Australia’s Top 100 Private Schools: The Sydney school ranked as the best in the nation
A Sydney school has been ranked as the best in the entire nation – and in total 25 elite NSW colleges made the top 100. See the full list and find out which school took the crown.
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The official list of Australia’s Top 100 Private Schools has been revealed today by News Corp – and is topped by blue-chip NSW college Sydney Grammar School.
And the all-boys institution is in good company, with Sydney being the home to one in four schools on this list of the nation’s best.
Private schools across the nation were scored on a complex range of metrics including academic results, ATAR scores, campus facilities, student-teacher ratios and funding levels – as well as their breadth of subjects, sports and extra-curricular activities.
Sydney Church of England Girls’ Grammar School – better known as SCEGGS – was ranked the 10th best NSW school, alongside other girls-only institutions Presbyterian Ladies’ College (PLC Sydney) in Croydon, Abbotsleigh in Wahroonga and Pymble Ladies’ College.
SCEGGS head of school Jenny Allum knows her school cannot be all things to all people – for one, it is steadfast in remaining a “feminist” Anglican institution and has no plans to enrol boys. Hard work in the classroom is essential.
A place at SCEGGS is highly sought-after, with parents putting their daughters on the waitlist at birth.
“It’s an interesting thing, to see a woman heavily pregnant coming and checking out the school, but I think that’s an important thing – to think early about what’s right for your daughter,” Ms Allum said.
After 30 years at the helm Ms Allum will retire at the end of this year and hand the reins to her current deputy, Holly Gyton, from 2026.
Asked what they love most about their school, Year 8 students Annabelle Miller, Anja Baker and Zara Anderson cited its small community spirit.
“I love how supportive the environment is; everyone is encouraged to be the best version of themselves,” Zara said.
SCEGGS’ “strength of community” is what Ms Allum will leave the role most proud of.
“I want this to be a happy place. Of course, it can’t be a trip to Luna Park – it’s got to be hard work – but you can enjoy hard work,” she said.
“As a community, we encourage everybody else to work hard too, but you can do so with lightness and joy, optimism and enthusiasm, vitality and dynamism.”
Each of the 10 best schools in NSW are currently single-sex, with Cranbrook School in Bellevue Hill set to enrol girls next year for the first time in its 107-year history.
In the full set of 25 top schools there are just four exceptions – St Andrew’s Cathedral School, which has been fully coeducational since 2008, the academically intensive Reddam House, Barker College which transitioned to coeducation in 2022, and Modern Orthodox Jewish school Moriah College.
Association of Independent Schools NSW chief executive Margery Evans was unsurprised to find out that so many Sydney schools ranked among Australia best.
“The quality of education in the independent sector in New South Wales is excellent ... there’s great diversity,” she said.
“There’s been a huge amount of growth in the outer suburbs of Sydney because that’s where people are, and they’re looking for an education that responds to the needs of their kids.”
Top schools often have additional resources such as specialist staff on the books, including sports coaches, music teachers and counsellors, Ms Evans said.
However, the best schools are the ones where “kids feel seen, connected, comfortable, supported (and) engaged,” she added, and where the leadership team inspires and supports “teachers who are (already) good at their jobs … to be better”.
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