Northside College Preparatory High School posted the highest 2025 state test results of any Chicago public high school with at least 500 students. Of its 11th graders, 96.2% were proficient in English language arts (ELA) and 90.0% in math on the ACT, according to allk12's analysis of Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) data. Payton College Preparatory High School was second, at 93.8% in ELA and 92.0% in math.
The top eight schools are all selective enrollment high schools, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) schools that admit students based on an entrance test and grades. Ten of the city's 11 selective schools finished in the top 25. The exception was King College Prep High School, which ranked 30th of 78 schools with 39.8% proficient in ELA and 15.7% in math.
Illinois high school scores now come from the ACT. ISBE replaced the SAT with the ACT as its high school test starting in spring 2025, when 11th graders statewide took it during the school day. The rates in this ranking are for 11th graders, the grade ISBE uses to measure high school proficiency in ELA and math. A student counts as proficient by scoring at ISBE's Proficient or Above Proficient level.
ISBE also reset those proficiency levels in 2025, so the new rates are a fresh starting point. The agency's guidance says families "should not compare 2025 proficiency rates to prior years" because of the change. These spring 2025 results are the most recent school-level scores ISBE has published.
Across CPS, 40.1% of 11th graders were proficient in ELA and 25.3% in math in 2025, compared with 51.7% and 39.3% statewide. Northside's ELA rate was 56.1 points above the district's (96.2 minus 40.1).
Top 25 Chicago public high schools by 2025 test scores
| Rank | School | Type | Students | Low-income | ELA proficient | Math proficient | BeatsExpectations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northside College Preparatory High School | Selective | 1,061 | 36% | 96.2% | 90.0% | Outperforming |
| 2 | Payton College Preparatory High School | Selective | 1,260 | 33% | 93.8% | 92.0% | Outperforming |
| 3 | Young Magnet High School | Selective | 2,223 | 33% | 92.5% | 89.0% | Outperforming |
| 4 | Lane Technical High School | Selective | 4,604 | 35% | 91.6% | 86.1% | Outperforming |
| 5 | Jones College Prep High School | Selective | 1,954 | 38% | 91.6% | 85.7% | Outperforming |
| 6 | Hancock College Preparatory High School | Selective | 1,050 | 65% | 92.6% | 70.7% | Outperforming |
| 7 | Brooks College Prep Academy High School | Selective | 1,007 | 59% | 89.5% | 71.2% | Outperforming |
| 8 | Lindblom Math & Science Academy High School | Selective | 1,316 | 58% | 78.6% | 51.1% | Outperforming |
| 9 | Lincoln Park High School | District | 2,214 | 44% | 75.0% | 50.2% | As expected |
| 10 | Amundsen High School | District | 1,507 | 37% | 71.3% | 51.3% | As expected |
| 11 | Von Steuben Metro Science High School | District | 1,698 | 61% | 66.3% | 45.3% | As expected |
| 12 | Kenwood Academy High School | District | 2,268 | 54% | 62.0% | 40.5% | Outperforming |
| 13 | South Shore International College Prep High School | Selective | 625 | 73% | 56.8% | 35.6% | As expected |
| 14 | Chicago Math & Sci Elementary Charter (grades 6 to 12) | Charter | 623 | 88% | 49.0% | 41.7% | As expected |
| 15 | Westinghouse High School | Selective | 1,230 | 60% | 57.2% | 31.4% | As expected |
| 16 | Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences | District | 827 | 58% | 56.7% | 27.2% | As expected |
| 17 | Noble Street Charter, Noble Campus | Charter | 696 | 73% | 54.1% | 28.7% | As expected |
| 18 | Chicago High School for the Arts | District | 578 | 58% | 58.9% | 22.3% | As expected |
| 19 | Taft High School | District | 4,487 | 51% | 50.4% | 29.8% | Outperforming |
| 20 | Horizon Science Academy-McKinley Park (grades K to 12) | Charter | 873 | 80% | 41.8% | 37.3% | Outperforming |
| 21 | Chicago Academy High School | District | 580 | 77% | 53.8% | 23.9% | As expected |
| 22 | Back of the Yards IB High School | District | 1,039 | 93% | 48.5% | 28.3% | As expected |
| 23 | Disney II Magnet High School | District | 738 | 46% | 51.2% | 24.8% | As expected |
| 24 | Ogden International High School | District | 519 | 66% | 52.3% | 21.3% | As expected |
| 25 | Senn High School | District | 1,571 | 74% | 45.8% | 26.6% | As expected |
Share of 11th graders scoring Proficient or Above Proficient on the spring 2025 ACT, Illinois' state high school test. Ranked by the average of ELA and math. Includes 78 Chicago public high schools with at least 500 students and results in both subjects. Selective means one of the 11 CPS selective enrollment high schools; Charter follows the NCES charter flag; District covers all other CPS schools. Students and low-income share (students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch) are from the NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-25; enrollment includes grades 7 and 8 at schools that serve them. BeatsExpectations is allk12's rating of a school's 2024 and 2025 test results against Illinois schools with similar low-income shares. Source: allk12 analysis of Illinois State Board of Education 2025 Report Card data.
Scores drop off after the first seven schools. Brooks, in seventh, averaged 80.4% across the two subjects, while Lindblom, in eighth, averaged 64.9%. Lincoln Park High School was the highest-ranked school that is neither selective nor a charter, at 75.0% in ELA and 50.2% in math. Amundsen High School followed at 71.3% and 51.3%.
The five highest-scoring schools all had low-income shares between 33% and 38%. Hancock and Brooks served more low-income students, 65% and 59%, and still topped 89% in ELA. Math was their weak spot. Hancock's math rate of 70.7% was 21.9 points below its ELA rate of 92.6%.
Three charter schools made the list. Chicago Math & Sci Elementary Charter, a grades 6 to 12 school where 88% of students are low-income, ranked 14th. Noble Street's Noble Campus ranked 17th, and Horizon Science Academy-McKinley Park ranked 20th.
Eleven of the 25 schools carry allk12's outperforming rating, which goes to the top 10% of Illinois schools when test results are compared with schools serving similar shares of low-income students. Beyond the eight selective schools at the top, the three were Kenwood Academy, Taft, and Horizon Science Academy-McKinley Park. Taft, with 4,487 students, is the second-largest school on the list after Lane Tech's 4,604. More Illinois schools with this rating are on the Illinois best schools rankings.
How selective enrollment admissions work
CPS runs 11 selective enrollment high schools, and students can apply to as many as six, according to CPS. Applicants are ranked by points. Half come from the CPS High School Admissions Test (HSAT), and half come from final seventh grade grades in math, reading, science, and social science.
The first 30% of seats go to the applicants with the most points, wherever they live. The other 70% are split equally among four tiers, CPS says. Every Chicago address falls into one of those tiers, which CPS assigns using Census measures such as median family income and the share of single-parent households.
Because these schools pick students partly on test results, their proficiency rates reflect who enrolls as well as what happens in class. Proficiency rates also show how many students met the state's bar, not how much they grew during the year.
Each school's allk12 page shows its test results by year, enrollment, and demographics. You can compare every school in the city on the Chicago schools page, see the Chicago Public Schools district page, or browse statewide from the Illinois schools page. For district-level results, see the best school districts in Illinois.
Sources
Illinois State Board of Education: Illinois Report Card Data (2025 Report Card Public Data Set)
Illinois State Board of Education: ACT FAQ
Illinois State Board of Education: Right-Sizing Illinois' Benchmarks for Proficiency FAQ
Chicago Public Schools: Selective Enrollment Programs, High School
Chicago Public Schools: Selective Enrollment Selections
Chicago Public Schools: CPS Tiers
Test results from allk12's analysis of Illinois State Board of Education 2025 Report Card data. Enrollment and low-income counts from National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data, 2024-25.
