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Private school students have maintained their dominance among top performers in the VCE this year, an analysis of Thursday’s results shows.
Despite a strong performance by the government and Catholic sectors, 45 per cent of students with study scores above 40 this year were from independent schools, where just 23 per cent of the class of 2025 studied.
Across the state, more than 65,000 young people received their VCE results. About 49,000 of them also received an ATAR, with the average score for the university admissions marker at 69 this year.
About 37 per cent of the best-performing students – with study scores of 40 or more – were from government schools, which account for about 55 per cent of year 12 enrolments.
Catholic schools, which had about 22 per cent of this year’s senior enrolments, accounted for 18 per cent of students scoring 40 and above.
At one of the standout private schools, Haileybury, five students received perfect ATAR scores of 99.95, and half the school’s year 12 cohort achieved a score of 90 and above.
At Haileybury, 12 per cent of its graduating students received a score of 99 per cent and above, it said, and from a year 12 cohort of about 500, 258 of the school’s students scored ATARs of 90 and above.
At Melbourne Grammar, the median ATAR score was 92. At Scotch College, 36 students scored 99 or higher, and nine of those scored 99.9 or higher.
In Werribee, there were traditional Kenyan celebrations at the home of Heathdale Christian College student Sarah Irungu after her results came in.
The Irungu family had a prize pool for the member who guessed closest to Sarah’s eventual score. Her aunt, Jess Mwenda, scooped the pool with a guess of 96.5.
Heathdale Christian College student Sarah Irungu and her family celebrate the student’s 96.6 ATAR score on Thursday.Credit: Justin McManus
“I was the most pessimistic,” Sarah said. “I was thinking 93, but my brother was the most confident, and he said 99.”
In the end, her impressive ATAR score of 96.6 sparked claps, dancing and loud renditions of traditional Kenyan celebration songs in the living room.
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Sarah’s grandma, Mary Irungu, flew in from Scotland with her husband for the occasion and grabbed a saucepan lid and spoon to provide a percussion soundtrack as she danced.
“It was pretty crazy,” she said.
Her stunning result means she can get into Melbourne University to study science, which requires a rank above 74.
At Kew High School, there were no fewer than four sets of twins receiving their VCE results, including school dux Toby Jenkin, who woke up to an ATAR of 99.9.
That’s more than enough to get him into his target course, a bachelor of science and master of computing at the University of Melbourne.
“I thought I’d do good,” Jenkin said, as the success sank in. “But that good, that was not really what I was expecting.”
Kew High School dux Toby Jenkin (centre) is congratulated on his 99.9 ATAR score by his brother Aidan and other members of the four sets of twins graduating from Kew this year.Credit: Joe Armao
The school-leaver said the key to his success was a consistent approach to his studies.
“I just tried to keep consistent, [do] practice exams and making sure it wasn’t all the night before,” Jenkin said.
Principal Andrew Moffat paid tribute to this year’s unusually large cohort of twins at Kew.
Credit: Matt Golding
“They have all supported each other through some real challenges this year, and we’re just really proud of them,” Moffat said.
First-round university offers will be issued on December 23.
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