Melbourne’s booming west needs dozens of new government, Catholic, private and specialist schools in the coming years to catch up with the educational access and choice available to residents of other parts of the city.

The Age’s data analysis of exam results shows that schools in the western suburbs are surmounting their challenges and performing competitively in VCE against students from the more educationally advantaged areas of Melbourne.

This analysis of high-achieving western suburbs schools, by VCE results, shows Suzanne Cory High School, Williamstown High School and St Albans Secondary College top the government school table, while Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar School, Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School and Al-Taqwa College are best-performing non-government schools.

Over coming months, The Age is strengthening its focus on Melbourne’s booming west, with a special series examining the positives and challenges the region faces.

In October, our reporters will moderate a West of Melbourne Economic Development Alliance (WoMEDA) summit to discuss a vision for the success of the western suburbs. The alliance of university, industry, community and local government experts works to unlock the west’s economic potential.

Private schools in the west are reporting an enrolments boom. Students are flocking to independent education in the region at twice the average Victorian rate, according to Independent Schools Victoria (ISV).

The lobby group said there were 24 independent schools in the west in 2024, with 23,250 students, up from 18 schools and 16,400 students in 2019. The average annual growth rate of 7.2 per cent is more than twice the state’s average, with further rapid growth expected in the west in coming years.

ISV’s Rachel Holthouse said that faith-based schools were key to the growth in independent enrolments in the west.

“We are seeing more and more lower to middle-income families in Melbourne’s growth areas choosing an independent school education,” Holthouse said.

“This is particularly evident in the growth of Islamic and Christian schools in Melbourne’s west. These schools provide families with an education that aligns with their beliefs and priorities.”

In many parts of the west, such as gentrifying Williamstown, parents seeking private education send children on buses each day across the West Gate Bridge to exclusive schools in the inner-south and inner-east.

The state government, Catholic school authorities and the private sector face challenges to keep up with demand for classroom places as the population in parts of the west grows faster than anywhere else in Australia.

RMIT researchers have calculated that children in Melton and Wyndham live further from their schools than students in any other council area of metropolitan Melbourne. Melton council estimates it will need eight new high schools to cater for 8795 new secondary students expected by 2031.

At St Albans Secondary College, one of the highest-performing government schools in the VCE, which teaches children with backgrounds from more than 60 countries and more than 70 language groups, diversity is a superpower, according to acting principal John Coulson-Silva.

“That diversity gives us a richness. Our students really get to experience the best of every culture and see the differences and understand and appreciate that difference is a strength,” Coulson-Silva said.

The school’s average VCE study score of 31 last year puts it in the academic elite of non-select-entry government schools anywhere in the state, and Coulson-Silva said the teachers and support staff worked hard to overcome social and economic challenges to achieve excellence.

“We have an unrelenting focus on continuous improvement for each and every student, driven by a culture of high expectations,” the acting principal said.

“We realised a long time ago, one size doesn’t fit all for our students and our families.

“We ensure that our classrooms, as much as possible, are calm learning environments for students, where they can feel safe, where the routines are predictable, and we create an environment that prioritises learning, number one.”

The western region’s cultural diversity also poses challenges. The Western English Language School (WELS) provides a specialised curriculum for students who are entitled to up to 12 months of intensive English language instruction.

But the language school is co-located with mainstream schools in the Maribyrnong, Brimbank, Hobsons Bay and Wyndham council areas, and the one primary school in Melton offering the service only teaches children up to year 6.

The National Growth Areas Alliance says Melton schools are reporting large numbers of students entitled to enrol in the program, but who would not sign up for WELS because of the long journeys required to access the lessons.

High-achieving students in the west also often face a long commute to their school of choice. John Monash Science School in Clayton told this masthead last year that some of its students from Point Cook spent two hours each way travelling to school.

Access to the academically elite select-entry government schools is another huge challenge for families in the west, with only one of the four main select secondary schools, Suzanne Cory High School in Werribee, located west of the Maribyrnong River.

The state government has acknowledged the gap, putting $1 million in this year’s budget for a feasibility study for a new select-entry maths and science school in the north-western suburbs.

Education Minister Ben Carroll said the government was working hard to meet the soaring demand for classroom places in the west.

“We have opened 32 new schools in Wyndham and Melton LGAs [local government areas] since 2017 and are opening a further seven new schools in Wyndham and Melton in the next two years – ensuring every Victorian student can access a world-class education close to home,” the minister told this masthead.

Carroll’s office said there were plans to expand the English language program in Melton.

The Catholic school sector is also building in the west, as it, too, experiences surging demand for places, a spokesperson for the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools said.

“We are continuing to invest in new schools alongside our communities to meet the growing demand for education, especially in the western and northern growth corridors,” the spokesperson said.

The West of Melbourne Summit, presented by WoMEDA with The Age, will be held on October 22 and 23. For details go to womeda.com.au

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