Which selective high schools are there, and how do they differ?

The table below is the Department's list of selective high schools, row by row, with each school's Year 7 places for boys and for girls for entry in 2027. Filter it by type or by who the school takes, or search for a school name or suburb. With JavaScript off, every row still shows.

“n/a” means the school has no Year 7 places for that group: a boys' school has none for girls, and the reverse. Under a school's name, the table also notes boarding places and extra targeted places for Aboriginal students. If you came here from one of our old school pages, your school's row is highlighted.

You can apply to selective high schools outside your local enrolment area. For selective high schools you can choose between 1 and 3 schools, in order of preference. Our guide to applying explains how the order works.

They differ in how much of the school is selective and in how students take part. There are 4 types of selective high schools: fully selective, partially selective, agricultural high schools and Aurora College.

The Department's school table lists the agricultural schools as their own type in the same alphabetical list. A partially selective school also takes local students into its other classes, so the selective stream is one part of a larger school.

The Department's total is 4,338 places for Year 7 entry in 2027 (the 2026 test). That figure includes Aurora College's 90 places, which are not rows in the school table.

Set places for boys and girls: From 2027 entry, each co-educational selective high school has a set number of places for boys and for girls. That is why the table has separate columns for boys and girls. Our apply guide explains how places for girls and boys are filled.

These places are for Year 7 entry in 2027. Places for Year 7 entry in 2028 (the 2027 test) are not on the Department's list yet, so we don't show them. For when that cycle opens, see the selective test dates.

Farrer Memorial, Hurlstone and Yanco agricultural high schools take boarders, and the rules differ by school. Farrer and Yanco boarders apply to the school and don't need the test; Hurlstone boarders still sit it.

• For boarding places at Farrer Memorial and Yanco agricultural high schools, you apply directly to the school.
• Students offered a boarding place at Farrer Memorial or Yanco do not have to sit the Selective High School Placement Test.
• Students with an early boarding offer at Hurlstone must still sit the Selective High School Placement Test, and Hurlstone (Boarding) must be one of their 3 school choices.
• Students in rural or remote areas who apply for boarding at Farrer, Hurlstone or Yanco may get an early offer, expected from Term 1 of Year 6.
• Boarding schools may ask for a deposit after you accept a boarding place. If the student withdraws after accepting, the school keeps the deposit.
• A student offered a boarding place at Farrer Memorial or Hurlstone cannot automatically transfer to a day place.

The boarding rows in the table show the day and boarding split in their notes. For the application steps, see how to apply for boarding.

Some partially selective schools have them. Alexandria Park Community School, Rose Bay Secondary College and Tempe High School have extra targeted places for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students. The chooser marks these schools under their names. How equity places work across all schools is in the apply guide's equity section.

Aurora College is not a campus. Aurora College runs online selective high school classes for students in rural and remote areas, who stay enrolled at a local host public high school. It has 90 places for Year 7 entry in 2027.

The Department's page gives two figures for the number of host schools, and we show both:

• There are 185 host public high schools that offer Aurora College.
• There are approximately 180 Aurora College host high schools.

The higher figure heads the Department's own host school list, so check that list for a particular school.

Leppington is a new school in the table, and the Conservatorium sits outside the program but uses the same test.

• Leppington High School is the provisional name of a new partially selective school being built at Leppington, scheduled to open in 2027.
• The Conservatorium High School is not part of the selective high schools program, but its Year 7 applicants sit the Selective High School Placement Test through a separate application process.

Leppington's row uses the Department's provisional name and has no website yet. For the Conservatorium, complete the school's own application process and also submit a selective application so your child can sit the test. Even Conservatorium-only applicants need the selective application to be tested.

Because a ranking would not come from the Department, and this page prints only what the Department publishes. The table is sorted by name, not by results, and it has no entry scores.

A school that suits one child may not suit another: travel time, a single-sex or co-educational setting, boarding and a full or partial selective setting all matter. For what is and isn't published about entry scores, read do selective schools have cut-off marks? If you are weighing a selective school against an opportunity class, see OC vs selective. Offers that come later from the reserve list are explained on the reserve list page.

It comes from the Department's list of selective high schools, and you can download it. We copied the table row by row. A check confirms that every school name and address appears in our saved copy of that page. Places are the Department's figures for Year 7 entry in 2027; a blank or null means the table prints n/a. Footnote markers are removed, and the agricultural and boarding notes follow the Department's notes on the same page.

Download: CSV or JSON. The data is the Department's, under CC BY 4.0. Every fact on this page, with its source and the date we checked it, is listed on our sources page. Back to the selective test guide.