield Grammar, Xavier College and Genazzano FCJ College all run boarding houses, with Genazzano the only Catholic all-girls boarding school in Victoria. Boarding fees are charged on top of tuition, so budget for the combined figure. For the wider picture, read our guide to boarding school costs and what is included in the fees.
Application timing
For the most in-demand Melbourne schools, register your interest 2 to 4 years before your intended entry year, and earlier still for the elite independents and boarding places. Year 7 is the most competitive entry point, and many families apply to five to eight schools at once. Scholarship exams typically run 12 to 18 months ahead of the entry year, so map deadlines early and confirm each school's waiting-list policy directly. When you are ready to shortlist, our ranking of the best private schools in Melbourne is the fastest way to compare options side by side.