2026-07-10
St Paul's Grammar School（圣保罗文法学校）Australia Study Guide: Programs, Entry Requirements, Costs and Student Life
A practical guide to St Paul's Grammar School in Cranebrook, NSW: an independent Christian Pre-K to Year 12 school running NESA and IB programmes side by side. Covers the IB/HSC senior pathways, international admissions, 2026 fees, homestay options and application timing, all from the school's official website (accessed August 2026).
St Paul’s Grammar School is an independent Christian day school in Cranebrook, New South Wales, roughly an hour west of Sydney’s city centre at the foot of the Blue Mountains. It runs from Pre-Kindergarten to Year 12 and is one of the relatively small group of Australian schools where the New South Wales (NESA) syllabus and the International Baccalaureate (IB) run side by side. This guide pulls together the programmes, entry requirements, costs and living arrangements from the school’s official website, accessed on 5 August 2026; fee figures reflect the published 2026 schedules, so always check the latest version on the school site.
School Profile and Campus
St Paul’s Grammar School sits on a 70-acre campus of native gardens and bushland at 52 Taylor Road, Cranebrook NSW 2749, with a single site shared by local and international students. The school describes itself as a Christian grammar school committed to holistic education, and its IB programmes have been integrated with the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) curriculum for over 30 years. The school is registered with CRICOS under provider code 02267A, which is the registration that allows it to enrol overseas students in its courses. The 2026 school year is published as four terms: Term 1 from 27 or 28 January to 2 April, Term 2 from 22 April to 26 June, Term 3 from 21 July to 25 September, and Term 4 from 13 October to 3 December.
Families considering this school should note two structural points early. First, there is no on-campus boarding: international students live in homestay families or with relatives, both arrangements subject to the school’s approval. Second, because it is a single-campus school, the community is compact and the same facilities serve every year group, from the Pre-Kindergarten classrooms through to the senior study spaces.
Curriculum Pathways
St Paul’s Grammar School divides its curriculum into four stages. Pre-Kindergarten and the Junior School (Kindergarten to Year 6) follow the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) integrated with NESA requirements; the school says it was the first in New South Wales authorised to offer the PYP, in 2002. Mandarin Chinese, specialist music and physical education enrich the primary day, and Year 6 students complete an independent research project presented at the annual Exhibition. Pre-Kindergarten runs in 2-day, 3-day or 5-day weekly options, and entry ages are 4 by the end of April for Pre-Kindergarten and 5 by the end of April for Kindergarten.
In Years 7 to 10, students work through the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) alongside the NESA curriculum. A language is compulsory from Year 7 to Year 10, chosen from French, Chinese or Latin, and from Year 9 students pick two-year electives spanning the arts, design and technology, commerce and sport. The senior years are where the school’s dual-credential model becomes explicit: at Year 11, every student chooses between the NSW Higher School Certificate (HSC) and the IB Diploma. The school says the IB Diploma has been taught there since 1990, that it was the first NSW school to offer the Primary Years, Middle Years and Diploma continuum, and that its senior cohort is typically about half IB, half HSC. IB students take six subjects plus the Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge and CAS; HSC students get a wider subject menu with English compulsory and vocational options available.
International Admissions and Entry Requirements
International students apply through the school’s International Students Programme (ISP). The courses registered with CRICOS for overseas students are Primary (Kindergarten to Year 6, code 041263D), Junior Secondary (Years 7 to 10, code 041264C), Senior Secondary (Years 11 to 12, code 041265B) and the IB Diploma Programme (Years 11 to 12, code 075876E), all delivered on campus at St Paul’s Grammar School.
Admission is assessed on educational background and experience, English language proficiency, and whether the applicant’s age fits the year level requested. Where English is not yet at the required level, the school notes that students may first complete an ELICOS intensive English course before starting their main programme. All international students need a student visa, with requirements set by the Australian government. CRICOS conditions mean international students must attend the full academic term: arriving late or leaving early can put the visa status at risk. The school prefers new international students to start at the beginning of a semester, and for Senior Secondary the rule is strict — Year 11 students must commence in January, with no late enrolments accepted. That single deadline shapes the whole application calendar, so plan backwards from a late-January start.
Tuition, Deposits and Associated Costs
Fees are published per academic year in Australian dollars. The international fee schedule on the St Paul’s Grammar School website, effective from December 2025, sets the application fee at $1,000 per student (non-refundable) and an enrolment deposit of $10,000, due before the school can issue the enrolment confirmation document. Annual tuition is $40,200 for Primary (Kindergarten to Year 6) and $47,900 for Secondary (Years 7 to 12), payable in advance.
Beyond tuition, the schedule lists non-tuition charges: uniforms, textbooks and stationery; accommodation fees of a $250 one-off placement fee, $250 per term monitoring fee and $70 per night homestay fee; IB Diploma exam and administration fees of $215 per term; an HSC charge of approximately $1,500 subject to the NSW government invoice; plus compulsory activity and resource levies and medical insurance. All international students must hold Overseas Students Health Cover, which is the Australian health cover for overseas students and can be arranged through the school or the family. For context, the local fee schedule published alongside it runs from about $14,216 to $24,364 a year depending on year group — international fees sit well above that, so budget on the international rates and leave headroom for levies and living costs.
Accommodation and Daily Life
International students live either with an approved homestay family or with relatives, and in both cases the accommodation is reviewed and approved by St Paul’s Grammar School because of its welfare obligations to overseas students. The homestay programme is aimed primarily at Secondary School students; families of younger international students usually arrange care with relatives, again under school approval. Homestay is charged at $70 per night on top of the placement and monitoring fees, and the school’s Homestay Coordinator provides round-the-clock oversight.
Life on campus centres on the cocurricular academies — dance, drama, music and sport — plus the RFS Cadets programme, with registration and fees handled separately from the main tuition statement. There is no boarding house, so evenings and weekends are the homestay family’s space, which is worth factoring into the decision for families who expected a residential campus. Extra costs such as textbooks, uniforms, camps and optional activities are billed as they arise, so the realistic annual outlay is tuition plus a meaningful buffer.
Scholarships and Application Timing
St Paul’s Grammar School offers a limited number of scholarships for students entering Years 5, 7, 9 and 11, in five categories: Academic, All-Rounder, Performing Arts, Christian Congregational and Financial Support. Academic scholarships are awarded on ACER test results and the principal’s discretion, and the school itself is an ACER examination centre. Financial Support scholarships are means-tested and open to families who have already applied for enrolment. The website marks most scholarship rounds as closed on 27 February 2026 for 2027 entry, with Financial Support still available for applicants; confirm the current round on the school site.
The school publishes no single application deadline, but the calendar is anchored by the January start for Year 11 and the semester-based intakes the school prefers. A realistic sequence is: contact the international enrolments team about year level and places, submit the application with the fee, attend any interview or assessment, receive the pre-offer, pay the deposit, receive the enrolment confirmation, and then apply for the student visa — which argues for starting the process at least six months ahead of the late-January start. This guide is based on the school’s official website as of 5 August 2026; figures and dates can change, so treat the latest version of the school site as authoritative, and talk through your child’s specific year level, English level and budget with our advisers here.