VCE · Victoria · Most-recent published cohort
VCE ATAR results — top Victoria private schools
Median ATAR + % top 1%, 5%, 10%, 20% for 12 Victoria private schools. Real numbers from Better Education + VCAA. Victorian Certificate of Education.
Key takeaways
- Top Victoria school: Presbyterian Ladies' College (Burwood) — median ATAR 93.8.
- 12 Victoria private schools have published VCE ATAR data in the most-recent cohort released by Better Education.
- Victoria has the densest concentration of high-performing private schools per capita in Australia. Most publish median study score and % of study scores 40+ alongside the ATAR percentile bands.
- Cross-state comparison via ATAR is valid: ATAR is a national percentile rank (0–99.95), so a VCE ATAR of 95 represents the same percentile position as a VCE/HSC ATAR of 95.
VCE leaderboard
Top 12 Victoria private schools by VCE performance
Ranked by median ATAR where available, otherwise by % of cohort with ATAR 99+. Some schools publish only a subset of metrics.
| # | School | Suburb | Median ATAR | % 99+ | % 95+ | % 90+ | Med study score | % 40+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Presbyterian Ladies' College | Burwood | 93.80 | 12% | 20% | 68% | 35 | 24.1% |
| 2 | Camberwell Girls Grammar School | Canterbury | 93.20 | 12% | 44% | — | 36 | 27.5% |
| 3 | Melbourne Grammar School | South Yarra | 92.55 | 15% | 38.5% | 61% | 36 | 29.3% |
| 4 | Camberwell Grammar School | Canterbury | 91.45 | 13% | 33% | — | 34 | 20.3% |
| 5 | Ballarat Clarendon College | Ballarat Central | 90.30 | — | — | — | 37 | 35% |
| 6 | Bialik College | Hawthorn East | 90.30 | — | — | 55% | 36 | 24.8% |
| 7 | Trinity Grammar School | Kew | 89.80 | — | 32% | — | 35 | 21.6% |
| 8 | Ivanhoe Grammar School | Ivanhoe | 88.85 | — | — | — | 35 | 20.9% |
| 9 | Ruyton Girls' School | Kew | — | 15% | 39% | — | 36 | 30.9% |
| 10 | Scotch College | Hawthorn | — | 14.17% | — | — | 34 | 19% |
| 11 | Lowther Hall Anglican Girls Grammar | Essendon | 85 | — | — | — | 34 | 18.5% |
| 12 | King David School | Armadale | — | — | — | — | 36 | 22.2% |
Sorted by median ATAR
Victoria schools ranked by median ATAR
Half the cohort sits above this figure, half below. The single most-cited measure of school cohort strength.
Presbyterian Ladies' College
Burwood · girls (co-ed ELC only) · Presbyterian
Camberwell Girls Grammar School
Canterbury · girls · Anglican
Melbourne Grammar School
South Yarra · boys (co-ed Prep-Year 6) · Anglican
Camberwell Grammar School
Canterbury · boys · Anglican
Ballarat Clarendon College
Ballarat Central · co-educational · Uniting Church
Bialik College
Hawthorn East · co-educational · Jewish
Trinity Grammar School
Kew · boys · Anglican
Ivanhoe Grammar School
Ivanhoe · co-educational · Anglican
Lowther Hall Anglican Girls Grammar
Essendon · girls · Anglican
VCE explained
How VCE scaling works
Credential. Victorian Certificate of Education, awarded by VCAA — Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority at completion of Year 12.
Score system. Study scores out of 50 (mean 30, SD 7). A study score of 40 places a student in the top ~8% of that subject.
Scaling. VCE study scores are scaled per subject by VTAC. Specialist Maths, Maths Methods, Latin, Chinese SL and Physics tend to scale UP; Health & Human Development, PE, Business Management, Studio Arts tend to scale DOWN. The strongest 4 study scores plus 10% of next 2 form the aggregate, which converts to ATAR.
ATAR. A national percentile rank from 0–99.95 in 0.05 increments. Set by ACTAC/UAC/QTAC/SATAC/TISC depending on state. ATAR 95 = top 5% nationally regardless of credential.
Common questions
VCE ATAR — common questions
What is a good VCE ATAR?
A VCE ATAR above 90 is in the top 10% nationally — competitive for Commerce, Science, Engineering at sandstone universities. Above 95 opens Law and double degrees. Above 99 is the standard threshold for Medicine.
What is a study score of 40?
A study score of 40 in a single subject means the student outperformed roughly 92% of state cohort in that subject after scaling. Schools often publish their % of study scores 40+ as a more granular measure than ATAR median.
How does VCE compare to HSC for ATAR?
ATAR is a national percentile rank, so a VCE ATAR of 95 and an HSC ATAR of 95 represent the same percentile position nationally. Underlying credentials (study scores vs HSC bands) differ but the rank is comparable.
Which Victorian private school has the highest ATAR results?
On median ATAR, results vary by year. Sydney Grammar (HSC) and Melbourne private schools like Scotch College, Melbourne Grammar, Presbyterian Ladies College and Methodist Ladies College consistently feature near the top. See the table above for the most-recent published cohort.
Methodology
Data + sources
ATAR figures sourced from Better Education's VCE state rankings, which aggregate results published by each school + the VCAA results notification.
Schools matched to our private school registry by city + name. Only confident matches included. The absence of a school here means either: (a) the school did not publish detailed cohort statistics; (b) the school's results sat outside Better Education's published top ~30 for the state; or (c) the school is public/selective and out of scope for a private-school directory.
Public selective schools (James Ruse, Sydney Boys, Melbourne High, Mac Robertson, Perth Modern) typically top absolute state rankings but are excluded from this directory.
Cohort year: most-recently published cohort (typically 2024 results released early 2025). Released under CC BY 4.0 with attribution to Better Education for source figures.