Best School Suburbs in Sydney 2026
These are the best school access suburbs in Sydney, drawn from SuburbCheck's data on every Sydney 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.
- 1Balgowlah HeightsNSW 2093 · Northern Beaches$4.63M3,546 people100
- 2CremorneNSW 2090 · North Sydney$4.42M11,263 people100
- 3Crows NestNSW 2065 · North Sydney$2.96M4,974 people100
- 4DarlinghurstNSW 2010 · Sydney$2.88M10,615 people100
- 5EdgecliffNSW 2027 · Woollahra$3.71M2,499 people100
- 6GordonNSW 2072 · Ku-ring-gai$3.67M8,795 people100
- 7GreenwichNSW 2065 · Lane Cove$4.13M5,469 people100
- 8KirribilliNSW 2061 · North Sydney$3.92M3,629 people100
- 9North EppingNSW 2121 · Hornsby$2.43M4,657 people100
- 10North SydneyNSW 2060 · North Sydney$3.54M8,964 people100
- 11NorthbridgeNSW 2063 · Willoughby$5.16M6,493 people100
- 12RosevilleNSW 2069 · Ku-ring-gai$4.20M10,340 people100
- 13TurramurraNSW 2074 · Ku-ring-gai$3.23M12,850 people100
- 14WoollahraNSW 2025 · Woollahra$5.13M7,189 people100
- 15AllawahNSW 2218 · Georges River$1.94M5,351 people99
- 16BalmainNSW 2041 · Inner West$2.86M10,454 people99
- 17BeecroftNSW 2119 · Hornsby$2.58M10,291 people99
- 18Bellevue HillNSW 2023 · Woollahra$12.65M10,590 people99
- 19BondiNSW 2026 · Waverley$4.98M10,411 people99
- 20BronteNSW 2024 · Waverley$5.49M7,166 people99
- 21CammerayNSW 2062 · North Sydney$3.94M7,088 people99
- 22Castle CoveNSW 2069 · Willoughby$4.04M2,643 people99
- 23CollaroyNSW 2097 · Northern Beaches$3.82M7,944 people99
- 24East LindfieldNSW 2070 · Ku-ring-gai$4.26M3,710 people99
- 25Forest LodgeNSW 2037 · Sydney$2.44M4,965 people99
Frequently asked questions
Which suburb in Sydney has the best schools?
Balgowlah Heights tops SuburbCheck's School Score ranking for Sydney, 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.