Beginner’s Guide to VCE High School Rankings

All about the VCE High School Rankings Guide

This High School rankings guide provides a comparison of student performance in the VCE at highest performing Victorian (VIC) high schools.

These rankings show the percentage of VCE study scores that are 40 or above.

You can find high school ranking data from 2017 onwards in this guide.

How are the VCE High School rankings determined?

The rankings are calculated using the ratio of the number of VCE study scores that are 40 or above to the number of exams sat by the school.

Why do people care about the Victorian High School rankings?

Many people use High School rankings as an indication of the school’s academic success. When a school consistently ranks well for their VCE performance, this often means that the school can cater to students with strong academic ability.

High School Rankings can also be used to estimate a student’s VCE results based on their rankings within the school.

If a school consistently performs in the top 20 and 50% of their VCE study scores are 40 or above, parents can generally assume that if their child is in the top 40% of the cohort for a subject, they should be able to score 40 or above in that particular subject.

However, this is not a guarantee, as the student and their cohort’s performance can change throughout the year

Should you choose a school based on the VCE High School Rankings?

Choosing a school is a complex and challenging process with lots of variables.

Decisions should be based on the data from several years alongside other criteria.

Here are some other criteria to consider when choosing a high school:

• Your child’s strengths, weaknesses and interests
• School location, travel time
• Other offerings in terms of extra-curricular activities and sports
• School facilities
• Future plans for development

A rounded education includes more than a school’s VCE scores or rank.

For example, sending your child to a school that’s far away because it is ranked highly may leave your child exhausted from travel and could be counter-productive for their VCE success.

Similarly, if your child has sporting abilities or aspirations, sending them to a selective school that doesn’t cater strongly to sports is not going to be in their best interests.

When choosing a High School you should have an in-depth conversation with your child and research prospective schools in detail. You may want to tour the school and meet some of the staff before making a decision.

What next?

• Read 2022 High School Ranking article to find out if your school was ranked in the top 150 in VIC last year.