Queensland Academies Creative Industries Campus (QACI)

"Queensland Academies Creative Industries Campus (QACI) is a selective entry public senior high school located in Brisbane, Queensland, that offers one of Australia's most rigorous academic pathways through the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme."

Established in 2007, the school was founded with a clear and focused mission: to bring together academically motivated students and provide them with the intellectual challenge and creative breadth of the IB Diploma, preparing them for university study and life beyond. What sets QACI apart from a typical secondary school is its deliberate selectivity. Students are admitted through a competitive entry process that includes both academic testing and interviews, ensuring that the student community is composed of like-minded young people who are genuinely ready to embrace the demands of IB study. This shared sense of academic purpose helps foster a culture of intellectual curiosity and mutual encouragement, qualities that many families find particularly appealing when choosing a secondary environment for a motivated learner. The school delivers the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme exclusively, meaning its entire curriculum, staffing, and ethos are oriented around the IB framework. For families already familiar with the IB from postings abroad, or for those seeking a globally recognised credential that will support university applications in Australia and internationally, QACI offers a coherent and well-established pathway. The IB Diploma's emphasis on critical thinking, extended inquiry, and breadth across subject disciplines aligns naturally with the school's creative and academic identity. As the name suggests, QACI places particular emphasis on creative industries as a lens through which students engage with their studies. This distinguishes it from the other Queensland Academies campuses and gives the school a distinctive character — one that attracts students with interests spanning the arts, media, design, performance, and related fields alongside strong academic ambitions. The school is not an arts school in the traditional sense, but rather a place where creativity and rigorous scholarship are understood as complementary rather than competing values. QACI is situated within the Kelvin Grove Urban Village, a vibrant mixed-use precinct in inner Brisbane that integrates residential, retail, and educational spaces alongside the Queensland University of Technology's Kelvin Grove campus. This location places students in an energetic, culturally rich environment with strong connections to higher education and the creative industries that surround them. For expat families relocating to Brisbane, the inner-city setting offers convenient access from many of the suburbs popular with professionals and international residents. As a Queensland state school, QACI is publicly funded, which distinguishes it from the many private international schools that families might consider. Despite this, its selective entry model and IB curriculum mean it operates in a quite different way from a standard neighbourhood high school. For relocating families whose children have the academic profile to gain entry, it represents a genuinely compelling option — one that combines the credibility of the International Baccalaureate with a distinctive creative focus, a purposeful peer community, and the accessibility of a public institution in one of Australia's most liveable cities.