Girls' Schools in Perth: 2026 Fees Compared

Perth has nine girls' schools with a Year 7 intake, and their 2026 fees fall into two tight clusters with nothing in between: three Catholic schools charge $14,470 to $17,349 all-in, and every independent school charges $30,620 or more — a $13,271 gap with no school priced in the middle. Below are the fees we verified on each school's own current schedule, ranked from most to least expensive.

A note on sources and dates. Every fee below was read from the school's own 2026 fee schedule on 1 October 2026. Schools band Year 7 with the years around it (5–12, 7–9, 7–10 or 7–12), and some separate tuition from compulsory levies — both are shown where they differ. Confirm the current figure with the school before enrolling.

Key takeaways

• There is no mid-priced girls' school in Perth. The three Catholic schools (Mercedes, Iona Presentation, Santa Maria) all sit under $17,500; the cheapest independent, St Mary's Anglican Girls' School, is $30,620 — nothing is priced in between.
• St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls is the most expensive at $37,491 all-in for Year 7 in 2026 — 2.6 times Mercedes College's $14,470.
• At the very top, gender barely moves the price. Perth's three priciest boys' schools average $35,533 for Year 7; its three priciest girls' schools average $35,398 — a $135 gap, see below.
• Seven of the nine schools run a scholarship programme and six offer boarding — both are noted per school below.
• One well-known name, Methodist Ladies' College, publishes no fee figure at all, and the numbers that circulate for it online disagree with each other — see why below before you use one.

The nine schools, ranked by 2026 fee

All nine are single-sex from at least Year 7 — PLC's early-learning years (Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten only) are co-educational, and Santa Maria starts at Year 5 rather than Prep. Figures are the standard single-child rate; most schools offer sibling discounts on top.

Perth's girls' schools split into two tiers — and nothing sits between them

This is the finding nobody else has published: plot all nine fees and there is a $13,271 gap between the most expensive Catholic school (Santa Maria, ~$17,349) and the cheapest independent (St Mary's, $30,620). It isn't a gentle curve from cheap to expensive — it's two clusters.

The three Catholic schools run on the systemic parish-fee model Catholic Education WA sets rules around; each college's own board sets the figure inside those rules, so Mercedes, Iona Presentation and Santa Maria all land close together. The independents are a different market entirely — older, larger endowments, all Anglican or Uniting Church, all in the same corridor of western and riverside suburbs.

At the top, gender barely moves the price

Perth's highest-fee independent boys' schools charge almost exactly what its highest-fee girls' schools do. Christ Church Grammar ($37,173), Hale School ($35,300) and Wesley College ($34,125) — Perth's three priciest boys' schools — average $35,533 for Year 7 all-in. St Hilda's ($37,491), PLC ($35,736) and Perth College ($32,967) — the three priciest girls' schools — average $35,398. The gap is $135, inside rounding error.

That matches what we found looking at single-sex versus co-ed fees nationally: the premium tracks which schools happen to be single-sex — old, well-endowed, riverside suburbs — not single-sex teaching itself. The same pattern holds inside the girls'-only market too: the real divide in Perth is sector, not gender.

Methodist Ladies' College: why we can't give you a number

MLC is a genuine K–12 girls' school with students through to Year 12 — but its own fees page lists no dollar figures, and the numbers that show up in search results for MLC Perth fees don't agree with each other; at least one appears to belong to Methodist Ladies' College in Melbourne, a completely different school. If you're considering MLC, ask the school directly for its current schedule rather than trusting a number from a search result or an aggregator site.

Scholarships and boarding

Most of these schools actively compete for academic, music and all-rounder talent. Scholarship programmes we found published: St Hilda's, PLC, Perth College, Penrhos, St Mary's, Iona Presentation College and Mercedes College. Santa Maria's foundation lists an Indigenous scholarship but no general merit fund at the time we checked.

Boarding is available at St Hilda's, PLC, Perth College, Penrhos, St Mary's and Santa Maria, each roughly $30,000–$32,400 a year on top of tuition — useful if you're weighing a Perth school against relocating a regional or interstate family.

Where each school sits

Distance from the CBD doesn't track price here — Mercedes (0.8km, Perth's cheapest) and Perth College (2.5km, its third-priciest) are both close to the centre. What after-school activities are within reach matters more day to day than the school's postcode; browse what's listed near each suburb, or search the full Kids' Activity Index for more.

For the broader Perth market — sector splits, boys' schools, and the co-ed independents — see our Perth private school fees roundup and the Catholic versus independent fees comparison. If you're weighing up scholarships as a way in, Perth's scholarship rounds are a separate guide. And for what the western suburbs cost to live in more broadly, see Perth's best suburbs for families.

Frequently asked questions

What is the most expensive girls' school in Perth? St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls, at $37,491 all-in for Year 7 in 2026 (tuition $36,541 plus a $950 technology levy).

What is the cheapest girls' school in Perth? Mercedes College, a Catholic secondary school in the Perth CBD, at around $14,470 all-in for Year 7 in 2026.

Is there a girls' school in Perth priced between $18,000 and $30,000 a year? Not among the nine schools with a fee we could verify. Perth's three Catholic girls' schools all sit under $17,500; every independent girls' school we verified starts above $30,000. If you're after something in between, ask individual schools directly — this list covers only the fee schedules published online.

Do Perth's girls' schools offer scholarships? Most do — seven of the nine publish a scholarship programme, typically academic, music or all-rounder awards from Year 7. Santa Maria's foundation currently lists only an Indigenous scholarship.

Do Perth's girls' schools offer boarding? Yes, at six of the nine: St Hilda's, PLC, Perth College, Penrhos, St Mary's and Santa Maria, each roughly $30,000–$32,400 a year on top of tuition.

What does Methodist Ladies' College cost? MLC doesn't publish a fee figure on its own website, and the MLC 2026 numbers that surface in search results don't agree with each other — at least one belongs to Methodist Ladies' College Melbourne, a different school. Ask MLC Perth directly for its current schedule.

Do these fees include everything? No. Most schools separate tuition from compulsory levies (technology, facilities, building funds), and none include uniforms, boarding, or voluntary building-fund donations. Ask each school for its full 2026 schedule before enrolling.

How we checked

Every fee above comes from the school's own current fee-schedule PDF, read directly on 1 October 2026 — not from a search snippet or an aggregator. Two records in our own database needed correcting against these schedules: Perth College and Santa Maria College were both listed below their real 2026 fee, and a separate Iona Primary School record incorrectly carried a Year 7 fee for a campus that only teaches to Year 6. We've flagged both for correction. AroundSchools holds no current WA academic results and does not rank these schools on quality — see the Perth fees roundup for where to find WACE and ATAR outcomes instead.

School fee figures are each school's own published 2026 schedule, read at source on 1 October 2026. Fees change annually, most schools band Year 7 with the years around it, and levies vary — confirm the current figure with the school before enrolling. AroundSchools holds no WA academic results and does not rank schools on quality.