The 2025 South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) results have now been released, marking a major milestone for the State's Year 12 cohort this year.
This article aims to share and provide insight into how South Australian schools and students performed this year as school results, ATAR scores and other SACE data becomes available. Whether you're a parent, Year 12 student, future Year 12 student or an educator who is results-curious, here's a snapshot of how schools and students achieved in 2025.
Key Highlights from the 2025 SACE Results
Here's a breakdown of the top statistics currently available for the 2025 SACE cohort:
- 17,099 students completed SACE in 2025.
- 13 students achieved the perfect ATAR of 99.95.
- 42.3% of students included a VET subject in their subject mix (Vocational Education and Training).
- 1,221 students achieved some 1,468 merits, for the highest results in subjects.
We'll aim to update these highlights as more data becomes available.
How to read the scores below and what they mean
What is the ATAR
The ATAR is an acronym used for "Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank", the percentile rank a Year 12 student is issued when they complete the SACE. The ATAR is primarily used so that universities have a way of assessing and ranking students for the purposes of prioritising who they offer admission to for courses they offer.
As a ranking, the ATAR effectively tells you what percentage of your cohort you performed better than. For example, if a student receives an 80.00 ATAR, it means they performed better than approximately 80% of their cohort.
The highest ATAR that a student can receive is 99.95, meaning they performed better than 99.95% of their cohort. For that reason, a student cannot receive an ATAR of 100.
Aiming for a top ATAR score in 2026? Connect with a past high achiever.
How schools performed in SACE in 2025
Based on the information that SACE schools have released at the time of publishing, the below sets out to rank schools based on a number of factors, including:
- Median ATAR: The midpoint score of a school's cohort;
- % of 99+ ATARs: The percentage of a cohort who received an ATAR above 99; and
- % of 95+ ATARs: The percentage of a cohort who received an ATAR above 95.
The school results highlighted below are school-reported and are not an exhaustive list, nor a definitive ranking, for how South Australian schools performed in 2025. At the time of publishing, many SACE schools had not made their results public.
Top Schools by Median ATAR
Median ATAR is often used as a balanced metric to reflect a school cohort's overall academic performance. It gives a strong indication of where the middle of a cohort achieved, and thus, the higher the Median ATAR, the stronger than the cohort achieved overall.
| Rank | School | Median ATAR |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | St Peter’s College, St Peters | 91.33 |
| 2 | IQRA College, Adelaide | 90.70 |
| 3 | Pulteney Grammar School, Adelaide | 89.2 |
| 4 | St Ignatius College, Athelstone | 88.5 |
| 5 | St John's Grammar School, Adelaide | 87.05 |
These results showcase consistent academic strength across both metropolitan and regional schools.
Top Schools by Percentage of 99+ ATARs
The percentage of students who achieved an ATAR of 99+ or above is most commonly used to provide a snapshot of how many students at a given school performed at the very top end in a given year. This metric tells us what percentage of students in 2025 achieved in the top 1% for the entire State:
| Rank | School | % of 99+ ATARs |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | St Peter’s College, St Peters | 16% |
| 2 | Walford Anglican School For Girls, Adelaide | 12% |
| 3 | St Ignatius College, Athelstone | 7.60% |
| 4 | Pulteney Grammar School, Adelaide | 6% |
| 5 | St John's Grammar School, Adelaide | 2% |
These schools have demonstrated exceptional capacity to support students at the very top end to achieve at the highest level compared with other students in South Australia.
Schools with the most 99.95 scorers
In 2025, 13 SACE students achieved a perfect ATAR of 99.95. These students came from the following schools, with St Peter's College leading the way again in 2025 with an impressive 4 perfect ATAR scorers:
- 4 perfect ATARs: St Peter’s College
- 2 perfect ATARs: Westminster School
- 1 perfect ATAR: Blackfriars Priory School, Iqra College, Pembroke School, Pulteney Grammar School, Rostrevor College, Prince Alfred College
Perfect ATAR scores are extraordinarily rare, placing students in the top 0.05% of the state. These schools should be congratulated for the outstanding academic outcomes achieved by their 2025 cohorts and for how well they supported their students.
Current publicly available data accounts for 12 of the 13 perfect ATAR scorers. This list will be updated as additional school-level information becomes available.
Do you have ambitions to do similar? Connect with a past high achiever or qualified teacher.
Top Schools by Percentage of 95+ ATARs
The percentage of students who achieved an ATAR of 95+ or above tells us what percentage of students in 2025 achieved in the top 5% for the entire State:
| Rank | School | % of 95+ ATARs |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pembroke School, Kensington Park | 47% |
| 2 | St Peter’s College, St Peters | 36% |
| 3 | Walford Anglican School For Girls, Adelaide | 32% |
| 4 | St Ignatius College, Athelstone | 30% |
| 5 | Pulteney Grammar School, Adelaide | 26% |
These percentages highlight schools with strong depth across their cohorts, not just isolated high performers.
Top Schools by Percentage of 90+ ATARs
The percentage of SACE students who achieved an ATAR of 90+ or above is another commonly used statistic that tells us what percentage of a school's 2025 student cohort achieved in the top 10% of the State:
| Rank | School | % of 90+ ATARs |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | St Peter’s College, St Peters | 55% |
| 2 | IQRA College, Adelaide | 53% |
| 3 | Walford Anglican School For Girls, Adelaide | 51% |
| 4 | Pulteney Grammar School, Adelaide | 46% |
| 5 | St Ignatius College, Athelstone | 46% |
| 6 | St Dominic's Priory College, North Adelaide | 44% |
| 7 | St John's Grammar School, Belair | 43% |
| 8 | Scotch College, Torrens Park | 39% |
| 9 | Immanuel College, Novar Gardens | 30% |
These percentages highlight schools with strong depth across their cohort, being a high percentage of students who achieved in the top 10% of the State this year.
Notable School Achievements
- St Peter’s College emerged again as a standout performer of 2025, recording the highest publicly recorded median ATAR (91.3), the largest % of 99+ ATARs (16% of its cohort), and the most perfect 99.95 students (4) statewide. A very well deserved congratulations to all of the teaching faculty at St Peter's College and to the class of 2025!
- Pulteney Grammar School reported multiple academic milestones, including a high median ATAR (89.2) and 1 perfect ATAR scorer.
- IQRA College delivered one of the most notable results relative to cohort size, placing second overall for median ATAR (90.7) and recording a perfect ATAR scorer, reinforcing its position among South Australia’s highest-performing schools.
- Pembroke School led the State for depth of high achievement, with nearly half of its Year 12 cohort(47%) achieving an ATAR of 95 or above!
- Lastly, Westminster School recorded multiple perfect ATAR scorers, placing it among a small group of schools capable of producing repeated elite ATARs in the same year.
FAQs
SACE results were released on Monday, 15 December 2025, from 8:30 am (ACDT).
You can check your SACE results via the Students Online portal on the SACE website. To view your ATAR, you must log in to the SATAC (South Australian Tertiary Admissions Centre) website.
In 2025, 13 students achieved the highest possible ATAR of 99.95.
Yes. In South Australia, VET (Vocational Education and Training) is highly integrated into the SACE. Completed Certificate III qualifications (or higher) can count as 20 credits at Stage 2 and contribute to your ATAR calculation.
The main offer round for SATAC is usually in mid-January 2026. However, check the specific dates for your desired course on the SATAC website, as some competitive courses have different timelines.
There are many pathways into university. You can explore SATAC's alternative entry pathways, consider a foundation studies course, or look at transferring degrees after your first year of study.
Conclusion
The 2025 SACE results illustrate another year of impressive academic achievement, with a number of standout schools and students, including 13 students who secured the perfect 99.95 ATAR.
If you or your child are heading into Year 12 in 2026, we'd love to help match you with the personalised support high achievers seek to realise their ambitions. To start, simply view Learnmate’s SACE tutors and reach out to a tutor to build your plan for 2026.
