The West Australian exclusivePrestigious private school fees set to soar at nearly double inflation rateBethany HiattThe West AustralianMon, 15 December 2025 4:21AMCommentsCommentsEmail Bethany Hiatt
WA’s most expensive private schools are hitting parents with fee increases of up to 7 per cent next year — nearly double the national inflation rate.
The price tag to educate a Year 12 student will surge past an eye-watering $35,000 at a handful of prestigious colleges.
Fees at Methodist Ladies’ College will rise to $38,037, but the Claremont school told parents this now included levies that had previously been charged separately, equating to an overall 6.5 per cent increase.
“This year, there is a single quoted tuition fee for your daughter’s education,” MLC said in a letter parents.
“The 2026 fee increase aligns with the college’s ongoing operational requirements and has been determined from rigorous fiscal management.”
Not all schools have updated their fee schedules on their websites, but of those that have, Como girls’ school Penrhos College had the biggest increase of 7.4 per cent, lifting the cost of Year 12 tuition from $29,895 to $32,137.
Costs will rise by 7.2 per cent — or more than $2500 — at Claremont’s boys-only Christ Church Grammar School to $37,173.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, while headline inflation was 3.8 per cent in the 12 months to October, education inflation rose 5.4 per cent.
Parents of Year 12 students at Swanbourne boys’ school Scotch College will pay $35,932, an increase of 5.5 per cent.
The school’s chair of council, Tim Wiese, said in a letter to parents it had sought to limit fee increases “as much as possible”, despite increasing cost pressures.
“In the current environment, the college is continuing to experience elevated costs including from higher teacher numbers, salaries and superannuation costs, as well as compliance and technology costs,” he wrote.
“The college is finding that maintenance and small capital works have become more expensive in recent times in attending to important classroom and facilities refurbishments.
“Significantly, while Scotch receives modest Government funding, that funding increases at a rate that is below inflation, adding cost pressures for the college.”
Co-ed Bull Creek school All Saints’ College will break through the $30,000 price barrier for the first time, hiking fees 5.9 per cent to $30,604.
Wembley Downs boys’ college Hale School will charge $34,470 a year, an increase of 5.9 per cent, while co-ed Guildford Grammar School will boost fees 6.9 per cent to $29,275.
Despite the hefty increases, Perth schools are still cheaper than their equivalents in Sydney or Melbourne, where some parents are paying more than $50,000 a year for private education.
Catholic schools which charge much lower fees, hovering at around $6000 a year for Year 12 tuition, will increase their prices by up to 5 per cent.
“Next year, 111 Catholic Education WA Ltd schools have recommended fee increases of 5 per cent or less, with at least 56 schools having recommended fee increases below the rate of inflation,” a CEWA spokesperson said.
“We are committed to supporting families from a range of socio-economic backgrounds and no family should be denied the opportunity of a Catholic education due to financial difficulty.”
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