Best Catholic Schools in Melbourne | 2025 Rankings & Insights
Catholic schools play an important role within the Victorian education system with 1 in 5 students in Melbourne enrolled in Catholic schools.
Melbourne’s Catholic schools combine academic achievement, strong community values and balanced development across sport, arts and pastoral care. Schools360’s 2025 Catholic School Rankings provide an independent, data-driven assessment of how Melbourne’s Catholic schools perform across Academic Excellence, Student Wellbeing, Learning Environment, Learning Programs and long-term Institutional Excellence.
Use the table below to explore the leaders in Melbourne’s private boys education for 2025.
Updated December 2025 · Independent analysis by Schools360
2025 Rankings | Melbourne Catholic Schools
This table shows the full list of Catholic schools in Melbourne for 2025.
Top 10 Catholic Schools in Melbourne (2025)
Image credit: Xavier College Kew
1. Loreto Mandeville Hall
Location: Toorak
Type: Independent Catholic girls school
Strengths: Exceptional all-round profile with Academic Excellence (93%), Learning Environment (88%), Learning Programs (87%) and Institutional Excellence (92%). Strong pastoral culture and one of the most balanced performance profiles in the Catholic sector.
2. Xavier College
Location: Kew
Type: Independent Catholic (Jesuit) boys school
Strengths: Strong academic orientation with Learning Environment (92%), Learning Programs (92%) and Student Wellbeing (88%). Well-established Catholic school with deep co-curricular pathways and strong institutional capability (88%).
3. Genazzano FCJ College
Location: Kew
Type: Independent Catholic girls school
Strengths: Balanced performance across academics and wellbeing, with Learning Programs (93%), Student Wellbeing (88%) and strong Learning Environment (87%). Known for supportive culture, strong traditions and high expectations.
4. Sacre Coeur
Location: Glen Iris
Type: Independent Catholic girls school
Strengths: Strong Academic Excellence (92%) supported by a positive wellbeing culture and solid learning environment (82%). Well-regarded for leadership development, values-based education and community engagement.
5. St Patrick’s College
Location: Ballarat
Type: Catholic boys school
Strengths: Strong Learning Programs (85%) and consistent Learning Environment (85%) supported by a positive wellbeing culture (83%). A major Catholic school with strong community identity and broad co-curricular offerings.
6. Marymede Catholic College
Location: South Morang
Type: Co-educational Catholic school
Strengths: Strong all-round improvement with Academic Excellence (80%), Wellbeing (85%) and a stable Learning Environment (82%). Large campus with diverse programs and modern facilities.
7. St Peter’s College
Location: Cranbourne
Type: Co-educational Catholic school
Strengths: Balanced strengths across Learning Environment (82%), Student Wellbeing (82%) and Learning Programs (80%). Offers wide co-curricular opportunities and strong community connections across two campuses.
8. Star of the Sea College
Location: Brighton
Type: Independent Catholic girls school
Strengths: Solid and consistent performance with Academic Excellence (78%), strong wellbeing and stable learning environment (78%). Well-established girls school with supportive culture and broad programs.
9. St Kevin’s College
Location: Toorak
Type: Independent Catholic boys school
Strengths: Strong academic orientation with Academic Excellence (87%) and robust Learning Environment (82%). Broad co-curricular depth and a long tradition of high expectations.
10. Loreto College
Location: Ballarat
Type: Catholic girls school
Strengths: Strong Institutional Excellence (85%) and consistent wellbeing (83%) supported by stable learning conditions (82%). Known for a supportive culture and balanced student development.
Key Insights
Melbourne’s Catholic schools show strong overall performance in 2025, with several institutions delivering results comparable to the top independent schools in Victoria. The leading Catholic schools demonstrate mature academic programs, strong wellbeing cultures and consistent investment in facilities and teaching quality.
Academic Excellence is a major differentiator across the top Catholic schools. Schools such as Loreto Mandeville Hall, Xavier College and Genazzano FCJ College show high academic consistency and strong senior VCE results. Mid-sized Catholic colleges such as Marymede and St Peter’s display solid academic growth and balanced performance across all building blocks.
Learning Environment is consistently strong across the Catholic sector, reflecting effective teaching practice, classroom stability and supportive school culture. Many schools in this category maintain facilities, curriculum structures and teacher development programs that rival top independent schools.
Learning Programs are a notable strength in several of the top Catholic schools, with opportunities across sport, arts, music, faith development, leadership and community service. Schools such as Loreto Mandeville Hall, Genazzano, Xavier and Star of the Sea provide broad co-curricular opportunities.
Student Wellbeing performance is strong throughout the Catholic sector, with several schools achieving 90 percent or higher. This reflects well-developed pastoral systems, strong community culture and stable learning environments.
Institutional Excellence is consistently robust across top Catholic schools. Schools demonstrate sound governance, leadership continuity and long-term investment in improvement. Loreto Mandeville Hall and Xavier College in particular show strong institutional depth.
Overall, the top-performing Catholic schools in Melbourne offer families a combination of academic strength, supportive wellbeing culture and broad program offerings, underpinned by clear values and strong community identity.
Snapshot for 2025
Clear academic leadership group at the top of the sector. Schools that have invested in targeted senior pathways and modern teaching practices show the most improvement.
Learning Environment is a core advantage, with stable classrooms, strong teacher retention, modern facilities and increasing use of technology supporting consistent progress across a wide range of schools.
Wellbeing remains the most dependable strength, driven by mature pastoral systems and values-based culture that promote belonging and student engagement.
Program depth varies, with the strongest schools offering broad academic and co-curricular pathways, while others show more selective strengths depending on size and resources.
Performance patterns align with geography, with established high performers in the inner and eastern suburbs and several fast-improving colleges emerging in the northern and south-eastern corridors.
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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