Best School Suburbs in Melbourne 2026
These are the best school access suburbs in Melbourne, drawn from SuburbCheck's data on every Melbourne suburb. Ranked by School Score — a national percentile combining the quality of nearby schools (ACARA ICSEA ratings) with school choice (how many schools are within reach). A score of 80 or above places a suburb in the top 20% nationally for access to strong schools. Scores update as new government data is released.
Last updated 27 July 2026.
- 1ArmadaleVIC 3143 · Stonnington$2.64M9,368 people100
- 2Clifton HillVIC 3068 · Yarra$1.72M6,606 people100
- 3Glen IrisVIC 3146 · Boroondara$2.50M26,131 people100
- 4CanterburyVIC 3126 · Boroondara$3.32M7,800 people99
- 5FairfieldVIC 3078 · Yarra$1.64M6,535 people99
- 6Fitzroy NorthVIC 3068 · Yarra$1.67M12,781 people99
- 7IvanhoeVIC 3079 · Banyule$1.82M13,374 people99
- 8KewVIC 3101 · Boroondara$2.84M24,499 people99
- 9Surrey HillsVIC 3127 · Boroondara$2.35M13,655 people99
- 10ToorakVIC 3142 · Stonnington$5.76M12,817 people99
- 11AlphingtonVIC 3078 · Darebin$2.14M5,702 people98
- 12AshburtonVIC 3147 · Boroondara$2.00M7,952 people98
- 13Brighton EastVIC 3187 · Bayside$2.29M16,757 people98
- 14Brunswick EastVIC 3057 · Moreland$1.42M13,279 people98
- 15Carlton NorthVIC 3054 · Melbourne$1.57M6,177 people98
- 16DeepdeneVIC 3103 · Boroondara$3.10M2,101 people98
- 17HawthornVIC 3122 · Boroondara$2.61M22,322 people98
- 18Hawthorn EastVIC 3123 · Boroondara$2.48M14,834 people98
- 19Ivanhoe EastVIC 3079 · Banyule$2.24M3,762 people98
- 20Kew EastVIC 3102 · Boroondara$2.02M6,620 people98
- 21MalvernVIC 3144 · Stonnington$3.00M9,929 people98
- 22Middle ParkVIC 3206 · Port Phillip$2.81M4,000 people98
- 23Mont AlbertVIC 3127 · Whitehorse$2.35M4,948 people98
- 24MurrumbeenaVIC 3163 · Glen Eira$1.68M9,996 people98
- 25Princes HillVIC 3054 · Yarra$1.76M2,005 people98
Frequently asked questions
Which suburb in Melbourne has the best schools?
Armadale tops SuburbCheck's School Score ranking for Melbourne, with a School Score of 100/100. The score reflects the quality (ICSEA) of nearby schools and how much school choice the area offers, benchmarked against every Australian suburb.
How is the School Score calculated?
The School Score is a national percentile (0–100) that combines the average ICSEA rating of the schools in and around a suburb with school choice (how many schools are within reach). It is led by quality — a score of 80 or above puts a suburb in the national top 20% for access to strong schools. ICSEA is used because the ACARA dataset has no NAPLAN figures.
What is ICSEA?
ICSEA (Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage) is ACARA's measure of the socio-educational background of a school's students, on a scale where 1000 is the national average. It's the standard like-for-like benchmark for comparing schools across Australia; higher-ICSEA schools tend to post stronger academic results.