Compare the annual school bill after compulsory fixed levies, rather than tuition alone. For a sole child in Year 7, Christian College Geelong's published 2026 tuition plus fixed capital levy is $17,579, while Kardinia's tuition plus curriculum, payroll-tax and family levies is $18,127. Christian College is $548 lower, even though its tuition line is higher.
Those are scheduled fees, not complete household budgets. Uniforms, books, transport and charges tied to subjects can still be extra. The main comparison below uses 2026 domestic day-school prices; Geelong Grammar's 2027 schedule is shown separately. A 2027 starter should request the school's 2027 itemised quote before making a decision.
Primary fee schedules checked on 29 October 2026. The comparison assumes one child in the family, without sibling discounts, concessions or early-payment discounts.
Key takeaways
- The tuition-only order can reverse. Christian College's $17,579 Year 7 scheduled bill is $548 below Kardinia's $18,127 after the fixed charges listed below.
- The year level changes the answer. At the same 2026 prices, Year 12 is $23,119 at Christian College and $22,067 at Kardinia: Kardinia is $1,052 lower.
- A laptop can change the entry-year budget. Saint Ignatius's $7,000 recurring Year 7 figure becomes $8,900 when its required $1,900 entry laptop is added.
- Family charges belong once in a family budget. Do not multiply a per-family levy by every sibling.
- Keep years and attendance types separate. Geelong Grammar's 2027 Corio Year 7 day-student fee is $48,408 including stated GST, before its additional costs.
What the 2026 comparison includes
The table adds each school's published fixed charges to its tuition or inclusive core fee. Family charges are allocated to the sole child. It leaves optional donations out, separates entry costs, and does not estimate uniforms, devices with no single quoted price, bus use or subject choices. The last column is a scheduled annual starting point; it is not an all-in cost.
Each linked dollar figure opens the school's source. The school names open our directory profiles. This is a comparison of the named schools' published schedules, not a ranking of school quality or a claim to cover every fee-charging school in the region.
| School | Tuition or core annual fee | Fixed charges added | Annual amount with those charges |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Ignatius College Geelong | $6,900 | $100 protection | $7,000 |
| Iona College Geelong | $7,235 | Included in core fee | $7,235 |
| St Joseph’s College Geelong | $8,100 | $125 resources + $25 celebration + $35 family magazine | $8,285 |
| Covenant College | $7,765 | $250 building + $680 IT | $8,695 |
| Sacred Heart College Geelong | $8,845 | Included in core fee | $8,845 |
| Geelong Lutheran College, Armstrong Creek | $9,490 | $178 subscriptions/resources | $9,668 |
| Christian College Geelong | $16,404 | $1,175 first-child capital levy | $17,579 |
| Kardinia International College | $13,947 | $3,205 curriculum + $225 payroll + $750 family foundation | $18,127 |
| The Geelong College | $32,892 | $1,000 family building + $36 insurance | $33,928 |
At The Geelong College, the Year 7 calculation is $32,892 + four $250 family building levies + four $9 insurance charges = $33,928. Covenant lists its building and IT levies separately; ask for the allocation across siblings if you have more than one child. Geelong Lutheran's secondary figures apply to Armstrong Creek, rather than its St John's Newtown primary campus.
The sources describe different bundles. Iona's core fee includes laptop hire, camps and curriculum levies. Sacred Heart includes core levies, compulsory camps and part of the laptop cost, but excludes laptop insurance, booklists and uniforms. Geelong Lutheran excludes the laptop device, books, uniforms and other compulsory expenses. A smaller number in this table can therefore require a larger separate shopping list.
Why Christian College and Kardinia swap places
For Year 7, Kardinia's tuition is $13,947 and Christian College's is $16,404. Read only those lines and Kardinia looks $2,457 lower.
But Kardinia adds $3,205 curriculum, $225 payroll-tax and $750 family foundation charges: $4,180 beyond tuition for a sole child. Christian College adds its first-child compulsory capital works fee of $1,175. Adding these produces $18,127 versus $17,579, reversing the comparison by $548. Neither calculation adds optional music or transport.
The difference is not a verdict on value. It is a reason to ask both schools for the same thing: the annual bill for your child's year level, family position and subject choices, including all compulsory charges. A sibling already attending changes the family-level calculation.
The same two schools reverse again in Year 12
At 2026 rates, Christian College's Year 12 tuition is $21,944; adding $1,175 gives $23,119. Kardinia's $17,887 tuition plus the same $4,180 fixed charges gives $22,067. Kardinia is then $1,052 lower.
These are two year levels priced in the same schedule year. They are not the future fees for a Year 7 child progressing through school, and they do not assume fees will remain unchanged. Do not multiply today's Year 7 price by the years remaining and treat it as a quote.
Entry costs and donations: the extra questions that matter
Saint Ignatius: the recurring $6,900 core fee plus $100 incident-protection levy is $7,000. Its 2026 Year 7 MacBook is another $1,900 upfront, giving $8,900 before other items. The school describes that device as covering Years 7–12; it is not a $1,900 charge to repeat every year. Its $300 family building contribution is explicitly voluntary, so it is excluded from our compulsory calculation.
St Joseph's: its $8,100 tuition includes notebook hire. Add $125 digital resources, $25 celebration-day contribution and the $35 family magazine for the $8,285 figure. Its $450 building contribution and $80 foundation contribution are described as voluntary, despite appearing on fee statements. Ask the accounts team how to record your choice.
The Geelong College: $500 registration and $2,750 admission are separate, non-refundable entry costs. They are not part of its recurring Year 7 amount. Its Year 12 tuition is billed across three terms; ask the school how the per-term building and insurance charges are applied before constructing a Year 12 total.
Kardinia: the $500 acceptance deposit is credited against the first term's fees. Do not count it as both an extra annual charge and a payment toward the bill.
Two other published prices to follow up
Clonard's 2026 schedule lists $4,840 annual tuition, including curriculum costs, compulsory camps and a dedicated device with protection. It also describes a $100 per-family building fund using both levy and donation language. Ask whether that contribution is optional and request the resulting annual invoice before comparing a final total.
Geelong Baptist College's enrolment page announces a $3,500 Year 7–12 fee for 2026. Ask the college for the full itemised schedule, including devices, levies and compulsory activities. That announced base price is not treated as an all-in comparison figure here.
Geelong Grammar: keep its 2027 prices separate
Geelong Grammar's domestic 2027 schedule gives Corio Years 7–8 day students an annual fee of $48,180 plus $228 GST: $48,408. Its appendix lists a required Year 7 laptop package of $2,482, with further books, activities and equipment to budget for.
For Years 10–12 day boarding, the annual fee is $58,320 plus $438 GST: $58,758. Day boarding includes a different attendance arrangement from Year 7 day attendance; it does not mean full residential boarding. Do not describe these as the same service at different ages, or mix either figure into the 2026 table.
For the national comparison and its fee bases, read our most expensive schools in Australia analysis. For Melbourne options, use our Melbourne fee comparison.
Compare the school run as well as the invoice
Our live directory count on 29 October 2026 has 5 activity listings in Newtown, 2 in Bell Post Hill and 7 in Corio under the Activity Index definition. These are directory entries, not a count of available places, distinct sports or programs run by each school. Coverage also varies by suburb.
Use Newtown's activity hub, Bell Post Hill's hub and Corio's hub to build an actual afternoon route. For example, browse the listings for Tri Swimming and Geelong Youth Choir, then confirm ages, locations and current times directly with the provider. Neither is included in a school's fee figure.
The counting method is explained in our Kids' Activity Index. Use Victoria's school directory and activity search alongside the fees, rather than assuming every after-school option must be bought through the school.
Frequently asked questions
How much do private schools in Geelong cost?
Start with the child's year level and schedule year. The named 2026 Year 7 examples above run from inclusive core fees to tuition with several compulsory additions. Clonard's published $4,840 tuition and Geelong Baptist's announced $3,500 base need their separate follow-up questions; neither is presented as a final cheapest-school ranking.
Is Kardinia cheaper than Christian College?
For the sole-child fixed-charge calculation, Christian College is $548 lower in Year 7 at 2026 rates. Kardinia is $1,052 lower in Year 12. Subjects, transport, sibling discounts and extras can change the family's final bill.
Are Catholic school fees one shared price?
The Geelong schools in this comparison publish different core fees and inclusions. Compare the school's own annual schedule and separate compulsory items from voluntary contributions. Our Catholic versus independent fee guide explains why the basis matters.
Can I use these prices to plan a 2027 start?
Use them to shortlist and prepare questions, then obtain a 2027 quote. Geelong Grammar's section explicitly uses 2027; the main table uses 2026. Do not apply an assumed percentage increase to turn one into the other.
How we checked
We fetched the schools' own schedules and pages on 29 October 2026, read their fee years and components, and calculated the figures shown. We checked nine itemised 2026 schedules across the lower, middle and higher fee bands, plus Clonard's schedule, Geelong Baptist's announcement and Geelong Grammar's 2027 document. No stored school-fee value was used as a current fee. There is no regional average, school-quality ranking or forecast here. Directory locations and the live Activity Index classification supply the local layer; every school-specific amount links to its primary source above.
