NSW Selective High Schools

Use the "Find selective schools near you" search card at the top of this page. Type your home address or postcode (e.g. Parramatta or 2150), or tap the crosshair button to use your current GPS location. The list instantly re-sorts by distance, and switching to Map view drops a pin on every fully and partially selective high school in NSW with one-click Google Maps directions. Want a deeper walkthrough? Read our find selective schools near me guide.

According to the NSW Department of Education's August 2026 list, there are 48 selective high schools for the 2027 Year 7 intake — 17 fully selective, 27 partially selective (including provisional placements), 4 agricultural, and Aurora College's online provision delivered through approximately 185 host high schools.

There are 4,248 Year 7 selective places across the 48 selective high schools for the 2027 intake, plus 100 Aurora College places — 4,348 in total. The largest streams (180 places each) are at Baulkham Hills, Gosford, Merewether, Sydney Boys, Sydney Girls, and Hurlstone Agricultural High Schools.

Fully selective high schools — for example James Ruse, Sydney Boys, North Sydney Girls, and Baulkham Hills — enrol every student through the academically selective stream. Partially selective high schools (such as Chatswood, Macquarie Fields, and Tempe) operate one or more selective streams alongside their comprehensive enrolment, so selective students are placed in dedicated classes within a broader student body.

Four NSW selective high schools have an agricultural focus and most offer boarding: Farrer Memorial (Tamworth, 110 Year 7 places), Hurlstone (Glenfield, 180), James Ruse (Carlingford, 120), and Yanco (Yanco, 60).

Yes. Aurora College delivers selective Year 7–10 classes online to approximately 100 Year 7 students each year, taught via approximately 185 host secondary schools across rural and remote NSW. Students remain enrolled at their local high school while attending live, scheduled selective lessons through Aurora's virtual classrooms.

PROV stands for provisional placement. Leppington High School has been announced as a partially selective high school by NSW DoE and is included in the 2027 selective intake (30 Year 7 places), but the school is not yet open and does not yet have an official website.

Yes. All NSW Selective High Schools — including the four agricultural high schools — are public schools and tuition-free. Standard public-school contributions apply, and boarding fees apply at the agricultural campuses for students who choose to board.

Students sit the NSW Selective High School Placement Test in Year 6, the year before they enter Year 7 at a selective school. The test covers Reading, Mathematical Reasoning, Thinking Skills, and Writing in a single computer-based session and is the basis for placement into selective Year 7 classes for the following calendar year.

From the 2027 intake onwards, every co-educational selective and partially selective high school in NSW allocates an equal number of Year 7 selective places to boys and to girls. Single-sex schools — including Sydney Boys, Sydney Girls, Hornsby Girls, Normanhurst Boys, and Farrer Memorial Agricultural — allocate 100% of seats to their cohort. Across 2027's 4,348 Year 7 places this works out to approximately 2,229 boys' seats and 2,119 girls' seats.

The Equity Placement Model (EPM) reserves up to 20% of Year 7 selective seats for high-potential students from under-represented groups: 10% low socio-educational advantage, 5% Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander, 2.5% rural & remote, and 2.5% students with disability. For the 2027 cohort this is approximately 870 of the 4,348 Year 7 selective places. Equity applicants sit the same placement test and must still perform within 10% of the school's general entry point. For who qualifies under each group and the academic standard that still applies, see our guide to the NSW Equity Placement Model.