No selective school offer: what now, and can you appeal?
Independent. Not affiliated with the NSW Department of Education.
No Selective offer for Year 7 entry in 2027 means no place that round, not a verdict on your child. Appeals closed on 26 August 2026, 11:59 pm (Sydney time)1NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published and needed documents about something unforeseen.
What does "unsuccessful" mean?
It means no place at that school this round. It doesn't measure how your child learns: the test is not a measure of school learning2NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published.
Waiting on a higher choice? Check this cycle's Selective reserve bands, updates and decision rule.
The Department says about a quarter2NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published of children who sit the test gain a place. So most children who sit it get no offer.
If your child was unsuccessful for every choice, the schools are not listed2NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published. You'll see one line, not one per school.
Is it every school, or only some?
Check the outcome beside each school before you decide anything. Each choice shows one of: offer, reserve list only, offer and higher-choice reserve list, unsuccessful, or not applicable2NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published.
| What you see | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| One unsuccessful line, no school names | No offer and no reserve place at any choice. |
| Unsuccessful at some schools, a reserve place at another | Your child is still on that school's list. |
| Unsuccessful at a higher choice, an offer at a lower one | You hold a place. Read the offer's due date. |
Is my child still on a reserve list?
Only if a school shows "Reserve list only" or an offer with a higher-choice reserve list. An unsuccessful outcome at a school means no reserve place there. 2NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published
If there is a reserve place, offers can come until the end of Term 1 20273NSW Education · 18 October 2026 · Published. The band beside the school is the Department's estimate of when, and it's no promise. 3NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published
You don't need to do anything to stay on a list. If your child's place is reached, you get an email. 2NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published Read what each reserve band means.
Should we appeal?
Only if something went wrong that documents can show, and only by the deadline. For Year 7 entry in 2027, outcome appeals closed on 26 August 2026, 11:59 pm (Sydney time)1NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published.
Appeals are usually due 52NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published business days after outcomes, and no late appeal is accepted. Feeling let down isn't grounds, and that's no reflection on you or your child.
Something unforeseen happened, and you have documents such as documents from medical practitioners or evidence of unforeseen circumstances2NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published.
It wasn't already dealt with, or meant for, an illness or misadventure request. 2NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published
The reason is disappointment, a practice test or a school report: disappointment, practice results or other tests are not valid grounds2NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published.
The reason is travel, friends or a sibling at the school. These aren't grounds: the benefits of a place, such as easier travel, friends or siblings at the school2NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published.
The reason is age or too little preparation. These aren't grounds: young age, lack of preparation, educational disadvantage or not showing their potential2NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published.
The reason is a coaching-college test or another outside result. 2NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published
How is an appeal lodged?
Start it in the dashboard
Lodge it in the application dashboard: Action column, then Start appeal2NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published.
Attach the documents
Add up to 32NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published documents before you submit. Nothing can be added afterwards.
Keep the confirmation
You get an email and a dashboard message2NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published saying it was submitted, and you're told the outcome later.
What can an appeal not do?
It can't get the test marked again, and it can't tell you a score. An appeal panel decides, and appeal decisions are final2NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published.
No re-marking
No score or rank
The rule is plain: no appeal reveals a score or rank2NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published. The report's bands are all there is.
No change, no panel
The rule: an appeal goes no further if no valid adjustment would change the outcome2NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published.
What do public schools offer children with high potential?
Every NSW public school offers high potential and gifted programs. 2NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published The Department encourages families without a place to talk to your local school about its high potential and gifted programs2NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published.
Those programs cover creative, intellectual, physical and social-emotional4NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published areas. The Department also says students with high potential are found in all schools and from all backgrounds4NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published.
What do we share with the new school?
Tell the teachers what your child loves and does well. The Department suggests sharing their interests, work done at home and any formal outside assessments4NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published. The Selective report can be part of that, as long as everyone reads bands as bands.
Your child's interests and activities outside school.
A few pieces of work they've made at home.
Results of any formal outside assessments. 4NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published
Your child's own words about what they're good at and what they'd like to try.
Can my child join a selective school later?
Yes, possibly. Selective schools take students in Years 8 to 11, and each school runs its own entry. 5NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published See later entry in full.
Check for vacancies
Vacancies depend on students leaving, and some schools have none in some years5NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published.
Apply the year before
You apply in the year before the placement year5NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published: in Year 7 for a Year 8 place.
One form for each school
You send a separate application for each school5NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published.
Sit a test, or not
It depends on the school: some schools test, others review reports5NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published.
A Year 7 result doesn't carry over. If an application is unsuccessful, you send a new application when applications open5NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published in a later year.
When do later-entry applications run?
For Years 8 to 11 entry in 2027, applications opened on 17 June 20265NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published and closed on 24 July 20265NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published. Schools released outcomes in September 2026–October 20265NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published.
Later-entry reserve lists last for that school year only and may close after Term 25NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published. An unsuccessful application can be reviewed within 75NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published days, on limited grounds.
How do we talk with our child?
Start with what they did, not with what they didn't get. The Department says taking the test is an achievement in itself2NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published.
Children used to doing well at school can take this hard. 2NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published Let them be sad for a while, and don't rush to the next plan.
Name the effort
You prepared, you sat a hard test, and you finished it. That took courage. 6NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published
Keep the test in its place
Make clear the test doesn't show how they are doing at school2NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published.
Talk about mistakes and struggle
The Department suggests showing that learning means making mistakes and struggling at times, not always being the best6NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published.
Let them lead
Some children want to talk about it now. Others want to talk about anything else. Both are fine.
Your child is the same curious, capable person they were before the dashboard opened. Their friends, their teacher and their next school will see that, and so will you.
What might help, and what might not?
How you take the news sets the tone for your child. These are small things that can help.
Tell them plainly, in a quiet moment, without a crowd.
Say what comes next, so it isn't an ending.
Compare them with a friend or cousin who got a place.
Treat the result as the measure of their ability.
What do families do next?
Apart from an appeal, which can't wait, take a few weeks if you need them. Then plan for the high school your child will start, in one calm order.
This week
Read each school's outcome, and tell your child calmly. If something unforeseen affected the test and you have documents, an appeal is usually due 52NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published business days after outcomes.
This term
Talk with your child's teacher and your local high school about their gifted programs. 2NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published
Before Year 7 starts
Visit the high school if it offers a visit, and let your child look forward to it.
In Year 7, if your child wants it
Look at Years 8 to 11 entry, which you apply for the year before the placement year5NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published.
What other paths are there?
Your local public high school teaches the same curriculum as a selective school. 7NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published And every NSW public school offers high potential and gifted programs2NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published.
Your local high school
All NSW public schools follow the same NSW curriculum7NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published, and each school is unique.
Gifted programs there
Ask what the school runs in creative, intellectual, physical and social-emotional4NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published areas.
Years 8 to 11 entry
Each selective school runs its own entry. 5NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published
What can we know, and what can't we?
You can know each school's outcome and the rules that come next. No one can tell you why exactly, or what would happen in a later round.
| You can know | No one can tell you |
|---|---|
| Each school's outcome 2NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published | Your child's score or rank 2NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published |
| Any reserve band, and when lists end: until the end of Term 1 20273NSW Education · 18 October 2026 · Published | Whether a reserve offer will come: list movement is not published2NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Not published |
| How later entry works 5NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published | Whether a school will have a vacancy in a given year 5NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published |
| That there is no set entry score 2NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published | How far away an offer was |
How does this look for real families?
Each case shows the rules for one family. What's right for the child stays with the family.
Unsuccessful everywhere, and very disappointed
The family wants to appeal because their child is a top student at school.
The rule is clear: disappointment, practice results or other tests are not valid grounds2NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published. The family's next steps are the local high school's gifted programs and, if wanted, later entry.
Unsuccessful at two schools, Band E at the third
Two choices show unsuccessful. The third shows a reserve place in Band E.
The child is still on the third school's list. Band E's estimate is by the end of January3NSW Education · 18 October 2026 · Published, and offers can come until the end of Term 1 20273NSW Education · 18 October 2026 · Published. Meanwhile, the family enrols at a local high school.
A request was already lodged for illness
The child was sick on test day. The family lodged an illness or misadventure request at the time.
An appeal can't reopen it: matters that belonged in, or were already handled by, an illness or misadventure request2NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published aren't grounds. The request was the route for that illness.
Planning for Year 8
The child wants to try for a selective school after Year 7.
The family applies the year before the placement year5NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published, with a separate application for each school5NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published. Some schools test; others look at school reports. 5NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published
Where do we act, officially?
The Department's pages cover every route on this page. These three are the ones families use most after no offer.
- Outcomes and appeals: what each outcome means and the grounds for appeal.
- Years 8 to 11 applications: later entry, school by school.
- High potential and gifted education at school: working with your child's school.
Questions parents ask after no Selective offer
Can my child sit the Selective test again next year?
Rarely. A child in Year 7 when they sit the test is considered only in rare cases8NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published. Entry in Years 8 to 11 is the usual next route.
Will a brother or sister's place help?
No. No priority for siblings8NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published: each child needs the test performance on their own.
Do we need to tell anyone about the result?
No. The outcome is yours to share. If you share the report with the new school, it's one picture of one test.
Is the appeal deadline the same every year?
The rule is usually 52NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published business days after outcomes, with the exact date in each round's key dates.