What is an Australian boarding school?

An Australian boarding school is a school that houses students on or beside campus during term, usually from the middle or senior years, while they attend the same classes as day students. Full board covers seven nights; weekday board usually sends students home on weekends. Confirm the model with the school.

How much does boarding school cost in Australia?

This directory does not publish a live national price. Costs combine tuition, boarding, levies and extras, and they differ by city, year level and domestic versus overseas enrolment. Request the current fee schedule from each school on your shortlist.

What is the difference between tuition and boarding fees?

Tuition is the academic fee day students also pay. Boarding is the residential fee on top — meals, supervision and a bed. They are almost always separate lines. Overseas packages sometimes quote a combined figure; still ask for the split.

Are there girls’ and boys’ boarding schools as well as co-ed?

Yes. Australia still has single-sex boarding houses in every large capital, plus co-educational campuses that usually keep separate houses. Use the girls’, boys’ and co-ed hubs, then read the current gender line on the profile.

Which states have boarding schools?

This directory covers New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT. The largest clusters are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, with important regional towns in each mainland state.

Do boarding schools offer scholarships?

Many do — academic, music, sport, means-tested, and some rural or Indigenous awards. A scholarship may cover tuition only. Confirm this year’s instrument, closing date and whether boarding is included.

Can international students board in Australia?

Yes, at CRICOS-registered schools that accept overseas boarders. Under-18 students need an approved welfare arrangement. Start with the international guide and the official CRICOS register; do not rely on a directory for visa advice.

Is weekday boarding the same as full boarding?

No. Weekday (or weekly) board usually covers Monday to Friday. Full board includes weekends. The pastoral culture and the price are different. Ask which nights are included before you compare two quotes.

Does this site endorse the schools it lists?

No. Boarding Schools Australia is an independent directory. School names are listed as public facts, not recommendations. Always confirm details with the school.

Collegiate sandstone quadrangle — atmospheric photograph for the boarding-schools guide

Australia · Independent directory

Boarding schools, written for parents

Climbing a fee PDF is not a plan. This is a working directory of Australian boarding — state by state, girls’, boys’ and co-ed — with public facts you can cite and a hard rule: we do not invent live prices.

Browse the list How fees work

At a glance

State hubs: 7
Profiled schools: 100+
Pathways: Girls · boys · co-ed
Fee tables here: None invented
Boarding modes: Full & weekly
Overseas study: CRICOS first

How do I choose?

Type, location, then the fee PDF

How do I choose a boarding school in Australia? Filter by girls’, boys’ or co-ed, then by the city you can actually travel to, then request this year’s tuition and boarding schedule. Do not start with a ranking or an archived dollar figure.

1 · Type

2 · Location

3 · Fees

What is boarding in Australia?

Australian boarding is a residential place inside a day school. Students sleep in a house, usually on the same campus as the classrooms, and go home on designated weekends or at the end of term. It is used by pastoral and remote families, by interstate parents who want a particular campus, and by some overseas students on CRICOS enrolments.

The country has a long grammar-and-college tradition — Anglican, Presbyterian, Uniting, Catholic and independent — clustered in the capital cities and in regional towns that already knew how to board: Armidale, Orange, Ballarat, Toowoomba, Charters Towers, Guildford. A Sydney North Shore house is not a Charters Towers house. Travel time and Saturday night in residence are the first filters, not the crest on the blazer.

This site rebuilds the historical boardingschools.com.au directory for parents and for answer engines. Profiles use public facts: suburb, affiliation, founded year, gender, official website. Fee dollar figures are omitted on purpose. Scholarships exist; terms vary; closing dates move. Confirm the current handbook with the school, and use the Australian Boarding Schools Association and Study Australia when you need an official list.

Start with a state hub or a gender pathway. Open three profiles. Then write to admissions. We do not enrol students and we do not speak for any campus.

Treat every operational fact as something to verify. Boarding year levels change. Houses pause. Scholarships close earlier than a parent calendar expects. A directory card is orientation — suburb, affiliation, gender, a public website — not a contract. If this page and the school disagree, the school wins.

International families should open the CRICOS register and Study Australia before they treat a profile as an enrolment pathway. Under-18 welfare is a legal arrangement, not a weekend host. Homestay is not automatically a boarding house. We will not invent an overseas package to make a comparison table look complete.

Highlights

Six reasons parents start here

Most families come for a particular campus. They stay in the research because boarding is a household decision — distance, gender, pastoral care, and a fee schedule that only the school can certify.

Distance is the first filter
Remote, rural and FIFO families use boarding so a child can stay in one school through the senior years. Interstate families use it for a specific campus. If the airport run only works twice a term, that is a fact, not a footnote. Start with the state hub that matches the travel you will actually do.
Houses have genders
Girls’, boys’ and co-ed boarding are different products. Co-ed usually means shared classes and separate houses. Some historic boys’ schools now teach co-educational juniors. Read the gender line on the profile, then ask the school — third-party lists lag.
The house is the school after 4pm
Prospectuses sell ovals and chapels. Boarding is who is on duty at 9pm, how leave weekends work, and whether Saturday night is full. Ask for the boarding handbook, not just the academic one. Visit on a weekend if you can.
Scholarships are real — and conditional
Academic, music, sport and means-tested awards exist. Some reduce tuition only; boarding may still be charged in full. Indigenous and rural schemes sit beside school awards. Closing dates move. Read the scholarships guide, then confirm this year’s instrument with the school.
Fees live on the school’s PDF
Boarding is usually billed separately from tuition. Weekday board is not full board. Overseas packages add CRICOS, health cover and guardianship. This directory will not reprint a guessed dollar figure. We explain the structure; the school certifies the number.
International is a different enrolment
Overseas students need a CRICOS-registered provider, a student visa pathway and a welfare arrangement if they are under 18. Homestay is not always boarding. Start with the international guide and the official CRICOS register — not a screenshot from a forum.

Sandstone collegiate cloister — atmospheric image for city boarding campuses

City houses

A bed inside a day school

Most Australian boarders do not attend a separate “boarding academy”. They live in a house on the same campus as hundreds of day students. That is why Saturday night matters: if the day cohort leaves, the house is the school.

Capital-city houses — Wahroonga, North Sydney, Toorak, Hawthorn, Toowong, Claremont — sell access. Regional houses sell distance. Neither is automatically kinder. Ask who is on duty after lights-out.

Open the list

Reading room with long tables — study culture in independent schools

Money

Fees without fiction

Tuition is what day students pay. Boarding is the residential line on top. Overseas packages add another layer. Archived websites loved publishing a number from 2018. We will not.

Use the fees guide to learn the structure — weekday versus full board, levies, uniforms, CRICOS loadings — then request this year’s PDF. If a scholarship is in play, ask whether it touches boarding or only tuition.

How fees work

Tree-lined school avenue — regional and city campuses

Pathways

Girls’, boys’ and co-ed houses

Single-sex boarding is still a mainstream Australian choice, especially in the capitals. Co-ed boarding is the regional default and a growing city option. Shared classrooms do not mean shared dormitories.

Names repeat across states — PLC, St Catherine’s, St Hilda’s, Scotch. They are different schools. Open the suburb, not just the crest.

Gender pathways

How to start

Make the most of the shortlist

Three ways into the research — whether you have a term to decide or a week before applications close.

Essential

Plan the shortlist

Opening hours of a boarding house are not the point. State, gender, travel time and whether the school still boards the year you need — that is the shortlist. Then open the profiles.

Learn more

Money

How fees actually work

Tuition, boarding, levies, uniforms and overseas loadings are separate lines. We will not invent last year’s number. We will show you what to ask for.

Learn more

Pathways

Girls, boys or co-ed

Single-sex and co-educational houses are different Saturday nights. Read the pathway that matches your child, then compare two campuses in the same city.

Learn more

Featured profiles

Schools parents already search

A sample of published profiles — not a ranking. Every name is a public campus, not an endorsement.

NSW · girls

Abbotsleigh

Abbotsleigh is an Anglican girls’ school in Wahroonga, founded in 1885, with boarding. Confirm current boarding years and fees with the school.

Profile

QLD · boys

Anglican Church Grammar School

Anglican Church Grammar School (Churchie) is a boys’ Anglican school in East Brisbane, founded in 1912, with a well-known boarding house. Confirm current boarding years and fee schedules on churchie.com.au.

Profile

NSW · girls

Ascham School

Ascham School is an independent girls’ school in Edgecliff, eastern Sydney, known for the Dalton Plan and a long-standing boarding house. Confirm current boarding year levels and fees on the school website.

Profile

VIC · co-ed

Ballarat Grammar

Ballarat Grammar is a co-educational Anglican school in Wendouree, Ballarat, with boarding for regional and interstate families. Confirm current houses and fees with the school — this page does not invent figures.

Profile

NSW · co-ed

Barker College

Barker College is an Anglican school in Hornsby, on Sydney’s upper North Shore, now co-educational, with boarding. Confirm current boarding gender mix, year levels and fees on the school website.

Profile

QLD · boys

Brisbane Boys’ College

Brisbane Boys’ College is a boys’ PMSA school at Toowong, Brisbane, founded in 1902, with boarding. Confirm current boarding years and the official fee schedule with the college.

Profile

Guides

Read before you tour

guides
How to read a boarding handbook
The handbook beats the prospectus. Duty, leave, devices, packing and medical after-hours sit in the unglamorous pages.
guides
Year 7 versus Year 9 boarding entry
There is no national starting year. Some houses fill Year 7 first; others take a larger Year 9 intake. Confirm beds before you apply.
parents
Boarding from regional and remote Australia
Distance is the first filter, not a footnote. Airport transfers, exeats and a full Saturday house matter more than a city crest.
parents
What to ask on a boarding house tour
Chapel and ovals are visible. Duty rosters, Saturday stay-ins and after-hours medical care are not. Take a written list.
guides
Weekly versus full boarding in Australia
Weekday board and seven-night board are different pastoral products, not just different prices. Ask which nights are included before you compare two quotes.
fees
Boarding school fees: what parents actually pay for
Tuition, boarding, levies and overseas loadings are separate lines. This guide explains the structure. The school certifies the number.

Questions

What parents always ask

Direct answers first — the questions families type into search and ask assistants.

Filter by travel you will actually do, then by girls’, boys’ or co-ed, then by year level. Visit the house on a weekend if you can. Verify fees, scholarships and CRICOS status with the school — never from an archived table. Rural versus city is a travel choice, not a quality ranking.

Ready to shortlist?

Open the directory, then verify fees and boarding years with the school. This is research only — we do not enrol students.

Browse the list Contact

Boarding schools, written for parents

Type, location, then the fee PDF

Six reasons parents start here

Distance is the first filter

Houses have genders

The house is the school after 4pm

Scholarships are real — and conditional

Fees live on the school’s PDF

International is a different enrolment

A bed inside a day school

Fees without fiction

Girls’, boys’ and co-ed houses

Make the most of the shortlist

Plan the shortlist

How fees actually work

Girls, boys or co-ed

Schools parents already search

Abbotsleigh

Anglican Church Grammar School

Ascham School

Ballarat Grammar

Barker College

Brisbane Boys’ College

Read before you tour

What parents always ask

Ready to shortlist?