2024 VCE School Rankings: What the Official Data Can and Cannot Show
Written by
BestSchools Team
VCE school league tables can help families find questions to ask, but they are not an official measure of overall school quality. The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) publishes Senior Secondary Completion and Achievement Information (SSCAI), opens in a new tab to describe school programmes, student cohorts and achievements. The official 2024 workbook does not publish a single “best school” score.
Editorial update — 5 August 2026: This guide has been rebuilt to remove an unsupported “top 10” order, school-specific ATAR and fee claims that were not traceable to the VCAA workbook, and claims that particular school features caused the published results. The earlier version placed Ballarat Clarendon College first at 34.7%, even though the official workbook reports St Mary's College, Seymour at 37.5%. It also assigned separate ranks to two schools tied at 30.8% without explaining a tie rule. This version links the source data and puts cohort and method limitations before comparison.
Use this guide with How to Read Australian School Rankings and How to Judge Schools Beyond the Rankings. Together, they help separate a result you can verify from a conclusion the number cannot support.
Start With the Official 2024 Source
The VCAA 2024 SSCAI workbook (XLSX, 170 KB), opens in a new tab includes school-level information about:
- VCE, VCE Vocational Major, VET, higher education and Victorian Pathways Certificate programmes;
- the number of students participating in different senior pathways;
- satisfactory VCE completion;
- median VCE study scores; and
- the percentage of study scores at 40 or above.
The workbook says its data was provisional as at 7 December 2024 and that schools could submit amendments to some 2024 results until late February 2025. It also says the information is intended to describe programmes and pathways and cannot be used to derive state-wide data. For schools with fewer than four students in a reported pathway, counts are suppressed and related measures are marked as insufficient data.
The VCAA's separate 2024 statistical information, opens in a new tab adds an important warning: results vary with the assessments and students participating each year, so one year's outcome should not be used to predict a later cohort.
What the Common Ranking Metric Measures
Many third-party tables sort schools by the percentage of study scores of 40 or above. The VCAA's 2024 SSCAI reference guide, opens in a new tab describes a study score as a measure of performance relative to other students taking that study, on a scale from zero to 50. For studies with at least 1,000 enrolments, the VCAA says a score of 40 or above is achieved by approximately 9% of students.
The school percentage is a share of study scores, not a share of students. A student can complete several scored Unit 3–4 studies and contribute several study scores. The measure therefore does not mean that the displayed percentage of Year 12 students achieved an ATAR above a particular threshold.
On a narrow screen, scroll the tables sideways to see every column.
| Check | What the figure can show | What it cannot show |
|---|---|---|
| Study scores of 40+ | The share of reported study scores at or above 40 in 2024 | The share of students with a high ATAR or the likelihood that your child will receive a 40+ score |
| Median VCE study score | The middle reported study score for the school | The school's median ATAR, completion rate or “value added” by teaching |
| Students enrolled | The number enrolled in at least one VCE or VCE VM study or VCE VET programme at Units 3–4 level | The number of Year 12 students, ATAR applicants or students represented in every scored measure |
| Satisfactory completion | The published share of satisfactory VCE completions | The breadth or quality of vocational, VET and other post-school pathways |
Why the Former “Top 10” Could Not Be Reproduced
These three rows from the official workbook show how a publisher's cohort rule can change the order:
| School | Students enrolled in at least one Units 3–4 study or programme | Median VCE study score | Study scores of 40+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Mary's College, Seymour | 17 | 36 | 37.5% |
| Ballarat Clarendon College | 255 | 37 | 34.7% |
| Huntingtower School | 182 | 37 | 31.7% |
Source: VCAA 2024 SSCAI workbook.
Sorting those rows only by the published 40+ percentage puts St Mary's first. Adding a minimum cohort of 50 removes St Mary's and puts Ballarat Clarendon first. A publisher may choose a cohort threshold to reduce volatility, but it must name that rule. The former BestSchools table did not disclose one, so readers could not reproduce why St Mary's was excluded.
The former table also placed Mount Scopus Memorial College and St Catherine's School at separate ranks despite both having a published 40+ share of 30.8%. A reproducible method must explain whether tied schools share a rank and, if not, which secondary measure breaks the tie.
Small cohorts are not less valid, but their percentages can move more sharply. With 17 students, a small change in the number or mix of study scores can have a larger effect on the published percentage than it would in a cohort involving several hundred students. Treat that as uncertainty to investigate, not a reason to silently remove the school.
What Was Removed From the Earlier Ranking
The previous version mixed three different types of information without traceable sourcing:
- VCAA school results such as median study scores and 40+ percentages;
- school-specific ATAR and fee figures that are not part of the SSCAI workbook; and
- claims about programmes, facilities, class sizes and teaching approaches presented as explanations for the results.
That combination could make correlation look like proof. A strong result does not establish that a particular programme, class size, facility or teaching approach caused it. Selective entry, subject mix, prior achievement, cohort size, student movement and the availability of unscored pathways can all affect what appears in a table.
School-reported ATAR information may still be useful when the school publishes a clear cohort definition and date. Keep it labelled as school supplied, link the original statement and do not merge it into a VCAA-derived measure as though the sources were identical. Fees also change and must be checked against the school's current schedule rather than inferred from school type.
A Better Way to Compare 2024 VCE Results
For each school you are considering:
- Open the official workbook. Find the exact school or campus row and record the data date.
- Name the metric. Write “median VCE study score” or “percentage of study scores at 40+”, not simply “rank”.
- Record the cohort. Note the number of students, programmes offered and whether the school reports VCE VM, VET, higher education or IB participation.
- State every calculation rule. Disclose minimum cohorts, ties, missing values and whether campuses are separated or combined.
- Keep sources separate. Label VCAA data, school-reported ATAR information and third-party calculations distinctly.
- Look across several years. Do not treat one cohort as a forecast for the next.
- Add the factors that matter to your child. Learning support, wellbeing, culture, commute, fees, subject choice and daily fit do not appear in a VCE percentage.
Keep Results in Context
Compare the Schools on Your Shortlist
Put school facts side by side, then confirm current results, subjects, fees and support directly with each school.
Comparison supports research • It does not choose a school for your child
Questions to Ask a School
- Which students and studies are represented in the result you publish?
- How many students completed scored VCE, VCE VM, VET, IB or other senior pathways?
- What changed in the cohort, subject mix or programme between 2023 and 2024?
- How do you support students who begin above or below the cohort average?
- Which senior subjects have prerequisites, timetable constraints or limited places?
- What outcomes do you track beyond study scores and ATARs?
- Where can families verify current programmes, admissions requirements and fees?
A trustworthy answer distinguishes evidence from interpretation, names what is not known and does not promise that one cohort's result will be repeated for another student.
Official Sources
- VCAA Senior Secondary Completion and Achievement Information, opens in a new tab: the official download page for the 2024 school-level workbook and its current replacement years.
- VCAA 2024 SSCAI reference guide, opens in a new tab: definitions for the school-level fields and 40+ measure.
- VCAA 2024 statistical information, opens in a new tab: state-level participation and assessment information plus the VCAA warning about year-to-year interpretation.
- VCAA results reporting to schools, opens in a new tab: definitions for study scores, graded assessments and Statements of Results.
- VTAC 2024 scaling report (PDF), opens in a new tab: shows how VCAA study scores were scaled for the 2024 ATAR calculation and describes the 2024 scaling population.
The useful conclusion is not “this school is number one”. It is: this is the metric, this is the cohort, this is the source, and these are the questions the data still cannot answer.
Frequently Asked Questions
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