Western Australia’s school rankings for 2025 have delivered a surprise outcome, with one public school dominating academic performance after a major shake-up in how ATAR data is assessed and published.
In a year that saw long-standing ranking methods rewritten, Perth Modern School emerged as the State’s top-performing school, outperforming more than 90 other institutions by excelling in an extraordinary 23 ATAR subjects.
A Ranking System That Changed Everything
The 2025 rankings are unlike any previous year. Education authorities no longer release schools’ median ATAR scores, a metric that once defined league tables and headlines across WA.
Instead, the new analysis focuses on subject-by-subject excellence — measuring how often schools were recognised for producing top-performing Year 12 students in individual ATAR courses.
This shift has fundamentally changed the conversation. Rather than rewarding a handful of elite scores, the system highlights schools that deliver consistent, broad-based academic success across multiple disciplines.
Perth Modern’s Dominant Result
No school benefited more from the revised methodology than Perth Modern School. The State’s only fully academically selective public school was recognised across 23 different ATAR subjects, the highest tally recorded in WA for 2025.
The subjects ranged across sciences, humanities, and languages, demonstrating depth rather than narrow specialisation. From chemistry and advanced mathematics to psychology and geography, Perth Modern students repeatedly ranked among the State’s highest achievers.
One of the most notable inclusions was Tamil — a language spoken widely in Sri Lanka and southern India — highlighting the school’s strong performance even in specialist courses.
Public Schools Make a Statement
The rankings also delivered a broader message: public schools are competing at the very top.
Five public schools placed inside the State’s top 10, challenging the long-held perception that elite academic outcomes are dominated by private institutions.
Last year’s number one school, :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}, narrowly missed reclaiming the top spot, underscoring how competitive the upper tier of WA education has become.
In total, 94 schools across Western Australia were recognised for having high-performing ATAR students in 2025 — an increase on the previous year.
Why This Matters for Families
For parents and students planning subject selections or school enrolments for 2026 and beyond, the new rankings provide a more detailed picture of where academic strength truly lies.
Rather than relying on averages, families can now see which schools consistently produce strong results across a wide range of subjects — a key factor for students considering diverse university pathways.
Perth Modern’s performance reinforces its reputation as WA’s academic benchmark, while the strong showing from multiple public schools suggests broader gains across the State system.
ATAR Pathways Still Under the Spotlight
Despite ongoing debates about assessment reform, ATAR scores remain a critical gateway to competitive university courses.
The revised ranking approach places renewed emphasis on teaching quality, curriculum depth, and sustained academic culture — factors that are harder to measure but more meaningful over time.
Education analysts say the 2025 results may influence how schools market themselves, how parents compare options, and how policymakers evaluate performance going forward.
What Comes Next
With enrolment decisions already underway for the next academic cycle, WA’s revised school rankings are expected to draw intense interest in the months ahead.
For now, one conclusion is clear: after the ATAR data shake-up, Perth Modern School stands alone at the top, setting the academic pace for Western Australia in 2025.
For official subject performance data and ranking methodology, readers can access detailed information via the School Curriculum and Standards Authority and coverage from PerthNow.
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