Mount Scopus Memorial School in Burwood has emerged as the top VCE school for 2014.
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The independent Jewish school knocked selective state school Mac.Robertson Girls' High School off its perch for the first time in five years, with a median VCE study score of 38 (where 50 is the maximum).
Mac.Robertson, which has topped the list almost every year for the past decade, came in fourth this year. It also had a median of 38, but with 36.6 per cent of study scores of 40 and above, it fell behind Mount Scopus' 40.1 per cent result.
In second place this year was the independent, non-religious Ruyton Girls' School in Kew, which flew up the ranks from 18th place in 2013. The school had a median score of 38, up from 36 the previous year.
"Sixty five per cent of girls got an ATAR over 90," Ruyton principal Linda Douglas said.
"It gets better: 23 per cent had an ATAR over 99, and 45 per cent over 95. These girls have just excelled," she said.
Also rocketing up the list this year is the little-known Shelford Girls' Grammar, which placed third with a median score of 38.
Principal Polly Flanagan said the girls had been "exceptional" this year, with 61 per cent of the cohort of 60 achieving an ATAR over 90, compared with 48 per cent last year.
"We're not academically selective, we don't take the cream of the crop," Ms Flanagan said.
"It's also a school where the girls have really high participation rates in music, debating and sport ... I don't know how they manage the things they do."
Rounding out the top five and also reaching a median of 38 was Bialik College in Hawthorn East, which regularly appears in the top 10.
Completing the top 10 this year is Fintona Girls' School, Melbourne High School, Ballarat Clendon College, Leibler Yavneh College and Yeshivah College.
In the government sector the top schools were the selective Mac.Robertson, Melbourne High and Nossal High, with medians of 38, 37 and 35 respectively.
Glen Waverley Secondary College was the top performing non-selective government school, with a median of 34.
The most improved in the government sector are Berwick Secondary College, whose median has steadily risen from 28 in 2007 to 30 this year.
Braybrook College was also a standout, with a median of 32, up from 27 in 2007. Brunswick Secondary College also reached a median of 32, and entered the top 20 for the first time.
