Top 63 primary schools in Cairns (2025)

Schools offering primary years (Primary and Combined schools). Ranked by the Success Index from official ACARA data; 63 schools shown out of all eligible primary schools in Cairns.

#	School	Sector	Success Index	ICSEA	Students	Students : teacher
1	Mother of Good Counsel School Cairns North · Primary · Prep-6	Catholic	70.2 Top 25%	1091	354	16.1
2	Trinity Anglican School White Rock · Combined · Prep-12	Independent	66.4 Top 25%	1103	1,204	12.9
3	Freshwater State School Freshwater · Primary · Prep-6	Government	62.5 Top 50%	1064	594	14.8
4	Holy Cross School Trinity Park · Primary · Prep-6	Catholic	62.3 Top 50%	1058	572	16.2
5	Cairns Hinterland Steiner School Kuranda · Combined · Prep-8	Independent	61.4 Top 50%	1059	157	10.0
6	Caravonica State School Caravonica · Primary · Prep-6	Government	59.3 Top 50%	1020	540	14.2
7	Yungaburra State School Yungaburra · Primary · Prep-6	Government	57.1 Top 50%	1025	217	14.1
8	Cairns School of Distance Education Manunda · Combined · Prep-12	Government	54.5 Top 50%	1024	3,692	10.6
9	Peace Lutheran College Kamerunga · Combined · Prep-12	Independent	53.8 Top 50%	1054	544	11.6
10	Freshwater Christian College Brinsmead · Combined · Prep-12	Independent	53.0 Top 50%	1041	562	12.2
11	Port Douglas State School Port Douglas · Primary · Prep-6	Government	52.9 Top 50%	1012	230	12.4
12	St Andrew's Catholic College Redlynch Valley Redlynch · Combined · Prep-12	Catholic	50.7 Top 50%	1067	1,373	13.6
13	St Gerard Majella Primary School Woree · Primary · Prep-6	Catholic	50.0 Top 50%	1035	399	16.8
14	Miallo State School Miallo · Primary · Prep-6	Government	49.8 Top 50%	996	176	12.5
15	St Clare's School Tully · Primary · Prep-6	Catholic	49.2 Top 50%	1008	170	14.9
16	St Joseph's School Atherton · Primary · Prep-6	Catholic	49.2 Top 50%	1022	287	15.4
17	Jubilee Christian College Atherton · Combined · Prep-12	Independent	48.6 Top 50%	1017	850	14.7
18	Our Lady Help of Christians School Earlville · Primary · Prep-6	Catholic	48.6 Lower 50%	1025	506	15.4
19	St Joseph's School Parramatta Park · Primary · Prep-6	Catholic	48.6 Lower 50%	1029	348	16.3
20	St Augustine's School Mossman · Primary · Prep-6	Catholic	47.8 Lower 50%	1002	109	10.5
21	Good Counsel Primary School Innisfail · Primary · Prep-6	Catholic	47.3 Lower 50%	1001	340	16.0
22	Tropical North Learning Academy - Trinity Beach State School Trinity Beach · Primary · Prep-6	Government	46.8 Lower 50%	996	899	14.4
23	Edge Hill State School Edge Hill · Primary · Prep-6	Government	46.2 Lower 50%	1016	864	15.7
24	Malanda State School Malanda · Primary · Prep-6	Government	45.8 Lower 50%	1001	410	15.0
25	St Michael's School Gordonvale · Primary · Prep-6	Catholic	44.9 Lower 50%	993	279	14.1
26	Yorkeys Knob State School Yorkeys Knob · Primary · Prep-6	Government	44.9 Lower 50%	998	321	15.1
27	St Thomas' School Mareeba · Primary · Prep-6	Catholic	44.4 Lower 50%	1002	431	15.0
28	St Rita's School South Johnstone · Primary · Prep-6	Catholic	43.1 Lower 50%	970	107	11.9
29	MacKillop Catholic College, Mount Peter Mount Peter · Combined · Prep-12	Catholic	41.4 Lower 50%	987	1,119	12.9
30	St Therese's School Bentley Park · Primary · Prep-6	Catholic	41.4 Lower 50%	991	541	13.9
31	Redlynch State College Redlynch · Combined · Prep-12	Government	40.1 Lower 50%	1007	1,834	13.5
32	Whitfield State School Whitfield · Primary · Prep-6	Government	39.9 Lower 50%	974	774	15.8
33	Parramatta State School Parramatta Park · Primary · Prep-6	Government	39.2 Lower 50%	887	482	10.4
34	Tolga State School Tolga · Primary · Prep-6	Government	38.3 Lower 50%	981	269	13.7
35	Mission Beach State School Wongaling Beach · Primary · Prep-6	Government	37.9 Lower 50%	991	296	15.7
36	Herberton State School Moomin · Combined · Prep-10	Government	33.9 Lower 50%	930	154	9.7
37	St Teresa's School Ravenshoe · Primary · Prep-6	Catholic	33.0 Lower 50%	939	85	13.9
38	Mourilyan State School Mourilyan · Primary · Prep-6	Government	31.8 Lower 50%	943	165	13.4
39	Tully State School Tully · Primary · Prep-6	Government	31.3 Lower 50%	885	268	10.2
40	Babinda State School Babinda · Combined · Prep-12	Government	30.4 Lower 50%	931	280	11.7
41	Kairi State School Kairi · Primary · Prep-6	Government	30.3 Lower 50%	940	99	14.1
42	Machans Beach State School Machans Beach · Primary · Prep-6	Government	30.3 Lower 50%	944	135	15.3
43	St Francis Xavier's School Manunda · Primary · Prep-6	Catholic	30.2 Lower 50%	953	382	13.5
44	Ravenshoe State School Ravenshoe · Combined · Prep-12	Government	30.1 Lower 50%	848	351	9.9
45	Innisfail State College Innisfail Estate · Combined · Prep-12	Government	27.9 Lower 50%	889	951	10.6
46	Mossman State School Mossman · Primary · Prep-6	Government	26.4 Lower 50%	879	321	13.6
47	Atherton State School Atherton · Primary · Prep-6	Government	25.2 Lower 50%	903	331	11.3
48	Djarragun College Gordonvale · Combined · Prep-12	Independent	24.8 Lower 50%	683	259	8.4
49	Bentley Park College Bentley Park · Combined · Prep-12	Government	24.6 Lower 50%	869	1,771	13.1
50	Balaclava State School Mooroobool · Primary · Prep-6	Government	23.9 Lower 50%	797	381	11.8
51	Kuranda District State College Kuranda · Combined · Prep-12	Government	23.6 Lower 50%	862	285	10.4
52	Yarrabah State School Yarrabah · Combined · Prep-10	Government	23.5 Lower 50%	688	405	9.2
53	Cairns West State School Manunda · Primary · Prep-6	Government	22.5 Lower 50%	784	481	11.5
54	Radiant Life College East Innisfail · Combined · Prep-10	Independent	21.8 Lower 50%	749	137	13.7
55	Gordonvale State School Gordonvale · Primary · Prep-6	Government	21.7 Lower 50%	886	403	13.0
56	Innisfail State School Innisfail · Primary · Prep-6	Government	20.5 Lower 50%	771	117	5.4
57	Goondi State School Goondi Bend · Primary · Prep-6	Government	20.3 Lower 50%	919	330	15.1
58	Isabella State School Edmonton · Primary · Prep-6	Government	20.3 Lower 50%	899	496	14.4
59	Innisfail East State School East Innisfail · Primary · Prep-6	Government	17.3 Lower 50%	814	148	12.1
60	White Rock State School White Rock · Primary · Prep-6	Government	17.2 Lower 50%	837	439	13.5
61	Woree State School Woree · Primary · Prep-6	Government	15.6 Lower 50%	860	530	14.8
62	Hambledon State School Edmonton · Primary · Prep-6	Government	15.3 Lower 50%	865	378	12.5
63	Mareeba State School Mareeba · Primary · Prep-6	Government	14.7 Lower 50%	855	695	14.0

There are 63 primary schools in Cairns eligible for this list; the top 63 are shown. Mother of Good Counsel School in Cairns North is ranked first with a Success Index of 70.2 and an ICSEA of 1091. 39 of the top 63 are government schools and 24 are Catholic or independent; the median ICSEA across the list is 981.

The top 10 primary schools in Cairns for 2025 are: 1. Mother of Good Counsel School (Cairns North); 2. Trinity Anglican School (White Rock); 3. Freshwater State School (Freshwater); 4. Holy Cross School (Trinity Park); 5. Cairns Hinterland Steiner School (Kuranda); 6. Caravonica State School (Caravonica); 7. Yungaburra State School (Yungaburra); 8. Cairns School of Distance Education (Manunda); 9. Peace Lutheran College (Kamerunga); 10. Freshwater Christian College (Brinsmead).

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Frequently asked questions

What is the best primary school in Cairns?

Mother of Good Counsel School in Cairns North ranks first among primary schools in Cairns with a Success Index of 70.2 out of 100 and an ICSEA of 1091.

How are primary schools in Cairns ranked?

Each school's Success Index combines five factors from ACARA's 2025 school profile data: ICSEA (50%), share of students in the top socio-educational quarter (15%), students per teacher (15%), five-year enrolment growth (10%) and five-year ICSEA trend (10%). Each factor is a percentile against schools of the same type nationally. Schools with fewer than 80 students are excluded.

How many public schools are in the top 100 primary schools in Cairns?

39 of the top 63 primary schools in Cairns are government schools; 24 are Catholic or independent.

Do these rankings include NAPLAN or ATAR results?

Not yet. ACARA does not publish school-level NAPLAN results in bulk, and ATAR results are released by state authorities in different formats. The Success Index uses the measures ACARA publishes for every school so that all schools are compared on identical data. Where a school publishes its own results we link to its website.