Private school is a general term for both independent schools and catholic schools. Private school means non-public school or non-government school or non-state school in Australia. Independent school is not affiliated with any church or other agency. In Australia, the independent school sector makes up about a third of the private school sector. The Catholic school sector makes up the remaining two thirds. You may find some overlapping between the two groups as there are some Catholic schools with an independent tradition that maintain affiliations across both sectors.