Where Victoria’s public schools outclass their private counterparts

Public schools are offering top results in just about every corner of Victoria. See the suburbs where they’re outclassing their private counterparts.

Frankston High students Louis Robson, Elly Howell, Lachlan Hollands, Emi Fennessy and Jasmine Adams celebrate the school’s high number of 40+ study schools in English. Picture: Sarah Matray

Schools in the same suburb or town can differ by as much as 10 VCE study score points with public schools outdoing their private counterparts in some cases.

The Sunday Herald Sun can reveal that while paying for private schooling often guarantees better results, there are public schools offering top results in just about every corner of the state.

The latest VCE scores show Cranbourne East Secondary College in Melbourne’s southeast is the best school in the suburb with a median study score of 32 out of 50.

This is higher than the two local private schools — Casey Grammar and Lighthouse Christian School — which both have median scores of 31.

In the neighbouring suburb of Frankston, Frankston High School has a median score of 31, beating the privately run John Paul College on 29.

Glen Waverley Secondary College recorded a median score of 32 — higher than the neighbouring Wesley College on 31.

In the country, Kyabram P-12 College has a median score of 29 which is higher than St Augustine’s College on 26.

Trevor Cobbold from the Save Our Schools lobby group said there was extensive evidence that public schools in Australia have as good results as private schools with similar social composition.

“This is despite having far fewer resources than private schools and government funding policies that have heavily favoured private schools for decades,” Mr Cobbold said.

The new VCE 2021 data shows suburbs like Melton, west of the CBD, are well serviced by schools, with seven providers offering a range of options.

These include OneSchool Global, which has a median study score of 32, through to state schools Staughton College and Kurunjang College, both on 26.

Ringwood residents are also spoilt for choice when it comes to schools with Norwood Secondary College (28) and Yarra Valley Grammar (34) recording good scores.

Some towns only have one school, including Rhyll’s Newhaven College on Phillip Island which charges less than $10,000 for year 12 and has a median study score of 31.

Mallacoota is lucky enough to have a state school with excellent results: Mallacoota P-12 College, which has a median study score of 31 for its 16 pupils.

However, in some areas even low-cost Christian colleges are getting better results than the local high schools.

For example, Packenham Secondary College has a median study score of 26, Lakeside Lutheran College is on 27 and Beaconhills College is on 30.

In such places the amount paid for the private schools is reflected in results, with more expensive campuses getting better study scores.

In Shepparton, schools range from a median score of 24 for the local high school through to 34 for Goulburn Grammar.

Ballarat schools range from 28 for Ballarat High to a median study score of 37 for Ballarat Clarendon College.

In some places state and private schools are getting the same scores, including Coburg High and Mercy College Coburg which both have median study scores of 29, and Marian College in Myrtleford and Myrtleford College which are both on 28.

In Officer, the state secondary college has a median of 26, which is the same as Minaret College but lower than Heritage College in the same suburb.

In Monbulk the state and private schools both have the same median study score of 27. But Mountain District Christian Secondary College has 7.7 per cent of scores at 40 or above compared to four per cent for Monbulk College, a state school.

Sale is also well serviced by schools, from the state high school, Sale College, with a median study score of 26, Catholic College Sale on 28 and Gippsland Grammar on 31.

In some areas such as Kew, St Kilda, Mentone and Canterbury in Melbourne, and Newton in Geelong, there are a range of excellent schools.

Mentone’s five schools all have a median of 30 or above, starting with Mentone Girls’ Secondary College and St Bedes’ Catholic boys’ school on 30 rising through to Mentone Girls’ Grammar and Mentone Grammar on 34.

Mount Waverley also has three schools over 30, including Huntingtower, which has a median study score of 37 – the highest in the state.