Sacred Heart College and Santa Maria College have received the highest rankings of Catholic schools for 2013, with both reaching the top 20 schools in the WA Year 12 academic league tables.
After ranking 18th in 2012, Sacred Heart College moved up to 12th in 2013, while Santa Maria College was placed 15th, a substantial jump from its position of 39th the previous year.
Of the 36 Catholic high schools in WA, eight made it into the top 50 for 2013.
The list ranks schools based on their students’ results in WA Certificate of Education stage three courses.
Director of Catholic Education in WA Tim McDonald said he was pleased with the results.
“Our girls’ schools have continued to perform strongly and it is pleasing to see the improved performance of a number of metropolitan and regional schools in 2013,” he said.
However, Dr McDonald added that the league tables do not reflect the entire education experience offered in Catholic schools, but rather utilise one particular measure of achievement.
“We aim to produce faith-filled individuals who can make a positive contribution to the society in which they live, attributes that cannot be measured by league tables,” he said.
Sacred Heart College principal Peter Bothe said the school was proud of the students’ efforts during the year.
“The class of 2013 students have set new benchmarks for excellence in their application and their subsequent results,” he said.
While the results from 2013 were particularly pleasing, Mr Bothe said the school would be aiming for even better results this year.
“Our results have been very strong for a number of years across a range of indicators which the college uses as benchmark,” he said.
“We will be working to support our students to surpass these results in 2014 and beyond.”