Each year SCSA releases the WACE Certification statistics, and TISC publishes ATAR percentile data. Together they let us answer the question every Perth parent asks: which schools actually produce the highest ATARs?
The honest answer: a small group of public, independent and Catholic schools cluster at the top, with Perth Modern and a handful of long-established privates dominating the very upper end. The full picture is more nuanced than the rankings suggest.
How school rankings actually work
Most "best schools" lists you'll see online use one of three measures, and they don't always agree.
- Median ATAR. The middle ATAR of all ATAR-eligible students at the school. A median ATAR of 90 means half the school's ATAR cohort scored above 90.
- % of students above ATAR 90. A measure of how often the school produces top-band students. Selective and academically focused schools dominate this metric.
- % of students above ATAR 75. A broader measure capturing the "everyone is going to uni" group. Reflects the school's general academic culture, not just the top students.
SCSA does not publish school-by-school ATAR data directly. What it publishes is each school's ATAR-eligible cohort size and the percentage achieving the WACE certificate. Detailed ATAR distributions per school come via the schools themselves, MySchool comparisons, and aggregations published by independent sources like Better Education.
Public schools
Perth Modern School consistently records the highest median ATAR of any WA school. As a fully selective public school (entry by academic test in Year 6), it skews heavily toward the top band, with most years showing a median ATAR above 96 and roughly 40-50% of students above 99.
Among non-selective public schools, the consistent top group includes Rossmoyne SHS, Willetton SHS, Shenton College, Applecross SHS and Mount Lawley SHS. These schools typically post median ATARs in the 85-90 range, with strong representation in the 95+ band thanks to their gifted-and-talented and academic streaming programs.
Independent (private) schools
Perth's leading independent schools tend to combine high academic outcomes with significant infrastructure investment per student. Christ Church Grammar School, Hale School, Methodist Ladies' College (MLC), Penrhos College, Presbyterian Ladies' College (PLC), Scotch College, St Mary's Anglican Girls' School, St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls and Wesley College regularly cluster in the top brackets.
Median ATARs at these schools typically sit between 85 and 92. The high end of the cohort (above 95) is usually well represented, often through schools' results-publishing channels.
Catholic schools
John XXIII College, Aquinas College, Trinity College, Servite College, Iona Presentation College, Santa Maria College, Mercedes College and Newman College consistently feature among Perth's top Catholic schools by ATAR. Median ATARs typically sit in the 80-88 range, with strong achievers reaching 95+.
The Catholic system in WA is large (around 25% of secondary enrolments), so school-to-school variation is significant. Some smaller Catholic schools post outstanding results despite low cohort sizes.
What the rankings don't tell you
Every ranking metric has blind spots. A few to be aware of as a Perth parent:
- Cohort size matters. A school of 20 ATAR students with one 99+ ATAR scorer "looks" stronger by some metrics than a school of 200 ATAR students with five 99+ scorers. The bigger school produced more top students in absolute terms.
- Catchment effect. Public schools in higher-income suburbs often post strong ATARs largely because their students would have done well in any school. Adding a private school's fees may not produce a different outcome.
- Subject mix. Schools that push students toward General courses to lift their WACE achievement rate may post strong WACE certification numbers but fewer top ATARs.
- Sample variance. Year-to-year swings of 2-5 percentile points are normal, especially for schools with small ATAR cohorts.
What this means for your subject choice
The school you attend has less impact on your ATAR than how you study within it. We've seen 99+ ATAR students from low-ranked public schools and 60s from top independents. What we've never seen is a student crack 95+ without serious weekly cadence, practice papers, mark scheme literacy, and disciplined revision.
For a deeper dive on what ATAR cut-offs you're actually targeting at WA universities, see our Perth university ATAR ranges guide.
Where to verify the numbers
If you want to triangulate the data yourself, four sources are worth knowing:
- SCSA Senior Secondary statistics at
senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au, published each March covering the previous year's WACE cohort. - TISC ATAR distribution data at
tisc.edu.au, anonymous percentile data showing how WA's ATAR is calculated. - MySchool at
myschool.edu.au, government-run, publishes ICSEA-adjusted academic data. - Individual school websites, many publish their own results in March/April. Look for "WACE results" or "ATAR results" pages.
The bottom line
Perth Modern School sits at the top by most ATAR measures, with a tight cluster of selective and high-fee independent schools below it. But the gap between the median student at a "top 10" school and the median student at a typical Perth public school is smaller than you'd expect (often 8-12 ATAR points), and most of that gap closes if the student does proper out-of-school practice.
If your child is at one of the schools listed above, you have an excellent foundation. If they're not, the difference is closeable with focused work. For a structured weekly approach, see how to actually study Year 12 week-by-week.