Private school fees or a move into a school zone
Some families weigh paying private school fees against buying in a suburb zoned to a government school they want. Enter your own fees and two house prices to see the two monthly amounts side by side. Every number is yours to change.
We publish no school fees - use the figure from the school. Prices filled in for you are published suburb medians, not the price of any one house. The 6% rate and 30-year term are placeholders: enter your own.
Enter both house prices and your yearly fees to see the two monthly amounts side by side.
What this counts. The whole price difference is borrowed, on a principal-and-interest loan at one fixed rate, repaid monthly. Fees stay the same every year.
What it leaves out. Stamp duty, agent, legal and moving costs; changes in interest rates, school fees and house prices; uniforms, levies and other school costs; and the fact that loan repayments also pay off a house you still own, while fees do not.
A government school enrols by home address. Check the zone for the exact address on the school zone map and with the school.
General information only, not financial advice. It does not take your circumstances into account. Talk to a licensed financial adviser or mortgage broker before you decide.
How is the extra monthly repayment worked out?
The extra loan is the second house price minus the first. The monthly repayment is the standard principal-and-interest formula: loan x monthly rate / (1 - (1 + monthly rate) to the power of minus the number of months). The monthly rate is the yearly rate divided by 12.
What does break-even mean here?
It is the total of the extra loan repayments divided by your yearly fees: the number of years of fees that add up to the same amount. It is arithmetic on the numbers you enter, not a recommendation.
Where do the house prices come from?
If you pick a suburb, the price is its published median house price (Victorian Valuer-General or NSW Department of Communities and Justice). Queensland has no free official sale-price series, so type a price yourself. You can overwrite any price.
Does SuburbRadar publish private school fees?
No. Fees differ by school and year level and change every year. Use the fee schedule from the school.
Find the suburbs and zones first
The School zone finder lists nearby suburbs with the government primary and secondary school each one is zoned to, and the Move Planner compares two suburbs side by side.
Sources for prefilled prices: VIC Valuer-General Q4 2025, NSW DCJ Mar 2026 - suburb medians. © State of New South Wales (Department of Communities and Justice), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (copyright notice). Fees, rate and term are your own inputs. General information only, not financial advice. Where each dataset comes from