The top systemic Catholic school was Parramatta Marist High School, at $5,652 a year, which was ranked 57th, followed by Xavier Catholic College in Ballina, on the state’s north coast, which was 61st in a row from Brigidine College Randwick in 67th place.
In a year when Mullumbimby High was decimated as northern rivers experienced record flooding, there was some long-awaited good news. It entered the list of the top 20 public comprehensive schools, moving from 537 to 146.
At Baulkham Hills High, the selective public school with the most first-year awards, headteacher Wayne Humphries said that despite years of pandemic-induced disruption, students are “incredibly self-motivated”.
“It’s always so close between the top schools. We have over 1200 students, so we try to make sure we have a broad curriculum and a variety of subjects, from math to Korean to software design,” he said.
Parramatta High, which is partially selective, rises 50 places to 116, which is the school’s best result since 2016.
Of the total schools in the top 150, comprehensive public schools had 19 in the top tier, three more than last year, and independent schools had 83 in the top ranks, four more than in 2021. Catholic schools and selective schools had slightly less than schools. top list
All schools in the top 20 rankings were in the top 98th or 99th percentiles of the ICSEA, an index that measures students’ socio-educational advantage.
Al Noori Muslim School in Greenacre finished in 26th place, rising steadily over the past seven years, while Hills Grammar climbed 40 places in one year. Loreto Kirribilli finished 12th, his best performance in several years.
There were 1400 all-rounders – those who achieved band 6 for 10 or more units – with James Ruse, Baulkham Hills, Sydney Grammar and North Sydney all having 50 or more students on that list.
Sydney Grammar’s Thomas Henderson received nine Band 6 results, more than any other student, Ancient History, History Extension, Advanced English, English Extension 1 and 2, Classical Greek Continuation, Classical Greek Extension, Latin Continuation and extension of Latin.
Of the top 10 private schools, seven were single-sex girls’ schools, with Bondi’s Reddam House the only co-educational independent school.
Baulkham Hills High School students Daniel Wang, Nandini Karri and Mahathi Ramasubramanian with Principal Wayne Humphreys. Credit: Janie Barrett
At fourteen fully selective schools, student success rates fell, and most of the state’s partially selective schools were also less successful this year.
To calculate school and subject rankings Herald uses data from NSW Education Standards Authority band 6 and E4 (the top result for extension subjects) showing grades between 90 and 100 or 45 and 50. A grade in the mid-years 70 or a band 4 is about average for most. courses and NESA only provides HSC band 6 and E4 data.
The data are not adjusted for socio-educational advantage, so most schools in the top 150 teach students in higher advantage quartiles. The Herald will do a separate analysis to take into account the socio-educational advantage and publish the results in the coming days.
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A 2021 University of Wollongong analysis found that schools with higher ICSEA scores across all sectors have a growing concentration of very economically advantaged students, while the trend is being reversed in higher SES schools down