All-girls Uniting Church Como, Perth Founded 1952

Penrhos College.

Uniting Church day and boarding girls' school in Como, founded in 1952 as Methodist Ladies' College South Perth and renamed Penrhos in 1977 after a Welsh Methodist sister school.

Inside Penrhos

Penrhos was founded in 1952 as Methodist Ladies' College, South Perth. (Yes, the same denomination as MLC in Claremont; for some years there were two MLCs in Perth.) The Como campus opened in stages from the 1950s and developed into the substantial K-12 site it occupies today.

In 1977, following the Uniting Church of Australia's formation through the union of the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational churches, Methodist Ladies' College South Perth was awarded to the Uniting Church and renamed Penrhos College. The new name was drawn from Penrhos College in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, established in 1880 by the Methodist Church for girls' education. The Welsh original closed in 1991, but its name lives on at the Como campus.

Penrhos serves around 1,400 girls from Kindergarten to Year 12, including 105 boarders in Years 7 to 12. The school has a non-selective enrolment policy and consistently ranks in WA's top 11 schools by ATAR, sitting alongside the older girls' schools (MLC, PLC, St Mary's) without quite matching them in fees or scale.

What Penrhos is known for

Personalised academic approach

Penrhos has a long-standing focus on personalised learning paths, smaller-than-average senior class sizes (compared to similar-tier girls' schools), and consistent top-11 ATAR results. The pedagogical approach is the school's main differentiator.

Top-11 WA ATAR rankings

Penrhos sits consistently in the top 11 ATAR rankings on the WA leader board. For a non-PSA Uniting Church school, the academic results are very competitive.

Boarding community

105 boarders in Years 7 to 12, mostly from regional WA. The boarding houses are integral to the senior school's culture.

Welsh heritage in name

The Welsh-origin name is unusual among Australian schools, and Penrhos maintains a small acknowledgement of that heritage in its identity (St David's Day, etc).

Things to consider

Penrhos isn't the right fit for every student. Here are the genuine tradeoffs to think through, drawn from publicly available information about the school.

Not as large as MLC or PLC

Penrhos is smaller than MLC or PLC, with a senior school that produces strong but more compact ATAR cohorts. Subject offerings are full but with less depth in less-common subjects.

Senior school fees

Fees are at the upper end of WA, comparable to other independents. Boarding adds a substantial second layer.

Single-sex environment

All-girls from K to 12. PSA-style exchange events help socially but the daily classroom is single-sex.

Uniting Church framing

Religious education and chapel-style events are part of the school. Worth understanding for non-Christian families.

The ATAR pathway at Penrhos

Penrhos girls take a broad pathway range. Most common: Pre-medicine (Methods + Chemistry + Human Bio + English), Health sciences (Methods or Apps + Chemistry + Human Bio + Psychology), Music + ATAR (Music + Methods + a science + English), and Law / Arts (Literature + History + a Language + Methods).

UWA and Curtin are the dominant tertiary destinations, with smaller streams to ECU and Notre Dame.

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From Penrhos to our Bentley centre

Penrhos is about 4 km from our Bentley centre, a 7-minute drive via Manning Road. Many students travel together after school for late-afternoon classes, the route through Como is straightforward.

Tutoring built for Penrhos students.

Small-group ATAR classes at our Bentley centre or live online, for the subjects Penrhos students are actually sitting. Free trial class, no card required.

Penrhos College questions

Common questions from Penrhos College families

How far is Penrhos College from Educatta's centres?

Penrhos is about 4 km from our Bentley centre, a 7-minute drive via Manning Road. Many students travel together after school for late-afternoon classes, the route through Como is straightforward.

Does Educatta tutor the subjects Penrhos College students typically take?

Yes. Educatta tutors all the major ATAR subjects Penrhos College students are sitting: Mathematics Methods, Mathematics Applications, English, Chemistry, Physics, and Human Biology. Year 11 and 12 students from Penrhos College can attend small-group classes at our Bentley centre, or live online from anywhere in WA.

Can Penrhos College students attend Educatta classes after school?

Yes. Most of our weekly classes run between 4:00pm and 8:30pm on weekdays, with weekend slots also available. Penrhos College's school day finishes in time for students to arrive at our Bentley centre for after-school weekly classes.