You might have heard the words school catchment thrown around a lot recently, particularly when it comes to buying property in Brisbane.
Firstly, lets define what a School Catchment Zone actually is.
In simple terms, it’s a defined area within a suburb that marks where a certain public school will accept student enrolments. In other words, if you live within the catchment, your kids can go to that school.
In Brisbane, there are several catchment areas for the various public schools but what I’ve come to find as a local Brisbane Buyer’s Agent is that the majority of parents are flocking to particular catchments because the schools in those areas are outperforming other schools around Brisbane.
These are what are considered the “better” public schools based on their state overall score.
So rather than pay for an expensive private school education, parents are choosing to live in these catchment areas and send their kids to these schools instead.
Whether you buy or rent in one of these areas, either way, if you live in catchment, your kids are in.
Buyers often ask me, can a school catchment zone be changed? In other words, if I live just outside of the catchment zone, is there a chance it could be changed? The short answer to this is, Yes. The department of education can change the catchment zone, but I wouldn’t rely on it.
Now, there’s a chance you could get your kids into a certain school if you don’t live in the catchment area. If a school has not reached its student enrolment capacity, the school may take enrolments from students who live outside of catchment.
A great example of this is Ascot Primary on Brisbane’s northside.
Ascot has long been recognised as one of Brisbane’s premium blue chip suburbs and it’s no wonder, with the average house price in the area being just shy of $1.4 Million, and some properties achieving sales of up to $8 Million. (Take a drive down Sutherland Avenue and you’ll see what I mean.)
Parents camp outside the school just to get their kids in.
I have friends who camped outside the school gates, so they could be one of the first to be considered for an out of catchment enrolment. Crazy yes?! If you’re a parent, well, maybe not. After all, your child’s education is pretty important right? So with that said, you can see how owning a property in a popular school catchment zone is a good idea.
Aside from Ascot Primary, these are the five (5) school catchment zones that I like to buy in, simply because this is where the demand is coming from when it comes to families looking to live in these areas.
- Mansfield State High School
- Eagle Junction State School
- Rainworth State School
- Brisbane State High School
- Indooroopilly State School
If you want to check to see which catchment area your property falls into, go to https://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/maps/edmap/.
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