Victoria’s most popular primary and secondary schools named

Enrolment figures show the most in-demand primary and secondary schools across Victoria, with some doubling in size in recent years.

Enrolment figures reveal which schools are popular among parents in Victoria.

Victorian parents have more choice now than ever before when it comes to picking a school for their children that’s close to home, with an additional 16 catholic and government schools set to open just in time for the new school year.

St Teresa of Kolkata Catholic Primary School in Tarneit North, Marymede Catholic College senior campus in Doreen, and 14 new public primary and secondary campuses are weeks away from welcoming their first students for term one.

Education Minister Ben Carroll said the new schools will give families in Melbourne’s fast-growing western, northern and southeastern suburbs access to top-class facilities, with four other schools – including the Royal Children’s Hospital School in Parkville – to be opened later this year.

“(The brand-new schools will) provide students with access to modern learning facilities, specialist teachers and support staff that will help them thrive,” he said.

The new primary and secondary campuses will add to the 2290 government, catholic and independent schools already available across the state, with more new schools to come as the state government works towards its target of opening 100 new schools by 2026.

Meanwhile, a number of existing schools across Greater Melbourne are booming in popularity, with some seeing the amount of students on campus double in the past five years.

For families still considering which school they should send their children to, the Herald Sun has done a deep dive into the most popular public, catholic and independent schools based on enrolments in each region in the 2023 school year.

East and northeastern suburbs

Parents in the city’s northeast – which includes suburbs such as Box Hill, Doncaster, Kewand Templestowe – preferred the public sector over catholic and independent schools.

Serpell Primary School, Balwyn High Schooland Wesley College were the most popular primary, secondary and combined schools respectively, with the latter two recording enrolment figures in the thousands.

In addition to high enrolments, Serpell Primary School is also known for its great performance in NAPLAN, after the school outperformed non-government school Camberwell Girls Grammarlastyear.

Meanwhile, St Kevin’s College in Toorak, which had 2122 students enrolled, obtained a year nine NAPLAN average of 633.8 points and median study score of 35, while Wesley College achieved a NAPLAN ranking of 44.

Other schools that were popular in the area include East Doncaster Secondary College with 1835 enrolments, Aquinas College in Ringwood which had 1654 students, Carey Baptist Grammar School with 2536 students and Yarra Valley Grammar which had 1636 enrolments.

Carey Baptist Grammar in Kew was among some of the most popular schools in the region.

North and northwestern suburbs

Combined independent school Bacchus Marsh Grammar was the most popular institution in the city’s north and northwestern suburbs, with 3383 students enrolled at the college – up 49 per cent from 2018.

This could potentially be due to its senior students’ giving the school a good reputation with their VCE and NAPLAN results, with 11.4 per cent of its year 12 VCE students obtaining a study score above 40 while its year nine cohort achieved average NAPLAN points of 613.6.

Catholic school St Monica’s College in Epping had 2048 students enrolled, making it the most popular secondary school in the area, followed by government school Strathmore Secondary College.

Parents in the area also preferred sending their children to public primary schools, with Kororoit Creek PS in Burnside Heights recording the most enrolments in the area, followed by Newbury PS in Craigieburn.

Another popular school in the area that also saw great results was independent, combined college Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School in Keilor East, which ranked 38 in NAPLAN (year 9 results) and saw 20.3 per cent of its year 12 VCE cohort achieve study scores above 40.

Parade College in Bundoora, Hazel Glen College in Doreen and Marymede Catholic College in South Morang were three other schools which recorded high enrolment numbers in the region.

Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School in Keilor East is a popular school known for it’s top-performing results. Picture: Mark Stewart

Southeastern suburbs

The highest enrolment figures for schools in the city’s southeastern suburbs were evenly distributed between all three public, catholic and independent sectors, with Keysborough’s Haileybury College teaching the most students out of the entire region.

The combined, independent school is also one of the state’s top-performing colleges, with its year nine students ranking ninth in NAPLAN while 26.3 per cent of its year 12 VCE cohort obtained study scores of 40 and above.

Catholic institution St Francis Xavier College in Beaconsfield was the most popular high school in the region with 3223 pupils, while Tulliallan PS in Cranbourne North had the most students out of all primary schools in the area.

The southeastern suburbs is also home to a number of popular government and non-government secondary schools whose senior students achieved significant NAPLAN and VCE results last year.

Public high school McKinnon Secondary College, where 2700 students were enrolled, also achieved great results, after its year nine cohort scored an average of 601.2 NAPLAN points while 18.4 per cent of its year 12 VCE students obtained study scores of 40 and above.

Haileybury has consistently high results and is one of the more popular schools in the southeastern suburbs. Picture Norm Oorloff

West and southwestern suburbs

Public school Alamanda K-9 College not only had the most students out of all combined schools in city’s western and southwestern suburbs, but also recorded a 40 per cent increase in enrolments since 2018.

Meanwhile, Tarneit Rise Primary School blossomed into the region’s most popular primary school after it opened with just 232 students in 2018. Five years on, 1775 children attended the school.

Catholic school Emmanuel College in Altona North, was the region’s most popular secondary institution, with 2368 pupils enrolled, followed by MacKillop Catholic Regional College in Werribee.

Independent, combined college Westbourne Grammar School was among some of the top performing schools in the region with the most students, after the college’s year nine cohort achieved 624.6 points in NAPLAN last year.

The school’s year 12 VCE cohort also achieved a median study score of 33, with 13.6 per cent of pupils obtaining study scores of 40 and over.

Other popular schools in the area include Stella Maris Catholic Primary School in Point Cook, and Manor Lakes P-12 College in Wyndham Vale.