Sydney Private School Scholarships 2028: Dates & Schools

Sydney's 2028-entry scholarship applications are already under way. MLC School's registrations have closed, while Tara, Meriden, Santa Sabina and Monte publish application links for the new round. The original guide checked 24 schools on 4 September 2026; the application statuses and dates highlighted here were refreshed on 12 October 2026. Tara's Academic All-Rounder and Music applications close on 5 February 2027, and Santa Sabina's on 7 February. Awards typically remit 25–75% of tuition, which at Sydney fees is worth anywhere from about $2,000 to over $20,000 a year.

Key takeaways

• Apply now: Tara, Meriden, Santa Sabina and Monte have 2028-entry application links. MLC registrations are closed; the previously published test date is 17 October 2026.
• The season's shape: most schools open October–November 2026 (Knox 9 Nov, Danebank 11 Nov, Barker in Term 4), close in the first week of February 2027, and test 12–28 February 2027.
• The ACER cooperative round (used by Penrith Anglican, St Paul's Grammar, Santa Sabina and others) opened 21 September 2026, closes 7 February 2027, tests Saturday 27 February 2027.
• What it's worth: at the median NSW independent school's Year 7 fee ($9,488), a 50% award saves about $28,500 across Years 7–12; at a top-tier school it clears $140,000.
• Know your test: among the schools that name a provider, Academic Assessment Services (AAS) dominates Sydney (7 schools) ahead of ACER (5). None of the 19 uses Edutest.
• Not every big name plays: William Clarke, Oakhill and St Patrick's Strathfield offer no entry scholarships, and Riverview is deliberately bursaries-only.

Applications open and rounds already closed

Application status checked on 12 October 2026:

• MLC School (Burwood): closed. Its official page now marks the 2028 Year 7–11 round as closed. The earlier published deadline was 30 September 2026, with testing on 17 October. MLC's scholarship page is the source for any changes.
• Tara Anglican (North Parramatta): applications opened 8 October 2026. Academic All-Rounder and Music applications close 5 February 2027; the AAS exam is 13 February 2027, with shortlisted music auditions on 16 February. Tara's dates.
• Santa Sabina (Strathfield): applications opened 21 September 2026, close 7 February 2027, and the ACER exam is 27 February 2027. Santa Sabina's calendar.
• Meriden (Strathfield): 2028 scholarships are open. The school offers application links but does not give closing or test dates on the page we checked. Meriden's applications.
• Monte Sant' Angelo (North Sydney): the 2028 Year 7 ACER scholarship is open. ACER registration closes 7 February 2027; the separate school application is due 10 February, and the exam is 27 February. The 2027 bursary round is closed. Monte's two-step process.
• Our Lady of Mercy College (Parramatta) now links to its Year 7 2028 application. Its page gives an October-to-February season; confirm exact closing and test dates in the application portal. OLMC applications.
• The Hills Grammar School (Kenthurst) restricts its Year 7 2028 round to current students, secured future enrolments and families with a paid application on its waitlist by 30 November 2026. This is an eligibility deadline, not a public scholarship closing date. Hills Grammar's conditions.

The 2028-entry calendar: what opens between now and Christmas

The guide was originally researched on 4 September 2026. MLC, Tara, Santa Sabina, Meriden, OLMC, Monte and Arden entries were refreshed on 12 October; Knox, Danebank, Barker and Penrith dates were reconfirmed. Remaining entries retain their earlier check date. A stated seasonal pattern is not a confirmed opening date, and an ACER program date does not confirm an individual school's participation.

Year 7 fees are from our published NSW fee data, correct as at September 2026.

What a scholarship is actually worth in Sydney

Across the 408 NSW non-government schools that publish fees on AroundSchools, the median Year 7 fee is $7,916 a year — $3,786 at the median Catholic school and $9,488 at the median independent school, with the dearest quarter starting at $16,560 and the very top of the market at $49,521. Most academic and general-excellence scholarships remit between 25% and 75% of tuition (Trinity says most of its awards sit in that band, and very few are full-fee; a small number of means-tested awards do reach 100%), so the same "50% scholarship" is worth wildly different amounts depending on the school.

Two things the chart understates. First, awards usually run from entry until the end of Year 12, so multiply the annual saving by six for a Year 7 award. Second, tuition is not the whole bill — uniforms, technology levies, camps and co-curricular fees are almost never covered (Tara and Penrith Anglican both say so explicitly), and application costs are real: Knox charges a $175 registration fee, and Our Lady of Mercy College lists a $200 testing fee plus acceptance fees for successful applicants.

Girls' and Catholic schools: scholarships and means-tested bursaries

The two questions parents ask most about Sydney scholarships are which girls' schools run them and which offer means-tested bursaries instead. Here they are in one place — drawn from the regional sections below (checked 4 September 2026), with Santa Sabina, Loreto Normanhurst and Kambala re-checked on 6 October 2026. Application statuses for MLC, Tara, Meriden, OLMC and Monte, and Santa Sabina dates, were refreshed on 12 October 2026.

Catholic girls' schools

Other girls' schools

Fees marked (2026) are the school's published 2026 schedule; the others are the latest figures AroundSchools holds. Means-tested bursaries are often not advertised — if a school's page is silent, ask the registrar.

Scholarship searches are a whole-of-Sydney thing

The regions below are not our guess. They are where Sydney parents actually searched for "private school scholarships" plus a suburb on Google over the last 90 days — and the striking thing is how even the spread is, from Penrith to Chatswood.

Inner West — Strathfield and Burwood

The densest scholarship corridor in Sydney: four schools within a couple of suburbs.

• Meriden School (girls, Strathfield, Year 7 fee $34,400) runs Academic and Music awards at full or part tuition for up to six years, the means-tested Fidelis award (up to 50%, Years 7 and 10) and a sport award at up to 75% (Years 9–10). 2028 registrations are open as at 12 October 2026 — details.
• Trinity Grammar School (boys, Summer Hill with a Strathfield prep campus, $40,250) offers Academic, Music and All-round awards; the school is unusually frank that most awards cover 25–75% and very few are full — details. Registrations have historically opened mid-November, two years before entry.
• MLC School (girls, Burwood, $36,400) — registrations for the 2028 round are closed; see above.
• Santa Sabina College (Strathfield, $30,840) runs Academic, Music, All Round Excellence and Foundation awards at Years 5, 7 and 10 through the ACER program, with 2028 applications open from 21 September 2026, closing 7 February 2027, with the ACER exam on 27 February 2027 — details.

Note for Strathfield families: St Patrick's College states plainly that it offers no scholarships for incoming students.

Parramatta and North Parramatta

• The King's School (boys, North Parramatta, $40,440) awards most of its scholarships at Year 7 entry, some means-tested, with bursaries that can assist boarding. The 2027 round has closed and 2028 dates weren't published when we checked — the school offers an email notification list on its scholarships page. Tests with AAS.
• Tara Anglican School for Girls (girls, North Parramatta, $31,650) runs Academic All-Rounder (Years 7 and 9), Music (Year 7) and regional boarding awards at partial or full remission — 2028 applications opened 8 October 2026; Academic All-Rounder and Music close 5 February 2027, with the AAS exam on 13 February 2027 — details.
• Our Lady of Mercy College (girls, Parramatta, $14,115) offers General Excellence, performing arts, sport and alumnae awards at Year 7, at full or part remission; its stated pattern is applications opening the first day of October and closing in February — details.

The Hills — Castle Hill and Kellyville

The Hills is where checking the school's own page matters most. The Hills Grammar School (Kenthurst, $28,790) covers all or part of tuition, but its Year 7 2028 round is restricted to current students, secured future enrolments and waitlisted families with a paid application lodged by 30 November 2026 — details. Meanwhile the area's two other big independents sit this game out: William Clarke College answers "Do we offer academic, music or sporting scholarships?" with a flat no (need-based assistance only), and Oakhill College's enrolment pages carry no scholarship program at all. Practical upshot for Hills families: the nearest open merit rounds are Barker (Hornsby), King's and Tara (North Parramatta).

Blacktown and the Greater West

An honest answer, because nobody else gives one: we could not verify a single scholarship-offering independent school in Blacktown itself — Tyndale Christian School's enrolment pages carry no scholarship program. Blacktown families searching for scholarships are really choosing a direction to travel: east to King's or Tara (North Parramatta), north-east to Hills Grammar (with the waitlist caveat above), or west to Penrith's two ACER schools below. Georges River Grammar (Georges Hall) is the value option to the south.

Penrith and the Outer West

The west's two rounds are among the clearest-published in Sydney, and both test on the ACER cooperative day:

• Penrith Anglican College (Orchard Hills, $9,580) runs Academic, Music, Visual Arts and All-Rounder awards across Years 5, 7, 9 and 11 at full or part remission. ACER applications close Sunday 7 February 2027; the test is Saturday 27 February 2027 — details.
• St Paul's Grammar School (Cranebrook, $18,300) offers Academic, All-Rounder and Performing Arts awards at Years 5, 7, 9 and 11 plus financial-support places; it is an ACER examination centre, and its 2028 dates weren't posted yet when we checked — details.

Hornsby and the Upper North Shore

• Barker College (Hornsby, $42,300) publishes the strongest award range in this guide: Year 7 academic scholarships up to 100%, music 50–100%, plus co-curricular and Year 10 awards. Applications open in Term 4 2026 and testing is Thursday 18 February 2027, with AAS — details.
• Knox Grammar School (boys, Wahroonga, $42,640) has the most complete published calendar in Sydney: registrations open Monday 9 November 2026, close midnight Thursday 4 February 2027, exams Sunday 21 February 2027 (Years 7–11) and 28 February (Year 5). Registration costs $175. Awards span academic, music, all-rounder, sons of old boys and regional boarding — details.

Chatswood and the Lower North Shore

• St Pius X College (boys, Chatswood, $12,900) takes a different approach: seven academic scholarships awarded annually by the principal plus equity scholarships for Indigenous and refugee students — awarded, not applied for through a public test round — details.
• Roseville College (girls, Roseville, $34,025) runs Academic, All-Rounder and Music awards at Year 7, senior versions at Years 8–11, and means-tested Foundation awards to full remission. Its 2027 round opened in late October and closed in January; 2028 dates weren't published yet — details. Tests with AAS.
• Monte Sant' Angelo Mercy College (girls, North Sydney, $26,560) runs a Year 7 ACER-based scholarship, senior awards, and means-tested bursaries from 20% to full remission — 2028 Year 7 ACER registration closes 7 February 2027, the school application is due 10 February, and the exam is 27 February — details.

Eastwood, Ryde and the Northern District

No school inside Eastwood or Ryde runs a public merit round, but the surrounding ring does. Arden Anglican School (Beecroft/Epping, $24,332) offers Year 7 Academic and Music awards at whole or part tuition; its page now lists registrations closing 29 January 2027, the AAS online-at-home exam on 13 February 2027 and music auditions on 20 February; registrations open in Term 4 of Year 5 — details. For families thinking of St Ignatius' College Riverview (Lane Cove): it offers no merit scholarships at all, by policy — instead it runs one of Sydney's largest means-tested bursary programs, supporting more than 60 students and awarding $2.0M in 2025 — details. Otherwise Eastwood and Ryde sit within reach of the Inner West group to the south and Knox and Barker to the north.

Hurstville and St George

• Danebank (girls, Hurstville, $24,880) has already published its full 2028 calendar: Academic, Music, Sporting, All-Rounder, Old Girl and First Nations awards open 11 November 2026, close 3 February 2027, and the assessment is Friday 12 February 2027 — details.
• St George Christian School (Hurstville, $4,230 — the lowest fee in this guide) runs Academic and Music awards at Years 7 and 11 through ACER; an enrolment application must be lodged before you can register. Its Year 7 2028 dates weren't published yet — details.

Bankstown and the South-West

Georges River Grammar (Georges Hall, $13,130) is the south-west's verified round: Academic awards at Years 5, 7, 9 and 11 (opens October 2026, AAS test in February 2027) plus drama, music, visual arts and sport "ability" awards opening March 2027 — details. Beyond that, Bankstown sits within practical reach of Trinity (Summer Hill) and Danebank (Hurstville) above.

Beyond Sydney, and what the discount is on

For the national picture — twenty schools across five cities and the patterns their rounds share — see Top 20 Australian private schools offering scholarships. A half-fee award is only as valuable as the fee it halves: the 2026 figures are in Sydney private school fees compared and, for every NSW school with a published schedule, NSW school fees.

Which test will your child sit?

Among the 12 schools in this guide that name their provider, seven test with Academic Assessment Services (Barker, Knox, Roseville, Tara, King's, Georges River Grammar, Arden) and five through ACER's cooperative program (Penrith Anglican, St Paul's, Santa Sabina, St George Christian, Monte). None uses Edutest — in Sydney it barely figures, whatever the national prep-industry marketing says. The formats differ enough to matter; our ACER vs Edutest vs AAS comparison breaks down what each test asks. The tactical consequence: pick two or three target schools on the same provider and one preparation effort covers all of them.

Schools we checked that do not offer scholarships

So you don't waste an afternoon searching: William Clarke College (Kellyville — "no", need-based assistance only), St Patrick's College (Strathfield — none for incoming students), Oakhill College (Castle Hill — no program on its enrolment pages), Tyndale Christian School (Blacktown — none), and St Ignatius' College Riverview (Lane Cove — means-tested bursaries only, no merit awards).

If a scholarship is out of reach or the maths doesn't work, the no-fee alternative is a selective public school: NSW runs the largest selective system in the country, and the Selective High School Placement Test is a separate process with its own timeline — check the NSW Education page for the current cycle.

How to give your child a real shot

• Start with the test provider, not the school. One preparation effort can cover several schools on the same test — see the provider chart above.
• Registrations close weeks before the exam, and Knox says outright that late applications are not considered. Put the close date in your calendar, not the test date.
• Timing matters more than tutoring. Most families start too late; when to start preparing sets out a realistic runway, and the private school entry timeline shows how scholarship rounds fit into the wider enrolment cycle.
• Read how offers play out before you sit anything — the complete Australian scholarships guide covers values, conditions and what happens after results.
• Ask about bursaries directly. Means-tested bursaries are quieter than scholarships and often more generous — Riverview's program above is the proof — and registrars will tell you what exists if you ask.

Frequently asked questions

When do 2028-entry scholarship applications open in Sydney?

As at 12 October 2026, Tara, Meriden, Santa Sabina and Monte have application links for 2028 entry. Tara opened 8 October; Santa Sabina opened 21 September. Knox opens 9 November and Danebank 11 November, while Barker says Term 4. MLC registrations are already closed. Closing dates vary: Arden lists 29 January 2027, Tara 5 February and Santa Sabina 7 February. Use the school calendar above rather than assuming one shared deadline.

How much do private school scholarships cover?

Most academic and general-excellence awards in Sydney remit 25–75% of tuition; a small number of flagship or means-tested awards reach 100%. At the median NSW independent school a half-fee award is worth about $4,744 a year, or roughly $28,500 across Years 7–12 at today's published fees.

Which test will my child sit?

Depends on the school: AAS for Barker, Knox, Roseville, Tara, King's, Georges River Grammar and Arden; ACER for Penrith Anglican, St Paul's, Santa Sabina, St George Christian and Monte. Penrith, Santa Sabina and Monte confirm 27 February 2027; St Paul's and St George Christian have not confirmed a 2028 test date on the pages checked. None of the schools in this guide uses Edutest.

Are scholarships only for Year 7 entry?

Year 7 is the biggest intake, but Penrith Anglican, St Paul's and Georges River Grammar run Year 5 rounds, Knox tests Years 5–11, and several schools run Year 10 or 11 awards. Check the school's own page — every one is linked above.

Which Catholic girls' schools in Sydney offer scholarships?

Santa Sabina (Strathfield), Our Lady of Mercy College (Parramatta) and Monte Sant' Angelo (North Sydney) run merit rounds for Year 7 entry. Loreto Normanhurst offers no merit scholarships at all — only means-tested Equity Scholarships, First Nations and the Samantha Mar scholarship. The full comparison is in the girls' and Catholic schools table above.

Which Sydney girls' schools offer means-tested bursaries?

Meriden (the Fidelis award, up to 50%), Roseville (Foundation awards, up to full remission), Monte Sant' Angelo (20% to full remission), Kambala (the means-tested Kambala Council Academic award) and Loreto Normanhurst (Equity Scholarships). Bursaries are often not advertised, so ask the registrar even when a school's page is silent.

Do Catholic systemic schools offer scholarships?

Rarely — most systemic Catholic schools keep fees low for everyone (median Year 7 fee $3,786 in NSW) rather than discounting for a few. The Catholic-tradition schools that do run rounds are the independent congregational colleges — Santa Sabina, OLMC Parramatta, Monte and St Pius X all appear above.

Originally researched on 4 September 2026. Application statuses and selected dates refreshed on 12 October 2026 using the schools' official pages linked above; fees were not re-audited in this date refresh. Unconfirmed dates remain labelled. Confirm the school's current instructions before applying.

Fee figures come from our published NSW school-fee data (408 schools, correct as at September 2026). Browse independent schools across NSW, or see what else is on for kids in Strathfield, Castle Hill, Chatswood, Parramatta and every other Sydney suburb.