Barker College Fees 2026: Total Costs, Scholarships and Entry

Barker College fees for 2026 range from $29,190 a year in Pre-Kindergarten to $47,365 a year in Year 10, according to the official 2026 fee schedule on barker.college (checked 13 November 2026). Those are Barker’s “fixed fees”: tuition plus a compulsory Activity Charge and Technology Levy. Tuition alone runs from $28,310 (Pre-K) to $44,720 (Years 10–12). Boarding, offered in the senior years, adds $38,830 a year. Families also pay a $385 Application Fee and a $4,500 Admission Fee for Junior and Middle School entry ($2,800 for Senior School entry), both non-refundable. All amounts are in Australian dollars, and a 2027 fee schedule was not published on the official site when we checked.

If you searched “Barker College fees” or “Barker College tuition”, the yearly number is only the start. Parents also want to know what the fixed fees include, what a full Year 7–12 or K–12 education costs, how the waiting list and confirmed places work, which scholarships exist, and how Barker compares with Knox Grammar and Pymble Ladies’ College nearby. This page answers those questions from Barker’s own website, then sets it beside NIJIN GLOBAL ACADEMY (NGA) — a very different option: an online international school for ages 6–18 that opens in September 2027.

The short answer: who Barker College suits — and who it doesn’t

• Suits: families who want a large, fully co-educational Anglican school from Pre-Kindergarten to Year 12 on one campus. Barker, in Hornsby on Sydney’s upper North Shore, completed its transition to full co-education in 2022.
• Suits: families who like an inquiry-based start and the NSW HSC at the end. The Junior School is an authorised International Baccalaureate World School using the Primary Years Programme (PYP); senior students complete the HSC.
• Suits: families who can plan years ahead. Places in the main intake years are filled years in advance, and the earliest registrations have the strongest position.
• Suits: families from rural and regional NSW in the senior years. Barker runs a small co-educational boarding community of about 60 students and gives preference to country families.
• Harder fit: international students on a student visa. Barker’s enrolment FAQs state that the School is not registered to accept international fee-paying students.
• Harder fit: families deciding late or wanting a non-intake year. Entry outside Pre-K, Kindergarten, Year 3, Year 5 and Year 7 is by waiting list only, with no guarantee of a place.
• Harder fit: families who prefer a weekend-free week. Saturday sport is part of school life from Year 3 to Year 12.

What Barker College is

Barker College traces its roots to 1890, when the Reverend Henry Plume began tutoring pupils at Kurrajong; the school took its name from Frederic Barker, the second Bishop of Sydney, and moved to Hornsby in 1896. It has been owned by the Sydney Diocese of the Anglican Church since 1919. Girls first joined the Senior School in 1975, making Barker the first independent school in Sydney with a co-educational senior school, and the School became fully co-educational from Pre-Kindergarten to Year 12 in 2022. Its motto, Honor Non Honores, translates as “seek honour above rewards”.

Barker also runs Indigenous school campuses: Darkinjung Barker on the Central Coast (opened 2016, in partnership with the Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council), Ngarralingayil Barker in the Lower Hunter (2020) and Dhupuma Barker, a bilingual Kindergarten–Year 6 school for Yolŋu children in North-East Arnhem Land (2021). Darkinjung students visit the Hornsby campus each fortnight for specialist lessons. The Barker Institute is the School’s educational research centre, and in 2025 it added the Barker Parent Institute, which offers events and resources for families. Barker is also a Round Square school and the host of the 2026 Round Square International Conference. Total enrolment is not stated on the official pages we checked.

Barker College fees 2026 by year level (official)

Barker publishes a single 2026 table that adds three items into “Total Fixed Fees per Annum”: tuition, an Activity Charge and a Technology Levy. It also shows a discounted total, which applies a 1.5% discount to tuition (and boarding) when fees are prepaid for the year through the School’s VCPay billing platform. Source: Barker College Fee Schedule, checked 13 November 2026.

Note that the Year 10 total of $47,365 is tuition plus the Activity Charge only: the School says the Year 10 Technology Levy depends on the device chosen and is advised separately. The schedule labels boarding “Years 9 – 12”, while the Applying for a Place page describes boarding entry from Year 10 — ask the Enrolments Office which applies to your child.

What the fixed fees do not include

Each term Barker issues a separate invoice for incidental charges that are “not included in the fixed fees”, such as cadets, school photos, subject-specific excursions and incursions, and the Middle School robotics program. These are collected through VCPay as a lump sum each term. Uniforms, private music tuition and the before- and after-school OSH Club (an independently run service that charges its own fees) are also separate. Barker does not publish an estimate of these costs, so ask the School for a typical figure for your child’s year group.

Discounts, concessions and withdrawal

• Prepayment: a 1.5% discount applies to tuition and boarding fees paid annually in advance through VCPay.
• Siblings: a 5% reduction applies for each subsequent child attending at the same time as an older sibling.
• Clergy: special provision may be made for children of Anglican clergy in certain circumstances.
• Withdrawal: a full school term’s written notice to the Head is required; otherwise one term’s fees are payable. Boarders may move to day enrolment only with the Head’s approval, at the end of a school year and after a semester’s written notice.

What a full Barker education costs (worked examples)

These examples use only the official 2026 figures, assume fees stay at 2026 levels (they will not — the School reviews them annually) and exclude incidental charges, uniforms and the Year 10 Technology Levy:

• Year 7 to Year 12, day student: fixed fees $45,860 + $45,715 + $45,305 + $47,365 + $45,320 + $45,620 = $275,185. Add the $385 Application Fee and $4,500 Admission Fee and the total is $280,070.
• Kindergarten to Year 12, day student: Kindergarten–Year 6 fixed fees total $257,510; with Years 7–12 that is $532,695, or $537,580 including the two entry fees. Starting in Pre-K adds another $29,190.
• Year 7, first year only: $45,860 fixed fees + $385 + $4,500 = $50,745 (the Admission Fee is paid in two halves before entry).
• Boarding for Years 10–12: 3 × $38,830 = $116,490 on top of tuition.

For context on how campus school costs compare with learning online, see our guide to online vs in-person international school costs.

Entry and admissions: intake years, waiting lists and enrolment fees

Barker’s intake years are Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, Year 3, Year 5 and Year 7. A child entering Kindergarten must turn five by 31 March of the starting year. The School states plainly that it “has extensive waiting lists in all year groups”, that places are often secured years in advance, and that having a sibling at Barker gives priority on the waiting list but does not guarantee a place. Sources: Enrolment Steps, Applying for a Place and Enrolment FAQs, checked 13 November 2026.

How the process works

1. Register. Complete the enquiry and registration form and pay $385. Children registered before their first birthday go on an expression-of-interest list; once the cohort turns one, Confirmed Places are offered in order of age at date of registration, subject to the School’s priority order (which can favour children and grandchildren of former students, and families active in a Christian congregation who register before age one).
2. Confirm. If a place is available, pay the $2,250 Confirmation Fee within 14 days. If the cohort is full, your child joins the waiting list by date of application. You may also choose to stay on the waiting list without confirming, but there is no guarantee of a place.
3. Finalise. The Enrolments team asks for documents — a student questionnaire, school reports, NAPLAN results (Year 5), two family references (one from clergy if possible) — 9 months before entry for Pre-K and Kindergarten, 12 months for Year 3, 18 months for Year 5 and 24 months for Year 7. You then pay the balance of the Admission Fee.
4. Orientation. Year 7 entrants have a pre-entry interview with their Head of House in Term 4 of Year 6 and sit a placement test in the term before entry, so they can be grouped appropriately. Pre-K and Kindergarten families have an in-person conversation with the Early Stage 1 team.

Barker does not describe an academic entrance exam for its main intake years; the Year 7 test is for placement, not selection. Entry to Year 10 is different: it is by waiting list only, and applicants are selected for interview based on their questionnaire, school reports and academic assessment, co-curricular activities and commitment to Barker’s values. The School also notes that demand is so high there is “limited availability well into the next decade”.

Scholarships and bursaries at Barker

Barker’s scholarships cover academic tuition only (not the Activity Charge, levies or boarding) and are awarded at the discretion of a Scholarship Panel. According to the Scholarships page (checked 13 November 2026):

• Year 7 Scholarships: up to 100% of tuition; some full scholarships are offered.
• Music Scholarships: 50%–100%. Applicants upload a performance video; some are invited to audition. The minimum standard for Year 7 entry is an excellent result in AMEB Grade 4 or equivalent, and scholars are expected to take Elective Music through to the HSC.
• Co-curricular Scholarships: for high achievement in areas such as drama, art, public speaking, robotics or sport.
• Year 10 Scholarships: part scholarships of 50%.
• Copeland Scholarship: 50%, for a current Junior School student.
• Indigenous Boarding Scholarships: offered with the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation (AIEF) for students entering boarding from Year 9.

Key dates for Year 7 2028 entry: applications are open now and close on Thursday 11 February 2027; the testing date is Thursday 18 February 2027. Every scholarship applicant — including music and co-curricular — sits the academic examination, which is run online by Academic Assessment Services; past papers are not released, but practice tests can be purchased. Results letters are sent by the end of January for Year 7 candidates and by the end of May for Year 10 candidates. Overseas applicants may apply only if they hold Australian residency. An application fee applies, but its amount is not shown on the scholarships page.

Bursaries: Barker’s public pages do not describe a general means-tested bursary or fee-assistance program, and no income thresholds are published. If financial support matters to your decision, ask the Enrolments Office directly.

How a school day works: curriculum, boarding and term dates

Official school hours are 8:25am–2:45pm for Pre-K to Year 2, 8:25am–3:00pm for Years 3–6 and 8:20am–3:20pm for Years 7–12. In the Junior School the class teacher is the main pastoral carer, and learning is framed by the IB Primary Years Programme. The Middle School is organised into 16 Houses, each led by a Head of House with Connect Group Leaders, and pastoral care units across the School are about 22 students. Sport is compulsory in the Senior School, alongside voluntary activities such as Cadets, Robotics, debating, drama productions, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and music. Senior students sitting new HSC Extension courses often have those classes at 7:30am.

Barker’s boarding houses are small — about 60 students — co-educational and air-conditioned, with evening prep sessions and access to tutoring. Brothers and sisters can board together.

Term dates (official): in 2026, Term 1 ran 30 January–2 April, Term 2 21 April–26 June, Term 3 21 July–24 September and Term 4 12 October–2 December (Junior School) / 3 December (Secondary). In 2027, classes start on Thursday 28 January; Term 1 ends 9 April, Term 2 runs 27 April–25 June, Term 3 starts 19 July and Term 4 starts 11 October. Source: Barker Term Dates, checked 13 November 2026.

For comparison, an online school organises the day very differently — see how a day at an online international school works.

Accreditation, HSC and university recognition

Barker’s Junior School is an authorised International Baccalaureate World School for the Primary Years Programme. In the secondary years students follow the NSW curriculum and complete the Higher School Certificate (HSC), awarded by the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA). The ATAR calculated from HSC results is the standard basis for entry to Australian universities and is widely understood by universities overseas. Barker’s HSC subjects page describes Extension courses in English, Mathematics, History, Science, Music and Languages. The pages we checked do not offer the IB Diploma in Years 11–12, and we did not find a current official HSC results summary on the website, so we do not quote ATAR statistics here.

Barker vs nearby schools: Knox, Pymble and NGA (official data)

Barker is often compared with other North Shore independent schools. The biggest difference is not price: Barker is fully co-educational, while Knox Grammar (Wahroonga) is a boys’ school and Pymble Ladies’ College is a girls’ school. Fee structures also differ — Barker builds an Activity Charge into its fixed fees, while other schools bill some activities separately — so compare totals, not just tuition lines.

Sources: Barker Fee Schedule; Knox Fee Schedule 2026 (PDF); Pymble College Fees 2026 (PDF); NGA facts from the curriculum and timetable page. All checked 13 November 2026. For the full breakdowns, read our Knox Grammar School fees guide and Pymble Ladies’ College fees guide; families also comparing Shore’s fees or Sydney Grammar School’s fees will find those pages useful too.

Reviews and common concerns, answered honestly

Parents researching Barker tend to raise the same questions. Here is what the official pages say, so you can weigh them yourself.

“Is Barker worth around $45,000 a year?”

That depends on what your child will use. The fixed fees buy a co-educational Pre-K–12 campus, an IB PYP Junior School, a wide HSC program, compulsory sport, a large co-curricular program, Round Square exchanges and conferences, and small boarding houses. Families who will use much of that often see strong value; families who mainly want classroom teaching may weigh it differently.

“Can we still get a place?”

Honestly, it can be hard. Barker says it has extensive waiting lists in all year groups and that many families on them — including some with siblings at the School — will not be offered a place. If you are applying for a near-term year, ask the Enrolments Office about current availability rather than assuming either way, and keep a second option open.

“Do we need tutoring for an entrance test?”

Not for the main intake years: entry depends on date of application, the priority list and documentation, and the Year 7 test is for class placement. The scholarship examination is different — it is a competitive academic test for families seeking a scholarship. Year 10 entry via the waiting list also considers academic assessment.

“What will we pay beyond the fee table?”

Termly incidental charges (cadets, photos, subject excursions, robotics and similar), uniforms, music lessons and out-of-school-hours care. Barker does not publish an estimate, so ask for one when you are offered a place.

“Is Barker right for a family not living in Australia?”

Barker is not registered to enrol students who need a student visa. Australian citizens and residents living overseas can apply, and scholarship applicants must hold Australian residency.

Alternatives to Barker College worth comparing

Knox Grammar School in Wahroonga suits families looking for a boys’ school with boarding and a long HSC track record. Its 2026 tuition is $42,640 for Years 7–10 and $45,120 for Years 11–12, plus a Technology Levy; demand is very high. Read our Knox fees guide.

Pymble Ladies’ College suits families who want an all-girls K–12 school that is non-selective and allocates places by application date, with 2026 Years 7–12 tuition of $44,710–$45,820. Read our Pymble fees guide, or browse our overview of international schools in Sydney.

NIJIN GLOBAL ACADEMY (NGA) is a different kind of option. It is an online international school for ages 6–18 focused on Asia and Oceania, opening in September 2027 (planned), with free trial classes monthly from September 2026 and pre-opening trial classes in April–May 2027. Its first cohort is 100 students, and it is operated by NIJIN Inc. in Japan, whose alternative school NIJIN Academy has more than 1,000 students. NGA does not rank children by test scores: lessons are small-group live dialogue (classes of about 8), subjects are learned in English with a bilingual English–Japanese mentor, English levels follow the CEFR, and students join social co-creation projects with companies and governments plus international exchange. An optional Cambridge IGCSE / A-Level pathway is listed on the curriculum and timetable page. There is no academic entrance exam and no English requirement; it can run alongside a local school or as the main school, and it travels with the family if they relocate. Tuition is not yet published; NGA says it will be far more affordable than a typical international school, with no enrolment, facility or uniform fees, materials included and sibling discounts.

Be clear about the trade-offs: NGA is not yet open, is not yet accredited and has no graduates or track record. It does not award the HSC, and it is not a campus school — there is no boarding, campus sport or Saturday competition. Its timetable is built for Asia–Oceania daytime; Sydney is one to two hours ahead of Japan depending on daylight saving, so live classes may fit an Australian day well, but families should still check the timetable against local time. If you want the HSC on a co-educational campus, Barker and its neighbours are the schools to compare. For other online routes, see online school options in Australia and our comparison of online international schools.

See how NGA admissions work →

FAQ

How much are Barker College fees per year?

For 2026, total fixed fees (tuition, Activity Charge and Technology Levy) are $29,190 in Pre-K, $31,635 in Kindergarten, $33,180–$41,490 in Years 1–6, $45,305–$45,860 in Years 7–9, $47,365 in Year 10 (before the device-dependent Technology Levy), and $45,320 and $45,620 in Years 11 and 12. Boarding adds $38,830 (official Fee Schedule, checked 13 November 2026).

What enrolment fees does Barker charge?

A $385 Application Fee, then a $4,500 Admission Fee for Junior and Middle School entry, paid as a $2,250 Confirmation Fee within 14 days of an offer and the $2,250 balance 12–24 months before entry. Senior School entry carries a $2,800 Admission Fee. All are non-refundable.

Does Barker have an entrance exam?

Not for the main intake years: places are offered by date of application and the School’s priority list, followed by documents and orientation. Year 7 students sit a placement test before starting, and scholarship applicants sit an academic exam. Year 10 entry is by waiting list, with academic assessment considered.

Can international students enrol at Barker?

No — Barker is not registered to accept international fee-paying students on student visas. Australian citizens and residents living overseas may apply.

Is Barker worth it, and what are the alternatives?

It can be for families who want a co-educational Anglican Pre-K–12 school and will use its broad program. Families often compare Knox Grammar and Pymble Ladies’ College. NIJIN GLOBAL ACADEMY is a very different, online option for ages 6–18 with no academic entrance exam and no English requirement; it opens in September 2027 and is not yet accredited.

Choosing calmly, with the whole picture

Barker College offers a long-established, co-educational Anglican education on one campus, with an IB PYP Junior School, the HSC and a small boarding community. The most useful things you can do now are to register early, because places go by date of application, and to budget the whole journey — fixed fees, entry fees and the termly extras — rather than one year’s tuition. Whichever school you choose, the right one is the place where your child will be known, stretched and happy.

Tuition and admissions details were checked on the official websites on 13 November 2026. Schools revise fees every year — always confirm on the official site before applying.

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