Low-priced Catholic schools outperforming their local government counterparts

Low-priced Victorian Catholic schools are outperforming their government counterparts by up to five VCE points. Search to see how your school stacks up.

Mum Alana has two kids, Sienna, 9, at Catholic primary who will go to Salesian College in Sunbury in a few years time. Picture: Alex Coppel

Catholic schools with fees of a few thousand dollars are academically outperforming many of their local state high schools.

For fees as little as $5000 a year, parents can get average VCE scores up to five points higher at Catholic schools compared to the local government school.

Of 91 Catholic secondary schools examined by the Herald Sun, 65 were performing better than their local zoned high school, 15 have the same median VCE scores and 11 were outperformed.

Some of the top Catholic schools outperforming their government counterparts are St Columba’s in Essendon, which costs $10,400 a year and has a median VCE score of 33. The local zoned school, Essendon Keilor College, has a median score of 24.

St Columba’s, like many Catholic schools, has a much higher proportion of high socio-economic students than nearby government schools.

St Columbas College in Essendon.

The analysis comes ahead of the acceptance of offers by Catholic schools by families in October and November.

Other top Catholic performers include St Joseph’s Ferntree Gully, which costs under $9000 and has a median VCE score of 32 – nine points than its zoned high school.

Loreto College Ballarat, Clonard College in Herne Hill, Mater Christi in Belgrave and Sacred Heart in Newton are all five to seven median VCE points higher than their neighbourhood high schools.

Those offering the best value include Salesian College in Sunbury, which costs $6680 a year but has a median VCE score of 30 – five points above its zoned high school. Nagle College in Bairnsdale costs less than $5000 per student a year and has a median VCE score of 29 – four points above its local state school.

State schools outperforming their Catholic counterparts include Kyabram P-12 College, Horsham College, Strathmore Secondary College, Braybrook College and Auburn High.

Analysis by Save Our Schools, a lobby group for state schools, shows state schools have more disadvantaged students and less resources.

“Public schools are vastly underfunded for the challenges they face while private schools are vastly over-funded for what they do,” national convener Trevor Cobbold said.

Dr Paul Sharkey, acting executive director of the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria, said “all schools, regardless of sector, are working hard to best meet the needs of each of their students”.

“Catholic schools strive to provide a high-quality, faith-based education of the whole person that nurtures each child’s unique talents,” he said.

Sunbury business owner Alana Joynes, mother of Sienna, 9, and Blake, 8, is considering Salesian College for her children’s high schooling.

“It’s got a solid academic reputation,” she said. “I also like the way it upholds standards on things like uniforms.”

One in five students – about 211,000 – attends one of 498 Catholic schools across the state.