Best Catholic Boys Schools in Melbourne | 2025 Rankings & Insights
Melbourne’s Catholic boys schools have a long tradition of strong academic pathways, pastoral care and community-centred education. Many also offer extensive opportunities across sport, arts and music, forming an important part of the broader learning experience. Schools360’s 2025 Catholic Boys Rankings provide an independent, data-driven assessment of how these schools perform across academic outcomes, student wellbeing, learning environment, program depth, and long-term institutional capability.
Use the table below to explore the leaders in Melbourne’s Catholic boys education for 2025.
Updated January 2025 · Independent analysis by Schools360
2025 Rankings | Melbourne Catholic Boys Schools
This table shows the full list of Catholic boys schools in Melbourne for 2025.
Independent, data-driven insights to help parents compare Melbourne’s Catholic boys schools across academics, wellbeing, learning environment and programs, and make confident, well-informed decisions.
Image credit: Parade College Bundoora
Top 10 Catholic Boys Schools in Melbourne 2025
1. Xavier College
Location: Kew
Type: Independent Catholic (Jesuit) boys school
Strengths: A strong all-round profile with Academic Excellence (82%), high Institutional Excellence (88%), and balanced wellbeing and program depth. Known for its values-based education, tradition, and well-developed academic pathways.
2. St Patrick’s College
Location: Ballarat (Regional VIC)
Type: Catholic boys school
Strengths: Strong Learning Programs (85%) and Learning Environment (85%), supported by positive wellbeing. A major regional Catholic school offering deep community identity, broad co-curricular pathways and a supportive culture.
3. St Kevin’s College
Location: Toorak
Type: Independent Catholic boys school
Strengths: Strong academic orientation with Academic Excellence (87%), supported by broad Learning Programs (80%) and a well-resourced learning environment. Known for academic ambition, structured support and comprehensive sporting opportunities.
4. Mazenod College
Location: Mulgrave
Type: Catholic boys school
Strengths: Balanced performance across Student Wellbeing (77%), Learning Environment (72%), and Learning Programs (73%). Well regarded for its supportive culture, community values and accessible academic pathways.
5. De La Salle College
Location: Malvern
Type: Catholic boys school (De La Salle tradition)
Strengths: Strong Student Wellbeing (78%) and Learning Programs (77%), providing a caring environment with a strong pastoral focus, career readiness, and broad opportunities for student development.
6. Simonds Catholic College
Location: West Melbourne
Type: Catholic boys school
Strengths: Solid profile supported by Academic Excellence (68%), strong belonging indicators, and balanced wellbeing. Known for its inner-city community character and supportive learning environment.
7. Parade College
Location: Bundoora / Preston
Type: Catholic boys school
Strengths: Balanced wellbeing and program offerings, with strong community engagement and a broad co-curricular platform. A large multi-campus Catholic school with established pathways and support structures.
8. Salesian College Chadstone
Location: Chadstone
Type: Catholic boys school (Salesian tradition)
Strengths: Strong community-oriented culture with Academic Excellence (67%) and balanced wellbeing and environment scores. Known for its supportive pastoral framework and secondary pathways.
9. Marcellin College
Location: Bulleen
Type: Catholic boys school (Marist tradition)
Strengths: Consistent performance across wellbeing and programs, with a strong sporting and co-curricular identity. Offers a structured and values-based educational environment.
10. St Bernard’s College
Location: Essendon
Type: Catholic boys school
Strengths: Balanced performance across wellbeing, programs and environment, with strong community roots and well-established pathways for student development.
Key Insights
Melbourne’s Catholic boys schools show a diverse performance profile across the five Schools360 building blocks, with clear differences in academic performance, pastoral care, program offerings and institutional strength. The strongest schools demonstrate well-balanced results across academics, wellbeing and long-term capability, while others show more specialised strengths in specific areas such as sport, music or pastoral support.
Academic Excellence remains the clearest differentiator within the Catholic category. Some schools, specifically Xavier College and St Kevin’s College, show an elevated academic culture supported by robust learning pathways and strong VCE/ATAR outcomes. Others provide a more moderate academic profile but offset this with strengths in wellbeing, community engagement or broader program depth.
Learning Environment is a consistent strength across most Catholic boys schools. Many schools provide stable teaching environments, well-managed classrooms and supportive facilities, giving families confidence in the daily learning experience.
Learning Programs highlight a distinct top tier, particularly in schools offering broad curriculum pathways and extensive co-curricular opportunities across sport, arts and music. Schools such as Xavier College and St Patrick’s College demonstrate strong program depth, which supports well-rounded student development and leadership opportunities.
Student Wellbeing varies meaningfully across the group. Some Catholic boys schools maintain strong pastoral care, belonging and behavioural support often linked to their community identity, while others operate at a more foundational level.
Institutional Excellence shows the widest variation, reflecting differences in leadership stability, governance quality and long-term capability investment. These organisational factors shape a school’s overall trajectory and influence parent confidence in future performance.
Overall, the highest-performing Catholic boys schools are those that deliver consistently across all five building blocks while also offering rich opportunities in sport, arts, music and leadership development.
Snapshot for 2025
A small group of Catholic boys schools deliver strong academic performance, supported by robust learning pathways and ATAR outcomes.
Learning Environment remains consistently strong, with impressive facilities and quality teaching staff.
A top tier stands out for program breadth, this includes more extensive offerings in sport, arts, music and leadership development, giving students wider development pathways.
Wellbeing performance varies significantly, offering families clear insight into differences in pastoral care, behavioural culture and student belonging.
Institutional Excellence ranges widely, reflecting differences in governance, leadership stability and long-term school capability.
Balanced Catholic boys school offerings are found in both metropolitan and regional areas, with several demonstrating strong community identity and holistic student development.
Frequently Asked Questions
These questions help explain how Schools360 evaluates and updates private school rankings across Australia.
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Schools360 uses a 60-Element Scoring Framework that assesses academic results, learning environment, student wellbeing, culture, co-curricular depth and institutional excellence. The framework focuses on balanced, holistic school performance rather than a single academic metric.
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Rankings are based on publicly available data, school-reported information and independent Schools360 research. Each school’s profile reflects the most reliable and current data available at the time of the annual update.
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Rankings are updated annually, with the current page reflecting the latest 2025 update. Additional refinements may be made when schools provide new information or when verified updates become available.
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Yes. Each school’s profile includes an option for corrections or feedback. Schools360 reviews all submissions and updates school profiles when verified changes are received.
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