VCE results 2025: Victoria’s top schools revealed
Nossal High School has recorded its best ever VCE results, placing the public school among Victoria’s high-performing elite.
The Berwick selective entry school was one of only three in the state to record an average study score of 37. Although the school is geared towards STEM subjects, students achieved success in a variety of subjects.
Eighteen students achieved a perfect study score out of 50 in subjects as diverse as physics, biology, literature, business management, health and human development.
Analysis of Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority data was carried out by. Age, These results place Nossal High School alongside veteran performers Ballarat Clarendon College and Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School.
Principal Tracey Mackin said the school’s wellbeing team contributed to pupils’ success.
“When our children enter school [in year 9]“They often suffer from imposter syndrome,” he said.
“They come to our school from being the smartest kid in their class, and everyone else is like them. That’s why we’re very careful about that.”
Mackin also thanked the faculty for setting the “limits of what every student knows” and then expanding them.
But he said it’s a two-way street and students are expected to know the areas they need to focus on and seek targeted help from teachers.
“It’s about them having a strong awareness of where they are and what the next step is,” he said.
Mackin said the school achieved an average ATAR of 94.40 and had 38 subjects with an average score above 30.
In the 90s there were 150 students with ATAR; among them was school dux Pawan Cooray, who scored 99.90.
The 18-year-old thanked his teachers for their support and said focus also played a role in his success.
“My advice to other students is to have a clear and realistic goal that you will do anything to achieve,” he said.
Just over 27 per cent of study scores at Camberwell Girls Grammar this year were 40 or above, giving the independent school its second-best result in a decade.
Forty-four per cent of 12-year-olds achieved an ATAR above 95, while 55 per cent scored above 90.
The school’s average study score was 36 this year, rising to 35 during the COVID years of 2020-2023.
This year the school’s average ATAR was 93.2, with 52 students gaining an ATAR in the 90s. The average score of thirty-three subjects was above 30.
But principal Debbie Dunwoody, who has been in this position for 12 years, said the results were not just down to a smart group.
He said the school’s broad subject offering this year, comprising 38 units of tertiary and four VCE subjects, allowed students to choose subjects they enjoyed and in which they could excel.
The focus on care and collaboration also had its rewards.
“Our school motto is ‘in service is useful,’ and that is mentioned often, so students think beyond themselves a lot, and that makes a difference,” Dunwoody said.
Dunwoody said new activities undertaken by students throughout the year also build relationships between year levels and offset stress.
Earlier this year, Year 12 students created a puzzle showing the flag of each country the students had a connection to. The pieces were hidden on campus and students searched for them to complete the puzzle as a school.
“You have to maintain a sense of fun and balance work, and we want students to develop different skills and relationships,” Dunwoody said.
School dux Sunny Sun was one of 14 girls in Victoria to score a perfect 99.95. He said maintaining school relationships has benefited him.
“I stayed grounded by focusing on what I could improve on each day and staying connected with friends throughout the year,” Sun said.
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Bridie Smith is an education reporter for The Age. A former desk editor, he also reported on science and consumer affairs.Connect with: excitement, Facebook or email.
