4 weeks ago
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February 2, 2026 — 5:00am
Melbourne High School student Daniel Wanglikitkoon is thinking about studying medicine.
The year 12 student said he had been drawn to maths and physics in earlier years, but he wanted to expand his science study, so he took VCE biology while in year 11 last year.
“It’s a big thing at the school, going into medicine, especially at Monash. I am considering that pathway as well,” he said.
The early study paid off – a 48 out of 50 score put Daniel among the top-scoring VCE biology students and contributed to Melbourne High School joining the club of schools with the most sustained rises in top VCE scores in the past decade.
The results are revealed in The Age’s Victorian Schools Guide, a new interactive dashboard that will allow parents and students to examine the performance of the state’s government, Catholic and independent schools.
The dashboard will be updated regularly and feature new sections in the future, to help guide students and their families in school choices.
The Age has analysed the performance of schools which have achieved the most improvement in students receiving study scores of 40 or above, finding biology at Melbourne High School, legal studies at Loreto Mandeville Hall and business management at Melbourne Grammar School have had upward results.
Schools with the most sustained rises in top VCE scores in the past decade say success has come from students benefiting from taking year 12 subjects early, past top performers returning as mentors, and teachers who lay the groundwork in early years.
These schools say employing teachers who mark VCE papers and oversee extracurricular activities that help strengthen bonds with students has also contributed to improvements.
At select-entry government school Melbourne High, biology is the most popular year 12 VCE subject for students to take in year 11. Many students aspiring to study medicine see biology as an early introduction.
Results in biology have risen from 16 students with study scores of 40 or higher in 2016 to 48 students in 2024, and 45 students in 2025 – the school’s first and second-best results in a decade.
“Our year 11 students, when they are working at that level, have no other distractions, and they’re not splitting their time. They have laser focus and do brilliantly,” says Josh Slocombe, the school’s VCE co-ordinator.
In 2024, the average score for a year 11 biology student was 39.5, and for year 12s it was 35.
Meanwhile, Loreto Mandeville Hall has a “year 13” mentoring program in which former year 12 students return to help current students sharpen their study habits and responses to questions.
In 2016, 10 students received a score of 40 or higher in legal studies. Last year, this number rose to 22 (the school’s second-best result after 2023, when 23 students achieved this).
Jill Fitzsimons, director of teaching and learning, says mentors offer more direct feedback to students than teachers. “But they are also providing that role model around what you need to do to be successful,” she says.
Sophie Hill, who received a score of 48 in legal studies last year, said she was introduced to the subject through humanities classes in year 9 and a law and politics elective the following year.
Last year, the class was full of discussions as students watched the twists and turns of Erin Patterson’s trial. “The mushroom case was such a cool thing to understand; the processes that were being spoken about and just how what we learnt relates to real life.”
Only four Melbourne Grammar School students achieved results of 40 or higher in business management in 2017. By 2024, 30 students had achieved this result, and 19 reached the milestone last year. Over the past four years, the number of top-performing students with scores of 45 or higher has risen from 4 per cent to 11 per cent.
Lisa Ritchie, head of commerce at the school, says subjects in younger years help with the foundations. Students learn financial planning in a subject coined “dollars and sense” in year 8, entrepreneurship in year 9, and explore cryptocurrencies, Ponzi schemes and why businesses fail in year 10.
Ritchie says one reason for improved outcomes has been a concerted effort to lift all students’ results.
“It’s not just the over 40s, it’s those we get who maybe would have gotten a 30, and we bring them up to a 35. Because if we lift the middle, then the whole cohort benefits, the class benefits and everyone improves.”
Teachers and students also strengthen bonds in extracurricular activities.
“I know my boys because I’m in the cricket program and the football program; the other business teacher is in the rowing program and the rugby program,” Ritchie says.
“It’s amazing how many of the boys are part of that, and the interactions and the micro-conversations we have about business there. That, I think, just keeps their interest going.”
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