NAPLAN: Geelong’s most expensive schools outperformed by more affordable alternatives

New analysis of the 2025 NAPLAN results has confirmed that Geelong parents do not need to spend copious amounts to secure a top-performing education, with several affordable private schools across the region outperforming high-fee rivals.

Not all Geelong parents are spending copious amounts for high NAPLAN results.

Not all Geelong parents are spending copious amounts to secure a top-performing education, new analysis of the 2025 NAPLAN results confirms, with some affordable private schools across the region outperforming their expensive counterparts.

Following the release of the 2025 NAPLAN results on the My School website, an independent analysis of Year 5 and Year 9 tests has revealed the region’s best performers.

The region’s top-scoring Catholic school was Sacred Heart College Newtown, which ranked fifth in Geelong – with a NAPLAN average of 582.25.

The school’s parental median income sits at $185,000 annually, with year 9 school fees putting them just $8665 out of pocket – about half the price of the school coming in at No. 6, Christian College Geelong, which costs $16,903 for year 9 students and achieved a NAPLAN median of 581.

Principal of Sacred Heart, Anna Negro, said the school was very pleased with its year 9 results.

“We are proud of our students’ achievement and the work of the staff who support them by providing learning opportunities that are co-created where staff design the learning and our students are active partners in the journey,” she said.

The region’s most affordable private school, Clonard College, ranked ninth in the region with a median NAPLAN average of 570.89.

Clonard costs $4505 for year 9 students in 2025 and has a median family income of $145,000.

The school also outranked its more expensive private school counterparts St Joseph’s College Newtown – which costs $7400 for a year 9 student in 2025 and ranked 12th – and Covenant College – costing $8525 and ranking 13th.

Clonard also outranked Iona College Geelong (15) which costs parents $6762 for year 9s, and Geelong Baptist College (22) which costs $7480.

Geelong Lutheran College came in fourth among the region’s NAPLAN top performers, with an average of 586.2.

The independent coeducational school costs more than 24,000 less than The Geelong College, which came in third with a NAPLAN average of 595.6.

Among Geelong’s primary schools, the highest achieving private school was Kardinia International College – ranking fifth and costing $12,044 for year 5s.

But ranking second, just four points behind, was St Patrick’s Primary School in Geelong West, which has annual fees of approximately $2000

Newtown Catholic School St Robert’s ranked ninth in the region, despite costing $1310 for year 5s – significantly less than Geelong Grammar, which ranked 10th and costs $40,140 in year 5 school fees.

The 2025 NAPLAN results for more than 2200 schools were made public on Wednesday, via the My School website.

Australian Catholic University education expert Professor Steven Lewis said NAPLAN results only provided a “partial picture of the complex work schools and teachers do” so shouldn’t be wholly relied upon when parents choose a school for their child.

Originally published as NAPLAN: Geelong’s most expensive schools outperformed by more affordable alternatives