Elite private schools for Academic Excellence in New South Wales
26 schools reached Elite for Academic Excellence.
Image: Knox Grammar School
26 of 125 New South Wales schools assessed by Schools360 reached Elite for Academic Excellence — the highest tier on Schools360, reflecting exceptional overall performance. There is no partial credit: reaching Elite tier on this building block is itself the claim.
What Academic Excellence measures
How well does the school perform academically? Schools360 assesses this across three factors. Academic Performance Years 7 to 10: Current and previous years NAPLAN test scores assessing academic proficiency for students in years 7 to 10. Academic Performance Years 11 and 12: Measures of academic achievement, including median ATAR scores and VCE, HSC or equivalent results. University Outcomes and Pathways: Evaluates students' progress, entry into top-tier universities, postgraduate study, and alumni success.
How schools are assessed
Every school is scored across five building blocks using the Schools360 framework. Read the full methodology.
Elite for Academic Excellence (26)
Select schools to compare them side by side.
| School | Suburb | Gender | Academic Excellence score | S360 score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Knox Grammar School | Wahroonga | Boys | 100.0% | 92.3% | |
 Sydney Grammar School | Darlinghurst | Boys | 100.0% | 90.5% | |
 Sceggs Darlinghurst | Darlinghurst | Girls | 100.0% | 88.1% | |
 St Catherine’s School | Waverley | Girls | 98.3% | 92.5% | |
 Abbotsleigh | Wahroonga | Girls | 98.3% | 90.2% | |
 SHORE - Sydney Church of England Grammar School | North Sydney | Boys | 96.7% | 90.5% | |
 St Aloysius' College | Kirribilli | Boys | 96.7% | 86.0% | |
 Ascham School | Edgecliff | Girls | 96.7% | 85.8% | |
 The King’s School | North Parramatta | Boys | 95.0% | 92.7% | |
 Pymble Ladies' College | Pymble | Girls | 95.0% | 92.0% | |
 Loreto Kirribilli | Kirribilli | Girls | 95.0% | 90.9% | |
 Kambala Girls | Rose Bay | Girls | 95.0% | 90.2% | |
 Reddam House | Woollahra | Co-ed | 95.0% | 77.9% | |
 Trinity Grammar School | Summer Hill | Boys | 93.3% | 92.4% | |
 Cranbrook School | Bellevue Hill | Boys | 93.3% | 90.0% | |
 Wenona School | North Sydney | Girls | 93.3% | 89.1% | |
 Ravenswood School For Girls | Gordon | Girls | 91.7% | 90.7% | |
 MLC School | Burwood | Girls | 91.7% | 89.4% | |
 Queenwood | Mosman | Girls | 91.7% | 85.7% | |
 Roseville College | Roseville | Girls | 91.7% | 82.2% | |
 Tangara School For Girls | Cherrybrook | Girls | 90.0% | 87.5% | |
 Moriah College | Bondi Junction | Co-ed | 90.0% | 79.1% | |
 Redlands | Cremorne | Co-ed | 88.3% | 87.6% | |
 Frensham School | Mittagong | Girls | 88.3% | 87.0% | |
 Meriden School | Strathfield | Girls | 88.3% | 86.3% | |
 Tara Anglican School for Girls | North Parramatta | Girls | 88.3% | 84.0% |
- Elite for Academic Excellence, New South Wales
- School
- Knox Grammar School
- Suburb
- Wahroonga
- Gender
- Boys
- Academic Excellence score
- 100.0%
- S360 score
- 92.3%
- Compare
- School
- Sydney Grammar School
- Suburb
- Darlinghurst
- Gender
- Boys
- Academic Excellence score
- 100.0%
- S360 score
- 90.5%
- Compare
- School
- Sceggs Darlinghurst
- Suburb
- Darlinghurst
- Gender
- Girls
- Academic Excellence score
- 100.0%
- S360 score
- 88.1%
- Compare
- School
- St Catherine’s School
- Suburb
- Waverley
- Gender
- Girls
- Academic Excellence score
- 98.3%
- S360 score
- 92.5%
- Compare
- School
- Abbotsleigh
- Suburb
- Wahroonga
- Gender
- Girls
- Academic Excellence score
- 98.3%
- S360 score
- 90.2%
- Compare
- Suburb
- North Sydney
- Gender
- Boys
- Academic Excellence score
- 96.7%
- S360 score
- 90.5%
- Compare
- School
- St Aloysius' College
- Suburb
- Kirribilli
- Gender
- Boys
- Academic Excellence score
- 96.7%
- S360 score
- 86.0%
- Compare
- School
- Ascham School
- Suburb
- Edgecliff
- Gender
- Girls
- Academic Excellence score
- 96.7%
- S360 score
- 85.8%
- Compare
- School
- The King’s School
- Suburb
- North Parramatta
- Gender
- Boys
- Academic Excellence score
- 95.0%
- S360 score
- 92.7%
- Compare
- School
- Pymble Ladies' College
- Suburb
- Pymble
- Gender
- Girls
- Academic Excellence score
- 95.0%
- S360 score
- 92.0%
- Compare
- School
- Loreto Kirribilli
- Suburb
- Kirribilli
- Gender
- Girls
- Academic Excellence score
- 95.0%
- S360 score
- 90.9%
- Compare
- School
- Kambala Girls
- Suburb
- Rose Bay
- Gender
- Girls
- Academic Excellence score
- 95.0%
- S360 score
- 90.2%
- Compare
- School
- Reddam House
- Suburb
- Woollahra
- Gender
- Co-ed
- Academic Excellence score
- 95.0%
- S360 score
- 77.9%
- Compare
- School
- Trinity Grammar School
- Suburb
- Summer Hill
- Gender
- Boys
- Academic Excellence score
- 93.3%
- S360 score
- 92.4%
- Compare
- School
- Cranbrook School
- Suburb
- Bellevue Hill
- Gender
- Boys
- Academic Excellence score
- 93.3%
- S360 score
- 90.0%
- Compare
- School
- Wenona School
- Suburb
- North Sydney
- Gender
- Girls
- Academic Excellence score
- 93.3%
- S360 score
- 89.1%
- Compare
- Suburb
- Gordon
- Gender
- Girls
- Academic Excellence score
- 91.7%
- S360 score
- 90.7%
- Compare
- School
- MLC School
- Suburb
- Burwood
- Gender
- Girls
- Academic Excellence score
- 91.7%
- S360 score
- 89.4%
- Compare
- School
- Queenwood
- Suburb
- Mosman
- Gender
- Girls
- Academic Excellence score
- 91.7%
- S360 score
- 85.7%
- Compare
- School
- Roseville College
- Suburb
- Roseville
- Gender
- Girls
- Academic Excellence score
- 91.7%
- S360 score
- 82.2%
- Compare
- School
- Tangara School For Girls
- Suburb
- Cherrybrook
- Gender
- Girls
- Academic Excellence score
- 90.0%
- S360 score
- 87.5%
- Compare
- School
- Moriah College
- Suburb
- Bondi Junction
- Gender
- Co-ed
- Academic Excellence score
- 90.0%
- S360 score
- 79.1%
- Compare
- School
- Redlands
- Suburb
- Cremorne
- Gender
- Co-ed
- Academic Excellence score
- 88.3%
- S360 score
- 87.6%
- Compare
- School
- Frensham School
- Suburb
- Mittagong
- Gender
- Girls
- Academic Excellence score
- 88.3%
- S360 score
- 87.0%
- Compare
- School
- Meriden School
- Suburb
- Strathfield
- Gender
- Girls
- Academic Excellence score
- 88.3%
- S360 score
- 86.3%
- Compare
- Suburb
- North Parramatta
- Gender
- Girls
- Academic Excellence score
- 88.3%
- S360 score
- 84.0%
- Compare
What the New South Wales pattern shows
New South Wales schools show a higher median Academic Excellence score than the national picture, at 76.7 percent against 71.7 percent nationally.
Girls' schools are over-represented among qualifiers relative to their overall share, making up 61.5 percent of this list against 32 percent of assessed schools.
Ten schools on this list are Elite for Academic Excellence while sitting just below Elite overall: Tangara School For Girls, Frensham School, Meriden School, St Aloysius' College, Ascham School and five others.
Only one qualifying school, Frensham School, sits outside metropolitan Sydney.
Elite tier: the highest tier on Schools360, reflecting exceptional overall performance
Image: Sydney Grammar School
Related
Other New South Wales Elite Schools
Every Elite Schools page uses the same independent, evidence-based assessment — explore what it takes to reach Elite on every other building block.
Common questions
How many schools reached Elite for Academic Excellence?
26 of 125 assessed New South Wales schools reached the Elite tier for Academic Excellence, 20.8 percent.
What does it take to reach Elite?
A building block score of 87.5 percent or above on Schools360. There is no partial credit and no top-N fallback: appearing on this list is the claim.
Why do some building blocks not have a page for every state?
A state page is only published once at least 8 schools in that state clear Elite for the building block. Fewer than that reads as thin to a parent and arbitrary to the schools left off, so Victoria and New South Wales are the only state pages at launch.
How is the Academic Excellence score calculated?
Each building block is the average of three factors, each scored out of 20 from four assessed elements. See the methodology page for the full weighting and data sources.
Is this the same as the national Academic Excellence list?
No. This page shows only New South Wales schools that reached Elite. The national page carries the full list for Australia and the methodology deep dive.