Scotch was established in 1851 by Reverend James Forbes, and was originally located in a house in Spring Street and known as the Melbourne Academy. Scotch is the oldest school in Victoria and celebrated its sesquicentenary in 2001.
Although people may mistakenly associate Scotch with the Uniting Church, in 1977 when the Presbyterian Church of Australia was invited to join this new denomination there was a hard fight for Scotch to remain the property of the continuing Presbyterian Church. This fight was successful and Scotch continues to be governed by a Council which is made up of three groups; Old Boys (1/3) nominated by the Old Scotch Collegians' Association, Presbyterian Church of Australia nominees (1/3) and 'members of the Scotch family' nominated by council members from associations including the Scotch Parents' Association and Scotch Foundation.
Tuition fees range between $15,000 and $20,000 (P-12) for day boys and over $35,000 for boarders. It is known as Australia's richest school with an annual budget of over $50 million (not including government funding). Scotch College has recently been under harsh criticism as being overfunded by governments for receiving around $3 million per year (2005) from government sources. The music building was named the James Forbes Academy in honour of the school's founder. There are six ovals on the Scotch College grounds.
Academic research of Who's Who in Australia (a listing of notable Australians) showed that Scotch College alumni were listed more often than those of any other school.[#endnote_who]
Scotch is the only school whose alumni have held each of the offices of Governor-General of Australia, Prime Minister of Australia, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, Head of the Australian Defence Forces, State Governor, State Premier and Chief Justice of a State Supreme Court.
Scotch has produced more Governors-General of Australia (3) and Australian State Premiers (8 Premiers of 4 different States) than any other Australian school.
2 ↑ See (1) Mark Peel and Janet McCalman, Who Went Where in Who's Who 1988: The Schooling of the Australian Elite, Melbourne University History Research Series Number 1, 1992; and (2) Ian Hansen, Nor Free Nor Secular: Six Independent Schools in Victoria, a First Sample, Oxford University Press, 1971
