I was interviewed for an article in the Sydney Morning Herald on what motivates a parents’ choice of school. Particularly in the context of parents choosing private schools over public schools even though private school fees keep increasing.

‘The public and private Sydney high schools most popular with parents.‘ by Christopher Harris and Craig Butt, Sydney Morning Herald, 17 Febrary 2026.

“Sean Leaver, who researched school choice while at RMIT a decade ago, has surveyed hundreds of parents across the country about their motivations for choosing a school. He said the biggest motivating factor for parents was risk aversion, meaning parents were simply trying to find a school where they thought their child would be safe.

After that, he said academic performance, status, a school’s disciplinary environment as well as its location came into play.

“Parents are not just one homogenous group. For some parents, the building up of life skills is more important to them. For others, they’re really driven by prestige. For others, it’s pure academic performance,” he said.

He said parents responded quickly to a broader perception that a school was successful, noting information around behaviour or staffing levels quickly seeped out to the broader community.”