National NAPLAN results reveal private schools dominate the top 100 – but selective public schools head the list
You might assume that high-fee private colleges top the table in year 9 NAPLAN results – but you’d be wrong. Find out why and explore how the nation’s best schools performed.
Public secondary schools have outshone elite and expensive private colleges when it comes to calculating the nation’s best-performing schools in NAPLAN – but there’s a catch.
We’ve analysed the 2025 year 9 NAPLAN scores across more than 2000 schools to determine the top 25 performers in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.
The school sector breakdown of these top 100 schools was 65 independent, 29 public and six Catholic schools.
But in terms of the cream of the crop, only one independent school made it into the top 20 – the rest are all select-entry government schools for academically gifted students that require them to pass an entrance exam.
Select-entry public schools made up nearly all of the 29 government sector schools on the list.
Elite all-boys institution Sydney Grammar School was the only private school to rank in the top 20, taking seventh spot with an average year 9 NAPLAN score of 715.2.
Public select-entry school James Ruse Agricultural High School in NSW was the nation’s best-performing school, with an average of 755.6.
The top-ranked Victorian school was public select-entry all-boys Melbourne High School in fifth spot, while that state’s highest-ranked private school was Ballarat Clarendon College in spot 28.
The public Queensland Academy for Science Mathematics and Technology was the state’s top-ranked school, placing 12th overall.
Brisbane Girls Grammar School was the highest-ranked Queensland private school in spot 36.
South Australia’s top-ranked school was private all-girls Wilderness School, ranked 52.
Partially select-entry Glenunga International High School was the highest-ranked SA public school, coming in at 61.
University of Melbourne learning scientist Dr Gregory Donoghue said school design played a huge role in NAPLAN scores.
“The public school system must accept students in their catchment zone, regardless of their academic or other history,” he said.
“In contrast, some private schools and all select-entry schools are able to choose their students on a range of factors, including the students’ academic history, hence skewing the results and creating an artificially high average. Academics have termed this as ‘cream-skimming’.”
Interactive: Use the dropdown menus to switch to other states’ results, and the tabs to switch between primary and secondary results
Dr Donoghue said other factors were also at play.
“For a host of reasons, a family’s socio-economic status reliably predicts school outcomes,” Dr Donoghue said.
“In short, higher income is related to higher education.
“More highly educated people value education more highly, and a parent’s value of education correlates with the child’s value of education and hence their performance.”
Independent Schools Association chief executive Graham Catt congratulated schools across all sectors for their “strong academic outcomes”.
Mr Catt said although the 2025 results were pleasing, there was more to celebrate than just NAPLAN outcomes.
“The latest report reflects what families tell us every day, that independent schools consistently offer high-quality teaching, engaged communities, and environments where young people feel supported to succeed,” he said.
“But NAPLAN does not capture the whole learning journey, student growth, wellbeing, or the many opportunities beyond academics that shape a young person’s future.”
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Originally published as National NAPLAN results reveal private schools dominate the top 100 – but selective public schools head the list
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