Choosing a school

Choosing a school is one of the biggest decisions families make, and one of the most emotional. It's easy to be swayed by impressive buildings, a confident principal or a friend's strong opinion. The guides in this section help you take a more grounded approach: start with your child, use the public data well, look past the showcase on tour days and ask questions that reveal how a school really works. None of our guides rank schools. The right school is the one that suits your child and your family.

The guides in this section

• Comparing schools with My School: how to read ACARA's My School, including ICSEA, similar-background comparisons, progress and finances, without being misled.
• School tours and open days: preparing for a visit, what to watch for, who to talk to and red flags.
• Questions to ask a school: the questions that matter on learning, wellbeing, support, fees and enrolment terms.
• Boarding schools: readiness, pastoral care, costs, contracts and the Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme.

Start with your child

Before you look at a single school, write down what your child needs. Think about:

• how they learn best: structure or flexibility, large or small groups, hands-on or academic;
• their interests and strengths: subjects, sport, music, arts, languages;
• any additional needs: learning support, disability, wellbeing, giftedness;
• their personality: confident or shy, social or reserved, adaptable or anxious about change;
• practicalities: travel time, before and after school care, siblings.

Then add your family's priorities: values, faith, community, single-sex or co-educational, budget. Rank them. This list becomes the yardstick for every school you consider.

Build a realistic long list

List every school your child could realistically attend each day, including the local government school, Catholic schools and independent schools. Including a government school matters. It gives you a baseline for comparison and helps you judge whether the extra cost of a non-government school buys something your child needs.

Use the data well

ACARA's My School holds profiles for every Australian school, with information on enrolments, staffing, attendance, NAPLAN results, comparisons with students from a similar background, student progress and finances. It's the best free starting point for comparing schools. But raw NAPLAN averages largely reflect student background, and ACARA is clear that its ICSEA measure, with an average of 1,000, is not a rating of the school. Similar-background comparisons and progress over time are more useful. Our guide to comparing schools explains how to read the data.

Visit and ask

Data narrows the field; visits decide. Tour three or four schools, ideally on an ordinary school day as well as at an open day. Watch how students and staff interact when they're not on show. Ask specific questions and ask for examples. Our guides to tours and open days and questions to ask give you a structure.

Check registration

Non-government schools must be registered with their state or territory authority. In New South Wales, NESA publishes a searchable list of registered non-government schools and explains that registration is the licence to operate, while accreditation allows a school to present students for the RoSA or HSC. Other states have their own registers. It's a quick check worth doing before you apply.

Count the full cost

The fee on the brochure is only part of the cost. Levies, uniforms, devices, camps, co-curricular activities and transport add up, and fees usually change each year. Before you fall in love with a school, use our cost planner with the school's published fees and your estimate of extras to see the multi-year total. Our costs section explains fees, budgeting, scholarships and enrolment contracts.

Think about boarding carefully

For families in rural and remote areas, boarding may be the only realistic option for secondary school. For others, it's a choice. Either way, pastoral care and supervision are the most important things to check, and eligible families may get help through the Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme administered by Services Australia. Our guide to boarding schools explains what to weigh up.

A simple process

1. Write down your child's needs and your family's priorities.
2. Make a long list of realistic schools, including a government option.
3. Use My School to shortlist three or four.
4. Visit, ask questions and talk to current families.
5. Check registration, fees, extras and enrolment terms.
6. Compare against your priorities and decide.

Common traps

• Choosing on reputation alone. Reputations lag reality, in both directions.
• Ranking by raw NAPLAN. It mostly reflects who enrols.
• Being dazzled by facilities. What matters is what your child will use.
• Ignoring the contract. Notice periods and fee terms bind you for years.
• Forgetting your child's view. Their sense of belonging matters.

Involving your child

Children's views matter, particularly as they get older. Bring them to visits on your shortlist, ask what they noticed and listen without leading.

Where to go next

Once you have a shortlist, our costs section helps you plan the full cost and understand fee schedules and contracts, and our enrolling section explains applications, waiting lists, school types and how funding works.

About these guides

Private School News is independent. We don't rank, review or accept payment from schools for editorial coverage, and we never invent statistics or fees. Every guide lists its sources.