NSW selective high schools

Key dates for 2028 entry

For students in Year 6 during 2027. The test runs over two days and each student sits one of them. Dates marked expected follow the previous cycle and are replaced the day the Department confirms them.

The schools

NSW has 21 fully selective high schools, including four agricultural schools, and 26 partially selective schools that run selective classes inside a comprehensive school, plus Aurora College for rural and remote students. The Department publishes 4,338 Year 7 places across them. One test ranks every applicant for every school; you list up to 3 schools in order and an initial offer comes from one school only.

Places and school list from the Department’s selective high schools page. Boarding places at Farrer, Hurlstone and Yanco are included. Median ATAR is shown only where a school has published a dated figure.

How places are allocated

The Selective High School Placement Test is computer-based, held in May at a Department test centre, and run by the NSW Department of Education. It has four parts: Reading (45 minutes), Mathematical Reasoning (40 minutes), Thinking Skills (40 minutes) and Writing (30 minutes). From 2026 the test is held only in NSW. Students sit it once, in Year 6.

Places at each school are filled in two stages:

• 80% of places go to students in order of test performance and school choices.
• Up to 20% of places are held under the Equity Placement Model: 10% for students from low socio-educational advantage backgrounds, 5% for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, 2.5% for rural and remote students and 2.5% for students with disability. An equity student is offered a place if their result is within 10% of the school’s minimum general offer. Unfilled equity places go back to general applicants. No separate application is needed.

From 2027 entry, co-educational selective and partially selective schools offer an equal number of places to girls and boys. If one gender’s places are not filled, they go to the other.

You list between one and 3 schools in order of preference. An initial offer comes from your highest choice your child qualifies for. You may be placed on a reserve list for a higher choice, but declining an offer does not improve your reserve position, and reserve offers can continue until the end of Term 1 of the entry year.

Sources: placement test, equity and gender rules, choosing schools

How competitive it is

The Department says about a quarter of applicants receive a selective high school place, against 4,338 published Year 7 places. Competition varies enormously by school: the highest-demand schools fill from the top of the state-wide ranking, while some partially selective and regional schools reach their reserve lists.

The Department does not publish applicant totals each year. “About 25%” is its own description of the success rate; we will add exact figures only from an official source.

Preparing for the test

Most families start in Year 5. The test is sat on a computer, so practise on screen, not only on paper. A sensible sequence:

1. Diagnose. Work through the Department’s free practice tests to see where your child stands in each of the four parts.
2. Practise by section. Timed sets weekly. Thinking Skills is the part most children have never seen at school.
3. Apply between November and February through the Department’s application process, ranking up to 3 schools. School choices can be changed until early June.
4. Full-length mocks in the final six weeks, on screen, to build stamina for a half-day test.

Free official practice tests (NSW Department of Education)

We do not host past papers. This page currently carries no partner links; if that changes, they will be marked.

Common questions

Parent discussion: 2028 entry

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