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Australia · Entry test

Selective schools in Sydney and the rest of NSW

The NSW Department of Education lists 48 selective high schools for Year 7 entry in New South Wales (NSW): 17 fully selective, 27 partially selective and 4 agricultural. Selective schools in Sydney sit on the list alongside schools in Gosford, Wollongong, Broadmeadow and regional towns such as Tamworth and Armidale. Aurora College adds online selective classes for rural and remote students. The department publishes the places at each school, not a ranking.

  • 48Selective high schools for Year 7 entry
  • 4,338Year 7 places, Aurora College’s 90 included
  • No rankingThe department’s list doesn’t rank schools
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Updated October 2026 · Written from official sources, listed at the bottom of this page

The four types of NSW selective school

  • Fully selective high schools: every student is placed through the selective process.
  • Partially selective high schools: selective classes sit alongside non-selective classes for local students.
  • Agricultural high schools: selective schools where agriculture is compulsory from Years 7 to 10. Three of the four take boarders.
  • Aurora College: online selective classes in English, maths and science for rural and remote students, taken from a local host public high school.

You can apply to any of them, even outside your local enrolment area. Co-educational schools have a set number of places for girls and for boys.

Fully selective schools in Sydney and NSW

SchoolSuburbBoysGirls
Baulkham Hills High SchoolBaulkham Hills9090
Caringbah High SchoolCaringbah7575
Fort Street High SchoolPetersham7575
Girraween High SchoolGirraween6060
Gosford High SchoolGosford9090
Hornsby Girls High SchoolHornsbyNone120
Merewether High SchoolBroadmeadow9090
Normanhurst Boys High SchoolNormanhurst120None
North Sydney Boys High SchoolCrows Nest150None
North Sydney Girls High SchoolCrows NestNone150
Northern Beaches Secondary College ManlyNorth Curl Curl6060
Penrith High SchoolPenrith7575
Smiths Hill High SchoolWollongong6060
St George Girls High SchoolKogarahNone150
Sydney Boys High SchoolSurry Hills180None
Sydney Girls High SchoolSurry HillsNone180
Sydney Technical High SchoolBexley150None

Places are for Year 7 entry. The Northern Beaches school is the college’s Manly Campus.

Agricultural high schools

SchoolSuburbBoysGirls
Farrer Memorial Agricultural High SchoolTamworth50 day, 60 boardingNone
Hurlstone Agricultural High SchoolGlenfield75 day, 15 boarding75 day, 15 boarding
James Ruse Agricultural High SchoolCarlingford6060
Yanco Agricultural High SchoolYanco3030

James Ruse takes day students only and Yanco takes boarders only. For boarding at Farrer or Yanco you apply directly to the school, and those boarders don’t have to sit the placement test.

Partially selective high schools

SchoolSuburbBoysGirls
Alexandria Park Community SchoolAlexandria1515
Armidale Secondary CollegeArmidale1515
Auburn Girls High SchoolAuburnNone30
Blacktown Boys High SchoolBlacktown30None
Blacktown Girls High SchoolBlacktownNone30
Bonnyrigg High SchoolBonnyrigg3030
Chatswood High SchoolChatswood3030
Elizabeth Macarthur High SchoolNarellan3030
Gorokan High SchoolLake Haven1515
Grafton High SchoolGrafton1515
Granville Boys High SchoolGranville30None
Karabar High SchoolQueanbeyan1515
Kooringal High SchoolKooringal1515
Leppington High SchoolLeppington1515
Macquarie Fields High SchoolMacquarie Fields4545
Moorebank High SchoolMoorebank3030
Parramatta High SchoolParramatta3030
Peel High SchoolTamworth1515
Prairiewood High SchoolWetherill Park3030
Richmond High SchoolRichmond1515
Rose Bay Secondary CollegeDover Heights3030
Ryde Secondary CollegeRyde3030
Sefton High SchoolSefton4444
Sydney Secondary College BalmainRozelle3030
Sydney Secondary College LeichhardtLeichhardt3030
Tempe High SchoolTempe3030

The department’s 27 also counts Sydney Secondary College Blackwattle Bay Campus in Glebe, which teaches Years 11 and 12 only and has no Year 7 places; students from the Balmain and Leichhardt campuses generally go on to it after Year 10. Selective students at Richmond High School study agriculture at the Richmond Agricultural College Centre of Excellence.

Is there a ranking of selective schools in Sydney?

Not from the department. Its list gives each school’s type, suburb, website and places, and it doesn’t publish minimum entry scores either. It suggests finding out which school would be the best fit for your child, and the order of your choices matters when offers are made.

The department’s Find a selective high school map shows every school and every Aurora College host school, so you can look for selective schools near you.

Why NSW publishes no entry scores →How school choices work →NSW Department of Education: Find a selective high school ↗
Sources: NSW Department of Education and 2 more. Checked October 2026.

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