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With fees of more than $30,000 a year at some schools, means-tested, full-free or part-fee scholarships and bursaries are highly sought after.
In addition to showing genuine financial need, successful students must show they can make a contribution to the school.
Students who are successful in obtaining means-tested scholarships are required to maintain throughout their school years the high level of skills upon which they were selected, and will usually be required to participate in more extracurricular activities than other students.
Nevertheless, means-tested scholarships can provide opportunities for students who otherwise would miss out.
What schools are looking for in students is broadening, says Mark McCrindle, social researcher and founder of McCrindle Research.
"They are looking to increase the diversity of their schools, both socio-economically and culturally; high-fee schools don't just want those children from families whose parents attended private schools," he says.
They are broadening what they are looking for beyond academic performance, music, debating and sporting prowess to include students who have creative flair, an entrepreneurial bent or skills in technology, McCrindle says.
Private schools offer means-tested scholarships and bursaries.Credit: Louie Douvis
Schools don't say how many means-tested scholarships they provide. They simply say they have places among their academic, sporting or music and "all-rounder" scholarships, among other categories, where financial need is a component of selection criteria.
And some also have bursaries where money has been gifted to the school to support children who would benefit from being educated at the school and who can make a contribution to the school, but whose families cannot afford the fees.
Ross White, head of production at the Good Education Group, which publishes Good Schools Guide, says schools in NSW are among the most expensive in the country but "not all non-government schools are expensive".
"Some non-government schools are specifically geared toward being affordable," White says.
Figures from the 2016 Census, as reported by the Independent Schools Council of Australia, shows about 13 per cent of enrolments at independent schools are from families with household annual income of less than $52,000. Some of these students would be receiving a full or part scholarships.
Though schools don't state publicly what they consider to be "financial need", some schools ask for Centrelink information, such as whether the family is receiving one of the means-tested Family Tax Benefits.
Some schools ask if they have any family members who previously attended the school. They will want to see evidence of academic achievements. Some schools require all candidates for scholarships and bursaries to sit an examination, not just those seeking academic scholarships.
Families applying for means-tested scholarships and bursaries will have list all sources of income, usually in detail, as well as a breakdown of expenditure, assets and liabilities.
Often they will ask for past tax assessments as well as disclosure of any interests that parents may have in trusts, companies and partnerships and if any of the assets are in a child's name.
Sometimes, these disclosures have to be signed off by an accountant and sometimes the parents must sign a statutory declaration that the disclosures are true and correct.
Some even require a forecast of likely cashflows for the next several years, with an accountant also confirming the forecasts.
There are also means-tested scholarships for students from regional and remote areas. McCrindle says schools with boarders see that as part of their heritage, which they don't want to lose, and are keen to offer scholarships to regional students.
Parents who live in rural and remote areas should be aware that the NSW state government also offers some financial assistance.
For example, there are financial support programs for eligible NSW families who have children boarding away from home in order to complete their secondary education.
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