Tutoring Franchise Southern Highlands

The Southern Highlands sit on the tablelands between Sydney and Canberra, roughly an hour and a half south-west of the city by the Hume Motorway. Bowral, Mittagong and Moss Vale are the three main towns, with villages such as Berrima, Bundanoon, Robertson, Exeter and Hill Top spread between them. For anyone weighing up a tutoring franchise in the Southern Highlands, this is a market defined less by sprawl and more by community: a small number of towns, a well-known group of schools and parents who tend to talk to each other.

Wingecarribee Shire, the council area that covers the highlands, was home to about 52,700 people at the 2021 Census, up from fewer than 48,000 five years earlier, according to Census figures published through the council's community profile. Much of that rise came from families and professionals leaving Sydney, many of whom now work from home for part of the week.

Schools in the highlands

Highlands students follow the NSW syllabuses written by the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA). They sit NAPLAN in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 and the Higher School Certificate (HSC) at the end of Year 12. Families who want a selective high school place can enter their child in the statewide Selective High School placement test in Year 6, though there is no selective high school in the shire itself.

What sets the area apart is the number of non-government schools for a population of its size. Within a few kilometres of each other are:

• Chevalier College at Burradoo, a large Catholic co-educational secondary school.
• Oxley College, an independent school, also at Burradoo.
• Frensham at Mittagong, a long-established girls' school with boarders, and its junior school, Gib Gate.
• Tudor House, a preparatory school at Moss Vale.
• Southern Highlands Christian School in Bowral.

On the government side, Bowral High School and Moss Vale High School serve most local secondary students, fed by public primary schools in every town and village. A household might have one child at a local public primary, another sitting a scholarship test for an independent school, and an older teenager preparing for the HSC.

What families here look for

Tutoring demand in the highlands has its own character:

• Scholarship and entry tests. With several independent schools close by, many families prepare children for scholarship or entrance assessments in the later primary years.
• Settling newcomers. Children who arrive mid-year from Sydney or interstate often need help adjusting to a new school and filling gaps.
• Rural distances. Students in villages such as Robertson, Bundanoon or Colo Vale can be a long way from specialist help, so a centre in a main town draws from a wide area.
• Senior years. Parents of Year 10 to 12 students want steady support with English and Maths as HSC assessments begin to count.

For families here, a local, retail-style centre in one of the main towns fits around school pick-ups, weekend sport and long rural drives far better than a trip down the Hume.

Where the opportunity sits

Bowral

The territory currently on the map is centred on Bowral, the largest town and the main shopping and dining strip of the region. Bong Bong Street and the surrounding retail precinct draw families from Burradoo, East Bowral, Burrawang and the outlying rural properties. Bowral also sits close to most of the independent schools listed above.

Mittagong and the northern villages

Mittagong, at the northern entry to the highlands, has seen new housing at Renwick and nearby estates, and is the first stop for families coming down the Hume from Sydney. Braemar, Willow Vale, Hill Top and Colo Vale extend that catchment north.

Moss Vale and the south

Moss Vale is the shire's administrative centre, home to the council and an industrial area that employs many locals. Further south, Bundanoon, Exeter and Sutton Forest add village households, while the Southern Highlands train line links Moss Vale, Bowral and Mittagong north to Campbelltown.

Check the map and table on this page for the current status of each highlands territory.

Owning a centre in the Southern Highlands

You do not need a teaching background. Partners run the business side: the centre, the team and relationships with local families. Many Success Tutoring partners came from corporate, finance, engineering and small-business careers.

Support that may be offered to partners covers site selection and leasing, centre fit-out, tutor recruitment and training, learning resources, launch and local marketing, and ongoing support from the head office team. The franchise agreement and disclosure documents set out exactly what is provided.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Southern Highlands big enough for a tutoring centre?

The highlands are smaller than a Sydney suburb cluster, but they act as one catchment, with families travelling into Bowral, Mittagong or Moss Vale for shopping, sport and school. Each territory is drawn around households and school-age children, and the data on this page shows the figures for the Bowral area.

Do highlands families prepare for independent school scholarships?

Many do. Several independent and Catholic schools operate in the shire, and scholarship or entry assessments are a common reason families seek extra help in the upper primary years.

Can tutors be found in a regional area like this?

Recruiting in a regional area takes planning. Tutor recruitment and training are among the areas where Success Tutoring may provide support, as described in the franchise documents.

What legal protections apply when buying a franchise in NSW?

The national Franchising Code of Conduct, enforced by the ACCC, requires a franchisor to give you a disclosure document and the franchise agreement before you sign. Seek independent legal advice and speak to an accountant before committing.

To compare this area with the rest of the state, visit our New South Wales page. You can also read about how the process works or meet some of our partners in franchise stories.