Schools in Sydney: British and international

If you're hoping for a little corner of GCSEs and A levels in Sydney, prepare to be disappointed. Most British families end up in the local system, and most are glad they did.

The short version

Sydney has no mainstream school teaching the English National Curriculum through to A level. A 2026 guide for expat families says Cambridge IGCSE and A levels have only limited availability, and that most British families who want an international qualification choose the IB [1].
NSW schools run from Kindergarten to Year 12, ending in the Higher School Certificate (HSC) and an ATAR ranking for university.
Public schools are free for citizens and permanent residents. Children of many temporary visa holders in Sydney pay tuition fees, which NSW says reached up to AUD 7,400 (about £3,820) a year for some families [2].
Independent school fees run from roughly AUD 25,000 to 55,000 (about £12,900 to £28,400) a year, plus levies [1].
For UK home fees at university, your child usually needs three years living in the UK before the course starts [3].

How the NSW system compares with the UK

Australian schooling is run by the states, so Sydney follows the NSW system. The FCDO notes that school rules vary slightly between states and that education is compulsory from 6 to 16 [4]. In practice, most children start in the Kindergarten year at about five.

NSW	Roughly equals in England	Notes
Kindergarten	Reception or Year 1, depending on birthday	First year of primary school
Years 1–6	Years 1–7, roughly	Primary school
Years 7–10	Years 7–11, roughly	High school, ending in the Record of School Achievement
Years 11–12	Years 12–13 (sixth form)	HSC courses, ATAR for university

The mapping depends on your child's birthday, because the NSW cut-off falls in the middle of the year rather than on 1 September. Schools place children by age, so a summer-born child may drop or jump a year compared with home. Talk to the school before you arrive.

Other differences:

The school year runs from late January or early February to mid-December, in four terms. The long summer holiday is over Christmas.
Uniforms and hats. Uniform is near universal, including in public schools, and "no hat, no play" is the rule in the playground. Sun safety is taken seriously.
Three sectors. Public (government) schools, Catholic schools with modest fees, and independent schools, many of them Anglican or non-denominational, with fees closer to UK private schools.
Selective schools. NSW runs academically selective public high schools and opportunity classes in primary, with entry by test.

Public schools and visa fees

Public schools are free to Australian citizens and permanent residents, apart from voluntary contributions and costs such as uniforms, excursions and devices. Every public school has a local enrolment area, the Australian version of a catchment, and your child is entitled to a place at your local school. Where you rent decides where your children go, just as it does back home in Blighty.

Children on temporary visas are a different story. NSW charges tuition fees to many temporary residents through its temporary residents fee scheme, and the amount depends on the visa. From Term 1 2025, NSW waived tuition for children of subclass 482 (Temporary Skill Shortage) visa holders living in regional NSW and attending a regional public school, and said the fees had cost some families up to AUD 7,400 a year [2][5]. The waiver doesn't cover Sydney. An application fee on enrolment still applies [5].

If you're moving to Sydney on a temporary work visa, check:

Your visa subclass and whether your children's visas are subclass-linked to yours.
The current temporary residents tuition fee for that visa, on the NSW Department of Education website.
Whether your employer will pay. Fees are a fair thing to raise in relocation talks.
What happens when you get permanent residency. Fees usually stop once your family holds a permanent visa.

NSW also said that, from 2025, students on temporary visas can enrol at the public school for their home address [2].

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = AUD 1.94).

Independent and international schools

Sydney's private schools are mostly Australian independent schools teaching the NSW curriculum, many of which also offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) alongside the HSC. The IB Diploma is the easiest route if you want a qualification that UK and international universities know well.

A few names British families often look at:

International Grammar School (IGS) in Ultimo, near the CBD, runs from early learning to Year 12 with a bilingual focus [6]. A 2026 expat guide lists it as offering the HSC with an optional IB Diploma [1].
Cranbrook School in Bellevue Hill is now co-educational and runs from pre-school to Year 12. It's an IB World School [7], and the same expat guide lists it as offering the HSC and IB Diploma [1].
National schools teach another country's curriculum, such as the International French School of Sydney and the German International School Sydney, which the guide lists as offering the Abitur and IB Diploma [1]. They suit bilingual families more than most Brits.

Check the current programme directly with any school, because what's on offer changes.

What private schools cost

Fees vary widely. The 2026 guide gives these rough ranges for Sydney independent schools [1]:

Stage	Typical yearly fees (2025/26)	In pounds
Primary (K–6)	AUD 25,000 – 38,000	about £12,900 – £19,600
Years 7–10	AUD 35,000 – 48,000	about £18,100 – £24,800
Years 11–12	AUD 38,000 – 55,000	about £19,600 – £28,400

On top come an enrolment fee and, at many schools, a yearly building levy. Families on temporary visas may pay overseas student rates, so ask for the right schedule. Popular schools have waiting lists that start years ahead; register as soon as you know you're coming.

Sydney's private schools aren't subject to VAT on fees, unlike private schools in the UK since January 2025, but that's small comfort at these prices.

Choosing and applying

Decide on the area first. For public schools, your address decides your school, so choose where to rent with the school in mind. Our guide to renting in Sydney covers how leases work.
Gather documents: passports, visas, birth certificates, immunisation history and recent school reports. Bring UK reports for every year you can.
Contact schools before you arrive. Public schools enrol once you have an address; private schools want an application, often with an interview.
Expect a settling-in period. The year-group shift, the different curriculum and a new accent all take a term or two.

For dual-national families, our sister site ExpatCooee explains schooling Australian kids abroad and coming home, written from the Australian side.

UK universities from Sydney

Many British teenagers in Sydney still want to go home for university. Three things to know.

Applying

UK universities accept applications from Australian schools through UCAS. The IB Diploma is widely understood, and many universities publish entry requirements for the HSC and ATAR, but check each course. UCAS deadlines fall in the Sydney school year, and the ATAR comes out in December, after UK offers are made, so the school's predicted results matter.

Fees: home or international?

This is the big one. To get home fee status and student finance in England, your child usually needs to have been living in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for three years before the course starts, apart from temporary absences such as holidays [3]. A family that moved to Sydney for good usually won't meet that, so the student may be charged international fees, which are much higher. There are exceptions, for instance where the family's absence is only temporary because of work, but they turn on the facts. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own rules.

If UK university is part of the plan, look at the residence rules before you move, not in Year 11.

Student loans and the long term

If your child does borrow from Student Finance England and then moves back to Australia, repayments follow them. Our guide to UK student loans while living abroad explains how.

If your child was born in Sydney, check whether they're British by descent and get their first British passport before university forms appear; see registering a child born abroad.

Parents in our community group for Brits in Australia are a good source of first-hand views on particular schools and suburbs.

Schools in Sydney: public, private, IB and the British question