Sunshine Coast Schools in 2026: Every Private School Fee, the 14 State High Schools, and How Catchments Work

Private-school fees on the Sunshine Coast run from about $5,500 to $25,000 a year once compulsory levies are counted — a genuinely regional, low-fee market with no $30,000 school and not a single single-sex school on it. Below are the 2026 fees we confirmed on each school's own published schedule, the 14 state high schools and how their catchments decide who gets in, and why "tuition" is never the whole bill up here.

A note on sources and dates. Every dollar figure here was read from the school's own 2026 fee schedule in September 2026. Fees change every year, most Coast schools band Year 7 with the years around it, several Catholic colleges bill tuition per family, and levies vary — always confirm the current, full figure with the school.

Key takeaways

• Tuition is only part of the bill. At the Coast's schools the compulsory levies (resource, technology, capital) add roughly $2,000–$3,500 a year on top of tuition. We show both.
• The dearest is Matthew Flinders at Buderim — $22,520 tuition, about $25,308 all-in for Year 7. The cheapest all-in is St John's College, Nambour, at $5,552 (Catholic).
• Catholic colleges are the cheap seats, all landing around $5,500–$6,400 a year all-in, against $8,000–$25,000 at the independents.
• We verified all twenty numbers at source — and in doing so corrected the two that circulate most: Matthew Flinders is $22,520 tuition (not $18,784), and Siena is $2,776 tuition / $6,376 all-in and is not the cheapest.

Every fee-publishing school, verified at source

These are all twenty private and Catholic schools within 40 km of Maroochydore that publish a fee, checked against each school's own 2026 schedule. We show tuition and the compulsory all-in, because the gap between them is real money, and note where a school bands Year 7 or bills tuition per family.

Two things this makes plain. The independents' headline tuition understates the bill by $2,000–$4,000 a year in levies; the four Catholic colleges are clustered tightly around $5,500–$6,400 all-in and set fees on capacity to contribute, not on a market. And note the traps in the numbers that circulate elsewhere: several colleges bill tuition per family (Siena, St Teresa's), so a "per student" quote is wrong, and most band Year 7 with the years around it, so the Year 7 figure is the band's entry rate, not a step that jumps next year.

The Buderim–Forest Glen belt is where the fees are

The dearest schools cluster in the Buderim–Forest Glen belt within about 10 km of Maroochydore — Matthew Flinders and Immanuel at Buderim, Sunshine Coast Grammar at Forest Glen — and fees fall the further out you go, through Nambour, Coolum Beach and the hinterland.

That is worth knowing for a reason that has nothing to do with quality. The Coast is long and thin, the Bruce Highway and Sunshine Motorway are the only fast north–south roads, and a family in Noosa Heads choosing a Buderim school is committing to 35 to 45 minutes each way at school-run times — every day for six years. Many of the Coast's private schools run bus networks precisely because of this; ask about routes and cost on the tour, not after you have enrolled.

The 14 state high schools, and why catchments decide

Most Sunshine Coast children go to a state school — 55 of the 83 schools are state, and they carry the bulk of enrolments. Here are the 14 state high schools and P–12 colleges, ordered by distance from Maroochydore.

Queensland state schools that are at or near capacity operate under an enrolment management plan, and most of the coastal high schools above do. Under a plan, the school must enrol a child whose principal place of residence is inside its catchment and may decline everyone else. In practice that means a family that has settled on, say, Mountain Creek or Chancellor as "the" school needs to be renting or buying inside the line before enrolment — a preference expressed from outside the catchment is a request, not a right.

You can check which state school catchment any Sunshine Coast address sits in with our school catchment checker, and our state-by-state guide to school catchments explains how Queensland's plans work and what "principal place of residence" means when the department asks for proof. If you are weighing the sectors, public, Catholic or independent is the honest version of that conversation.

The whole thirteen years, in context

Year 7 is one line of a longer bill. For the total cost of schooling — fees plus the parent contributions and ancillaries (uniforms, devices, camps) that go with them — Futurity's Cost of Education Index 2026 puts metropolitan Queensland at about $120,486 (government), $273,494 (Catholic) and $423,378 (independent) across thirteen years. Two caveats before you read those: they are metro (Brisbane) figures and the Sunshine Coast is a regional, markedly lower-fee market — its dearest school is $25,308 a year, well below a Brisbane GPS school — and they bundle in ancillaries, so they are not tuition bills (the National Catholic Education Commission has publicly disputed the ancillary method). Fees are rising about 5–6% a year, roughly double CPI (ABS, via Futurity). For the six-year math and how families fund it, see how families pay for private school fees.

What fees cannot tell you

None of this is a quality ranking, and we want to be direct about why: AroundSchools does not hold academic results for Queensland schools, so we cannot rank them on outcomes and will not pretend to. A higher fee buys facilities, breadth and smaller classes; it does not, on its own, buy a better ATAR, and several of the Coast's state and Catholic schools have long records the fee table cannot show. For outcomes, go to My School (myschool.edu.au) for NAPLAN and each school's ICSEA profile — our plain-English guide to NAPLAN results helps read it — and the QCAA for Year 12 outcomes. Then tour, with our 25 questions to ask on a school tour in hand.

Beyond the school gate

The Coast punches above its weight for kids' activities. Buderim has 13 listed activities — second of any suburb in Queensland — and Coolum Beach has 10. Surf lifesaving nippers, swimming, dance and football dominate, which is what you would expect of a place with this much coastline. Browse what's on around Maroochydore, Nambour or any suburb, or see how the Coast compares nationally in our Kids' Activity Index. Queensland's spring school holidays run 19 September to 5 October 2026, with Term 4 starting 6 October.

Frequently asked questions

How much do private schools on the Sunshine Coast cost in 2026? Once compulsory levies are counted, the four Catholic colleges are around $5,500–$6,400 a year all-in, and the independents run from about $8,330 (Glasshouse) to $25,308 (Matthew Flinders). Tuition alone is lower — but it is not what you pay.

What is the most expensive school on the Sunshine Coast? Matthew Flinders Anglican College at Buderim, at $22,520 tuition and about $25,308 all-in for Year 7 in 2026 — still the dearest on the Coast, though the widely-quoted "$18,784" understates its actual tuition. There is no $30,000 school on the Coast.

Are there cheap private schools on the Sunshine Coast? Yes — the Catholic colleges are the cheap seats. On the all-in cost, St John's College Nambour ($5,552) is the least expensive, ahead of St Teresa's ($5,560), Unity ($5,952) and Siena ($6,376). Their tuition-only figures are lower again, but exclude the compulsory levies.

Are there any single-sex schools on the Sunshine Coast? No. All 83 schools in the region — state, Catholic and independent — are co-educational. The nearest single-sex schools are in Brisbane.

Which state high school is my child zoned for? It depends on your home address, and for the coastal high schools operating an enrolment management plan it is decisive — you must live inside the catchment. Check any address with our catchment checker.

School fee figures are each school's own published 2026 schedule, read at source in September 2026. Thirteen-year totals are from Futurity Investment Group's Cost of Education Index 2026 (metropolitan figures). Fees change annually, levies vary, many Coast schools band Year 7 and some bill tuition per family — confirm current figures with the school before enrolling. AroundSchools holds no Queensland academic results and does not rank schools on quality.