Suburb hub

Schools in Bowen, QLD

6 schools in Bowen reporting to ACARA โ€” sector mix 4 Government, 2 Catholic. The hub combines latest NAPLAN, ICSEA range and curriculum signals into one page.

Schools
6
ICSEA range
881โ€“967
mean 924
Sectors
2
4 Government, 2 Catholic
Latest Y5 mean
441
-42.2 vs 2014
Latest data: 2025 ยท Source: ACARA / MySchool

Bowen at a glance

Bowen contains 6 schools reporting to ACARA โ€” predominantly primary schools across the 4 Government, 2 Catholic sector mix. ICSEA values across these schools range from 881 to 967, with a mean of 924 โ€” that is the socio-educational backdrop you should keep in mind when comparing NAPLAN scores within the suburb.

About schools in Bowen

Bowen, QLD has 6 schools reporting to ACARA โ€” a sector mix of 4 Government, 2 Catholic. By stage that is 4 Primary, 2 Secondary.

Published ICSEA values across these schools range from 881 to 967 (mean 924).

11-year NAPLAN trend (Year 5 mean across all suburb schools)

Bowen Year 5 NAPLAN mean43644946247548820142015201620172018201920212022202320242025NAPLAN mean
Suburb-level Year 5 mean moved from 483.2 in 2014 to 441.0 in 2025 (-42.2 points across 11 years).

Schools in Bowen

SchoolSectorTypeICSEANAPLANHighlights
Bowen State High SchoolGovernmentSecondary919514.4 (Y9)โ€”
Queens Beach State SchoolGovernmentPrimary928444.6 (Y5)โ€”
Bowen State SchoolGovernmentPrimary927441.2 (Y5)โ€”
St Mary's Catholic SchoolCatholicPrimary967439.4 (Y5)โ€”
Merinda State SchoolGovernmentPrimary881438.8 (Y5)โ€”
Townsville Flexible School - Bowen CampusCatholicSecondaryโ€“โ€“โ€”

NAPLAN column shows the latest-year mean across the 5 subjects for the indicated grade (Y5 for primary, Y9 for secondary). Click a school name to open it in the map view.

More QLD suburbs

?

Frequently asked questions

What's a good NAPLAN score for schools in Bowen?

There is no suburb-specific official benchmark for โ€œgoodโ€. A reasonable first read is to compare each school with the broader national range and then, more importantly, with schools at similar ICSEA. In Bowen, some schools sit well above the national Year 5 average, but that does not automatically tell you whether they are adding more value than a lower-scoring school with a very different intake profile.

How do I check the school catchment for Bowen?

Open a school from the table and inspect it in the map view. Where department or ACARA-linked catchment data is available, that is the best starting point. Catchment boundaries can change, though, so the cautious step is to confirm with the relevant education authority or the school before relying on it.

Which is the best primary school in Bowen?

There is no single factual answer to that. The table is sorted by latest NAPLAN mean, which is useful for orientation, but a family could still reasonably prefer a different school because of sector, fees, language offering, learning support, distance, or culture. This page is best used to narrow the field, not to end the decision.

Suburb schools report generated by Schoogaroo from public data (ACARA / My School and state sources). Latest version: https://www.schoogaroo.com/suburbs/qld/bowen - verify enrolment details with the school or the relevant education authority.