Canberra is most affordable city to send a child to public school

A study based on survey responses from about 2300 Australian parents found the out-of-pocket costs over 13 years for a child starting at a public school in 2023 would amount to $77,002.

This was 13 per cent less than the national average and significantly less than the $102,807 price tag in Melbourne and the $89,500 paid in Sydney.

The study was conducted by the Futurity Investment Group which sells education bonds designed to help families cover education costs.

While public school parents were forecast to spend about $228 in voluntary school fees this year, they are likely to spend up to $1577 on outside tuition, $860 on musical instruments, $590 on electronic devices, $289 on school camps and $250 on school uniforms.

Futurity Investment Group Kate Hill said the free Chromebook scheme in public high schools and colleges could contribute to the reduction in costs.

"We can see from the results that electronic devices for government school parents in Canberra is below that of other areas and other sectors in Canberra too. That came in at $590, which was well below the average," she said.

Estimates show a Catholic education would cost $197,667 over 13 years, which was considerably higher than Sydney ($178,478) and Melbourne ($184,366).

Independent education costs were eight per cent less than the national average, coming at $275,486 over 13 years.

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The calculations assume that school fees will increase at the same rate as the Australian Bureau of Statistics' inflation rate predictions.

The study found Catholic school parents would spend $2979 on outside tuition, $2782 for fees, $863 on electronic devices, $787 on musical instruments and $534 on transport.

"What jumped out there was a high level of our contribution that really seems to have pushed up the cost of the Catholic education in Canberra," Ms Hill said.

"That potentially is down to the fact that we've being so locked down for a couple of years that parents are looking to provide extra help and support for kids who haven't been in the classroom and may have fallen behind."

The analysis suggests independent school parents would fork out $7939 for fees, $1767 on outside tuition, $1128 on electronic devices, $651 on musical instruments, $409 on school camps and $381 for transport.

Ms Hill said parents often underestimated the ancillary costs of school that fall outside school fees.

"Lots of parents don't understand until they begin that school journey and realise that they've got their hands in their pocket so often, particularly at this time of year," she said.

Total estimate for a child starting school in 2023:

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