Nicole and Steve Shaw always planned to send their sons to a private school after they finished year 6 at their local primary school. But all three boys ended up moving years earlier than planned.
“COVID was the impetus for us to move our eldest,” Nicole said. “After a year of online learning, we felt he needed more.”
Moving their eldest son, Oliver, 15, when he was in year 5 worked so well that their middle son, Harry, 13, followed his brother to Brighton Grammar when he reached year 5.
Their youngest, Fraser, 11, joined in year 3 after starting school during lockdowns.
“We just felt that if we moved him earlier, we wouldn’t regret it. But we might regret it if we didn’t,” Nicole said.
Analysis of the Victorian Education Department’s latest enrolment data by The Age showed an uptick in enrolments at independent schools in years 5 and 6 last year, before a significant jump in year 7, when students start secondary school.
It’s a familiar pattern for Brighton Grammar headmaster Ross Featherston, who said the Anglican school added a class at year 5 when parents wanted additional school-based extracurricular activities. Demand was also being driven by some parents’ desire to secure a place before secondary school, he said. Year 5 fees at the school are $39,250, while parents pay $40,150 for year 6.
“People feel they might have missed the boat to get in at year 7, so they bring their enrolment forward,” Featherston said.
However, reflecting the statewide trend, year 7 remains the school’s biggest intake, with students coming from up to 40 government and Catholic primary schools.
Between 80 and 85 students join Brighton Grammar in year 7, for which fees are $42,768. The school has four year 6 classes but eight year 7 classes.
“We don’t have any more big intake years from year 7 to year 12, and while there might be a little bit of movement, we try to have that group go all the way through to year 12,” Featherston said.
The most recent Education Department enrolment data shows that last year a third of year 6 Victorian students attended a private school, but once students reached year 7 that proportion swelled to 45 per cent.
About 28,000 year 6 students were enrolled at private schools and about 55,000 year 6 students at government schools last year, according to the data.
But in year 7 there were 38,000 students attending private schools, including independent and Catholic schools, and about 46,000 at government schools.
The influx is so great that some private schools, such as Brighton Grammar, double the number of classes between year 6 and year 7.
St Leonard’s College has four year 6 classes and eight, or sometimes nine, year 7 classes.
Principal Peter Clague said the school, which charges $39,438 a year for year 7, held school camps and the house music performance in term 1 to help new students settle in.
“The whole ethos about that first term is about meeting new people and making new connections,” he said.
It’s a similar story at co-educational Baptist school Carey Grammar, where the six year 6 classes grow to 10 year 7 classes.
Firbank Grammar principal Jenny Williams said about 40 per cent of students were new to the school in year 7, making it the school’s biggest entry point.
Williams said the bayside girls’ school had also recorded a rise in the number of families entering the school at “non-traditional entry points”, most noticeably in the years following the pandemic.
“During COVID, independent schools were able to pivot to remote learning more quickly than the public sector, which resulted in many families making the switch, causing an upswing in enrolments,” she said.
Caulfield Grammar’s largest intake level remains year 7, when annual fees hit $41,415.
However, the school’s community engagement executive director, Sue Sonego, said more families were looking to enter before year 7 to ease the transition to secondary school.
At Kilvington Grammar, where year 7 fees are $34,416, year 7 is the school’s biggest intake point after prep.
Director of admissions Liz Chegwin said most new students came from local government primary schools and that Kilvington went from two year 6 classes to four year 7 classes.
Private school giant Haileybury College has 16 year 5 classes and 21 year 7 classes across the school’s four campuses.
Vice principal Scott Doran said about 202 students joined the school each year at year 7, making it the biggest intake point. Year 5 is the second-biggest intake year, when about140 students join the school.
Doran put the growth in year 5 enrolments down to the school’s parallel education model, which begins in year 5 when girls and boys are separated for teaching and learning but come together for extracurricular activities.
“[Entry at that point] gives us a chance to lay the foundations for strong academic learning, but we also want them to be settled in and build friendships and develop confidence,” he said.
A St Kevin’s College spokesperson said the boys’ Catholic school had enrolments across all entry points but many families enrolled their sons before year 7 so they could transition smoothly to secondary school.
Associate Professor Paul Kidson, of Australian Catholic University, said the reasons behind the spike in year 7 enrolments at private schools were varied and difficult to pin down.
“In the end, most parents want what they perceive to be the best thing for their kids,” he said.
An Education Department spokesperson said parents were choosing government schools in record numbers.
“Victorian public schools are the best in the country, with nation-leading academic results, wellbeing supports for students and extracurricular activities,” the spokesperson said.
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Bridie Smith is an education reporter at The Age. A former desk editor, she has also reported on science and consumer affairs.Connect via X, Facebook or email.