Your child can start with us in Prep, or arrive for Year 7 — and leave with a university place. Most Korean families come to Brisbane together and live here while their child studies.
Thirty-three hectares in Daisy Hill, shared by children from around 70 nationalities. Sport, music, science and the pool are all a walk from the classroom — not a bus ride, not an extra fee, and not something your child has to choose between.
Prep to Year 12 on a single campus. No second admissions process at twelve, no changing schools, no starting again with new friends and new teachers.
The Stephen Paul Aquatic Centre, the Stephen Bean Theatre, the Stephen Bowers Oval, a Science Centre, a dance studio and the Noelene Munns Learning Centre — all inside the school gate.
More than 13 inter-school sports for girls and boys across all four terms, three inter-school carnivals, indoor and covered courts, ovals and an athletics centre. Every child plays — not just the best ones.
Bands, string orchestras, choirs and chamber groups, with group and private lessons from Prep to Year 12 in instrumental, vocal and dance. Our Korean graduate Kris Pyun played in eight ensembles.
Our primary school delivers the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme. Our secondary school follows the Australian Curriculum, then the Queensland Certificate of Education and an ATAR for university entry.
Taught by our own language specialists, in the same place your child goes to school. No separate campus, no extra journey at the end of the day.
Primary to Year 12
Ahead of the Queensland average in every NAPLAN subject at Years 3 and 5 — and, thirteen years later, our strongest median ATAR on record.
See our full results and every year since 2020Across all five subjects at Years 3 and 5 in 2026 — in their second language, with no student withdrawn or exempted.
98%
of their results were at or above the expected level
64%
were above it — ACARA level Exceeding
reach the expected level or beyond, against a Queensland average of 67%. Our results have improved three years in a row.
NAPLAN is sat by every child in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9, on the same days, right across Australia — which is what makes it comparable between schools. See the full NAPLAN detail
The ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) is the score Australian universities use to offer places. It runs from 0 to 99.95. International students sit the same subjects and the same external examinations as everyone else. Percentages are of the known ATAR-eligible Year 12 cohort. What is the ATAR?
Some Korean families arrive when their child is five. Others arrive when their child is thirteen. Both work here — both schools sit on the same thirty-three hectares, and share the same teachers, the same wellbeing program and the same destination.
A child who arrives in Prep or Year 1 does not learn English and then start school. They learn English by going to school — beside Australian children, in the same classroom, in the years when a new language comes most easily.
By the time the decisions that matter arrive — subject choices in Year 10, the ATAR in Year 12 — English is no longer the thing standing in the way. It is simply the language your child thinks in.
That is the whole argument for starting early, and it is why so many of our Korean families did. Starting early is the easiest route — it is not the only one.
For children whose English and school reports already meet our benchmarks. Your child joins their year level and learns alongside their Australian classmates from day one.
For children who need time to get there first. An intensive English and academic bridge that moves your child into mainstream primary classes when they are ready.
No external English test result is required to apply through the Preparation Pathway.
Many of our Korean students start in Year 7, 8 or 9. They arrive with school English, and they finish with an ATAR that opens Australian universities. Both of the Korean graduates further down this page came this way.
Your child does not change schools at twelve. They walk to a different part of the same thirty-three hectares, keep the same friends, and carry on with the teachers who already know them.
Junior Secondary, Years 7–10 Senior Secondary, Years 11–12 →
Students try subjects across the full Australian Curriculum and build their own JETPlan — a Junior Education and Training Plan. In Year 10, eight new specialist subjects unlock.
Every student sits down one-to-one with a career counsellor. Together they choose the subjects that count towards the Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) and the ATAR their university course asks for.
Class of 2025. Our median ATAR was 90.70, our strongest on record. Our top graduate, Chanu Jung, achieved 99.95 — the highest rank possible. 99.4% earned the QCE, and more than half the cohort finished in the top 10% of the state.
For students whose English and school reports already meet our benchmarks. As a guide, that is IELTS 5.5 for Years 7 and 8, and IELTS 6.0 for Years 9 to 12.
For students who need English first. Five levels, from foundation English to academic readiness, taught on our own campus by our own specialists. Students move into Years 7 to 11 when they are ready.
No external English test result is required to apply through the Preparation Pathway.
Fees shown are 2026 tuition. Other one-off and annual fees apply — see the full fee schedule and entry requirements. There are four intakes a year: January, April, July and October. Students do not join Year 12 part-way through, because Years 11 and 12 are a single two-year programme.
Not sure which year level your child would enter, or what the whole journey costs? Try the Pathway Calculator →
Marks are only half of what a family is choosing. The other half is the person your child becomes — and at John Paul College that half has a name, a shape and a program.
SOARING is our own wellbeing and character framework, built on Positive Psychology. It runs through every year from Prep to Year 12 — in primary classrooms and secondary ones alike.
At most schools wellbeing is a word in a brochure. Here it is a program with six branches, and a trunk carrying twenty-four character strengths.
SOARING sits beside Friendology 101, an international program that teaches children how to be a good friend. Each year has its own focus — Begin, Explore, Share, Care, Think, Create, Lead.
SOARING carries twenty-four character strengths through the years when confidence is decided. Students learn to name what they are good at, and to practise it.
For a child who will study, work and lead in a second language, this is not a soft extra. Confidence, teamwork and the willingness to speak up are what turn good marks into real opportunities.
Once a family decides on the school, the next question is always the same: where would we live? John Paul College sits in Daisy Hill, at the southern edge of Brisbane. Everything below is within about twenty-five minutes of the school gate — including a Korean-speaking community with its own supermarkets and restaurants.
Tap a numbered pin — or its row in the list — to see what is there.
The nearest suburb to the campus, and the one most of our staff would name first if you asked where to start looking. Everything a family needs day to day is here, and the school run is barely a journey at all.
A settled residential suburb, sitting between the school and the Sunnybank side of the corridor. It is a common choice for families who want a short school run and easy access to Asian grocers and restaurants.
The newest housing in the area, built as planned estates rather than grown over decades. Families who want a modern house with a garden, close to the school, tend to look here first.
A full regional shopping centre — the place families go for the weekly shop, a haircut, a phone plan and a Saturday afternoon film, all in one trip.
One of the most international suburbs in Brisbane — more than half of its residents were born overseas, and Korean is one of the languages most spoken at home. If you would like Korean-speaking neighbours, this is one of the two places to look.
Immediately next to Sunnybank, and popular with families who want to be close to that community without being in the middle of it. A quieter, more residential street pattern.
Westfield Garden City at Mount Gravatt is the largest shopping centre on Brisbane’s south side. Most families in this part of the city come here for anything they cannot buy locally.
The centre of Asian life in Brisbane, and the reason many families tell us the move felt easier than they expected. You can do a full Korean grocery shop, eat Korean food, and hear your own language spoken — twenty minutes from the school gate.
A real capital city, but a manageable one — safe, walkable and small enough that a family finds its way around within a fortnight. It is close enough to enjoy and far enough that your child grows up with grass and trees.
Drive times are approximate and depend on traffic. College bus services and TransLink public transport cover this area. Our International Team will confirm which routes reach the address you are considering, before you sign a lease.
Whether your child starts in Prep or in Year 9, the usual arrangement is the same. A parent comes too, and the family lives in Brisbane while their child studies. That is why this page talks about suburbs and school buses rather than accommodation.
Your child holds a Student visa (subclass 500). The parent who comes with them normally applies for a Student Guardian visa (subclass 590).
The guardian arrangement runs while your child is under 18. A student who is already 18, or who turns 18 during Years 11 and 12, does not need one.
You will not be the first family to do this. There is an established community of guardian parents at the College. They arrived the same way, found houses in the same suburbs, and can tell you what the first month is really like.
Some of our secondary students come to Australia without a parent. They live in Premium Homestay with a checked local family, or in Fenton Village, our boarding community on campus. Both include specialist welfare and 24/7 support for students under 18. A primary-aged child comes with their family.
Visa decisions are made by the Australian Department of Home Affairs, not by the College, and the rules change from time to time. Please treat this page as an orientation rather than as advice. Our International Team will confirm what applies to your child’s age and your family’s situation before you apply.
One arrived for the secondary years and one grew up here. Both left for an Australian university.
The time difference, the flight, the school year, the year level your child would enter — and what it costs.
Brisbane is one hour ahead of Seoul, and neither country changes its clocks through the year. You can call your child after school, every day, without either of you doing arithmetic.
Incheon to Brisbane is a direct flight of about nine and a half hours. No transit, no changing planes in another country, no overnight stop with a tired child. Grandparents can visit without it becoming an expedition.
The Queensland school year runs from late January to early December, in four terms. A child finishing the Korean school year in February arrives at a natural break, near the start of our Term 1.
| In Korea | At John Paul College | Age on entry |
|---|---|---|
| 초등학교 1–6학년 | Year 1 – Year 6 | 6 – 11 |
| 중학교 1–3학년 | Year 7 – Year 9 | 12 – 14 |
| 고등학교 1–2학년 | Year 10 – Year 11 | 15 – 16 |
This table is a guide. Admissions confirms your child’s final placement from their school reports — and Prep, the year before Year 1, is available for children turning five. Students do not join Year 12 part-way through, because Years 11 and 12 are a single two-year programme.
Tell us your child’s age, school year and English level. We will tell you honestly which entry route fits — direct entry, Primary School Preparation or High School Preparation — before you spend anything.
School reports, English level and an interview with the Head of School. Families applying through the Preparation Pathway do not need a result from any external English test.
Apply online, or through an education agent in Korea if you would rather work with someone locally. Once your child has a place, we help with the visa paperwork, the school uniform and the first week.
Tell us about your child and our International Team will guide you, step by step — primary or secondary, entry route, year level, fees, and where other Korean families have settled. There is no cost, and no obligation to apply.