Merri River School
189 Wollaston Road, Warrnambool VIC 3280
Merri River School is a government special school in Warrnambool, VIC with about 202 students. Its ICSEA is 921, where the national average is 1000.
ICSEA, Language background, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander share, Teaching staff, School website: ACARA School Profile 2025. Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). Terms
About this school, from public sources
Public information describes Merri River School as Warrnambool's only special school, catering for students aged 5 to 18 with intellectual disability across four sub-schools from junior primary to senior secondary. It serves a wide regional catchment via a home-to-school bus service and operates with a small student-to-teacher ratio. The school offers specialist programs including Building/Horticulture, Catering, Food Technologies, Art, STEM, Music and Physical Education, and recently moved into a rebuilt campus with modern facilities funded by a state government investment.
Often praised
- modern rebuilt facilities
- small class ratios
- broad specialist programs
This note was generated from publicly available online sources (the school's website, official pages and online feedback) as at September 2026. It reflects what is said online, not an assessment by SchoolList AU or any government body, and it deliberately records only neutral and positive points. Confidence: medium. Verify anything important with the school. Report an inaccuracy.
NAPLAN
School-level NAPLAN results are published by ACARA on My School under terms that do not allow them to be reproduced here. See Merri River School on My School · Why some data is missing
Location and nearby schools
Straight-line distances. List every school within 5 to 50 km.
| School | Suburb | Type | Distance | ICSEA | Students |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| King's College | Warrnambool | Independent k–12 / combined | 2.3 km | 1,083 | 276 |
Schools with a similar ICSEA in VIC
Same sector and type, ICSEA within 25 points. This is the comparison that separates teaching from postcode.
| School | Suburb | Type | Students | ICSEA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bass Coast Specialist School | Wonthaggi | Public special | 67 | 922 |
| Mornington Special Developmental School | Mornington | Public special | 26 | 920 |
| Wangaratta District Specialist School | Wangaratta | Public special | 31 | 922 |
| Latrobe Special Developmental School | Traralgon | Public special | 87 | 928 |
| Cobram and District Specialist School | Cobram | Public special | 70 | 929 |
| Lake Colac School | Colac | Public special | 90 | 933 |
About this data
Figures are from the latest published datasets and can lag the school by a year. Confirm enrolment rules and catchment boundaries with the school or department before relying on them.