Queensland is home to prestigious boarding schools that champion academic excellence, holistic character development, and personal growth for the students they educate. They provide a strong academic foundation and, through the boarding dynamic, a nurturing environment that fosters cultural awareness and a strong sense of community.
For many rural and remote families, Queensland boarding schools create a connection to quality education that helps students access world-class learning and pave the way for a potentially rich future.
Boarding school life does come at a cost, though, so it’s not for everyone. But for students with clear academic goals, who may feel that they could not otherwise create a positive pathway to future tertiary studies, being a boarder is seen by many as a positive educational option.
Somerville House
Somerville House is a single-sex boarding school for girls, located in south Brisbane. The school combines historic architecture with modern facilities and a rich program of cultural, sporting, and leadership activities. The environment encourages girls to thrive in all aspects of life with an ethical foundation built on integrity, empowerment, and diversity.
“There is no better example of the celebrated Somerville House spirit than that embraced by the boarding community.”
Boarding is offered to students from year six with in-house kitchens, supervised study areas, and Brisbane city views. A Big Sister program supports new students as they settle in, and traditions such as dining together with table families instil a sense of belonging and sow the seeds of lifelong friendships. Leave options include family dinner leave, weekend, weekend day and after-school leave.
Find out more
www: Boarding at Somerville House
Annual fees: from $26,880 per year
Co-curricular activities include: chess, debating, drama, faith-based groups, robotics, and sports, language and music tours.
Rockhampton Grammar School
Queensland’s largest boarding school is co-ed and known for its dedication to academic excellence, The school community describes a vibrant campus with extensive academic facilities and an ethos that emphasises community service, global citizenship, and fostering students’ leadership potential.
“Boarding has formed the core of the Rockhampton Grammar School since our founding in 1881 and will always be at the heart of our school.”
Round-the-clock assistance is available to boarders, with a focus on emotional wellbeing that’s supported by a school psychologist and visiting chaplain. The school’s agricultural facilities and activities also allow students from rural Queensland to “maintain their connection to the land and thrive with a more interactive style of learning”.
Find out more
www: Boarding at Rockhampton Grammar School
Annual fees: from $20,924 per year
Co-curricular activities include: outdoor education, dance, musical theatre, agriculture activities, athletics, art club, Australian rules, cadets, chess, cricket, football, futsal, hockey, cattle show teams, mooting, netball, optiminds, photography, rowing, softball, and rugby.
Toowoomba Grammar School
Toowoomba Grammar is a boarding school for boys that was founded in 1877. It’s situated on the Great Dividing Range and offers students accommodation with a blend of heritage architecture and modern facilities.
Toowoomba Grammar School (TGS) acknowledges the specific challenges of monitoring mental health in boys and men saying, “Boys can often disguise their emotions, making it difficult to gauge their true feelings”.
It is the first boarding school in Australia to roll out use of the Skodel check in app to monitor individual mental wellbeing daily, equipping Heads of House to offer additional support when required.
Toowoomba Grammar facilitates an Indigenous learning program with a dedicated coordinator for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Active learning is promoted through clubs, societies, and outdoor education programs, nurturing a sense of adventure and independence in TGS boys.
Find out more
www: Boarding at Toowoomba Grammar School
Annual fees: from $25,110 per year
Co-curricular activities include: outdoor education, dance, musical theatre, agriculture activities, athletics, art club, Australian rules, cadets, chess, cricket, football, futsal, hockey, cattle show teams, mooting, netball, optiminds, photography, rowing, softball, and rugby.
Ipswich Grammar School
Ipswich Grammar School is the oldest of its kind in Queensland. It’s a prep to year 12 independent day school for boys and offers boarding from year seven. A stunning campus combines historical charm with modern amenities in support of the school motto “work hard with honour.”
Ipswich Grammar champions the innovative ‘Explicit Teaching’ method. Teachers design lesson plans focused on critical core content, and then break it into smaller blocks. Preparation, organisation and regular feedback are key with the school reporting that, “this type of teaching approach enables our boys to grasp the fundamentals through review and repeated practice. Our teachers focus on the basics in a fun and engaging way. The benefits to our boys are both immediate and long-term”.
Boarding at Ipswich Grammar, the school says, nurtures independence, team skills, life skills and social skills. The school also believes that boarders bring a sense of community that enriches the experience for day students.
“When boys enter our Boarding community at Ipswich Grammar School they will journey through a myriad of experiences and emerge as competent, skilled and independent young men ready to take on the world.”
Find out more
www: Boarding at Ipswich Grammar School
Annual fees: from $35,448 per year
Co-curricular activities include: basketball, chess, cricket, cross country, debating, football, music, rugby, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.
Clayfield College
Brisbane’s Clayfield College was a girls-only boarding until this year when the college began transitioning to a coeducational day and boarding school. Clayfield College will now adopt the Parallel Learning model, educating boys and girls in single-gender classes on a co-educational campus – a dynamic that Clayfield believes will benefit students socially and emotionally.
Clayfield is a former hospital, and the layout lends itself well to the transition. Plans for renovations to the Carolyn Hauff Boarding House will see it adapted to create separate boy and girl living facilities, with communal areas for dining.
Find out more
www: Boarding at Clayfield College
Annual fees: from $47,775 per year
Co-curricular activities include: robotics, community service, chess, artbix, audio-visual crew, debating, ISCF (Interschool Christian Fellowship), She Can STEM, titration club (chemistry skills), music, choirs, bands, sports, gymnastics, and athletics.
Brisbane Boys’ College
Brisbane Boys’ College is a single-sex boys’ boarding school located five kilometres from the Brisbane CBD. An expansive campus offers top-notch sports facilities, a strong academic curriculum, and a focus on holistic growth. This ultimately, the school believes, encourages the boys to embrace challenges, strive for excellence, and contribute positively to society.
Boarding at Brisbane Boys’ College (BBC) involves individual academic and personal support for every boy. Connection is the key here and the school provides a residential curriculum that immerses BBC boys in “academic, sporting, co-curricular, service and cultural offerings” while providing “intentional learning opportunities for boarders across a myriad of both life and learning experiences, developing their academic skills alongside life skills, teamwork and resilience to see them emerge as competent, independent young men”.
Find out more
www: Boarding at Brisbane Boys’ College
Annual fees: from $60,191 per year
Co-curricular activities include: creative arts, athletic development, track and field, basketball, chess, cricket, cross country, debating, football, gymnastics, rowing, rugby, sailing, swimming, tennis, volleyball, and water polo.
St. Hilda’s School
St. Hilda’s is a single-sex girls’ boarding school for year six and above on the Gold Coast. It’s on a mission to “develop confident, creative and articulate young women who are connected globally and strive to make a difference in their own community”. This is achieved, the school says, in a nurturing learning environment “targeted at developing the whole”.
St. Hilda’s School has created a space aimed at ensuring every one of its 170 boarders feels a genuine sense of belonging. Staff live on site too and support the girls in a program of social and academic development. Girls have access to a connection and activities coordinator, and mature and same age ‘role models’ to assist with finding balance throughout their boarding life.
Find out more
www: Boarding at St. Hilda’s School
Annual fees: from $38,279 per year
Co-curricular activities include: music, tennis, speech and drama, chess, dance, gymnastics, netball, aquatics, and yoga.
Nudgee College
Nudgee College is a Catholic single-sex boys’ school set on the outskirts of Brisbane. It was founded in 1891 and combines historic architecture with modern boarding facilities for students from year five. The school’s emphasis on faith, service, and community involvement purports to shape well-rounded young men who are socially aware and ethically conscious.
“Independent, resilience and confidence” are on the menu for boarders at Nudgee College’s Bathersby Boarding Village. It’s a relatively new facility, built in 2015, with design innovations that include vertical gardens for air purity, a central courtyard for social gatherings, and monitored entryways and exits.
Find out more
www: Boarding at Nudgee College
Annual fees: from $36,170 per year
Co-curricular activities include: AV crew, basketball, cattle club, chess, cricket, cross country, debating, football, music, rowing, rugby, STEAM and robotics.
These Queensland boarding schools offer holistic education, alternative learning methods, character development, and well-rounded ethical values. Through facilities, activities, and mentoring, they aim to offer Australia’s next generation opportunities for academic success and purposeful lives, lived with integrity, as the students reach adulthood and, hopefully, give back to society.
