Best Schools in Canberra: Public, Private & Selective

The ACT school system performs well above the national average on NAPLAN and other benchmark measures, reflecting the highly educated parent demographic created by the public service employment base. Whether you are considering the public, Catholic, independent, or selective stream, Canberra's school options are genuinely strong across all sectors.

Selective public high schools — Canberra High School (Reid) and Lyneham High School draw academically selected students from across the ACT and consistently rank among the territory's highest NAPLAN performers. Competition for places in the selective programs is significant. The public high school system feeds into Canberra's five senior secondary colleges (Dickson, Belconnen, Tuggeranong, Copland, and Lake Ginninderra) which offer a broad subject range including vocational pathways.

Public primary schools — Telopea Park School (Barton) offers an international bilingual programme from K-10. Ainslie Primary, Cook Primary, and Garran Primary consistently receive strong community feedback. The ACT public system is generally of higher quality than most other states' public systems, and suburb-based catchment enrolment is the standard pathway.

Private and independent schools — Canberra Grammar School (Red Hill) is the most prestigious co-educational independent school. St Francis Xavier College (Florey) and Marist College Canberra are the leading Catholic secondary options. Merici College is an independent Catholic girls' school with a strong academic and extracurricular record. Radford College in Bruce provides Anglican education from K-12.

Key considerations for families — the ACT's public school system is sufficiently strong that many professional families choose the public pathway without disadvantage. Private school fees in Canberra range from $8,000 to $28,000 per year depending on year level and school. School catchment boundaries change periodically — check the ACT Education Directorate website for current boundaries before committing to an address.

This article was compiled by AI and screened before publishing. See our editorial standards.