Sydney Boys High School: how selective entry works for boys

Through one Department test, not a school exam. Sydney Boys High is fully selective, so every student is placed through the selective process^{1NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published}. You name it as one of up to 3^{2NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published} schools on a single online application to the NSW Department of Education.

Children sit the test in Year 6^{1NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published}, and offers follow test performance and the order of your school choices^{2NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published}.

1. Apply, then sit the test

   Held only in NSW^{3NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published}. The dates are under 'next dates' below.

2. Hear the outcome

   Expected August 2027^{4NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Expected}, from the highest choice your child qualifies for. ^{5NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published}

3. Wait on the Sydney Boys High reserve list

   A place someone turns down moves to the next name on this school's own list. ^{5NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published}

Why does sport matter so much at Sydney Boys High?

Because the school plays in the GPS, the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools, and has since 1906^{6Sydney Boys High · 13 October 2026 · Published}. It expects every boy to play at least two sports each year with Friday night or Saturday fixtures^{7Sydney Boys High · 13 October 2026 · Published}.

Those games fall outside class time, so they shape family weekends. If your child would rather skip weekend sport, talk it through before you list the school.

The campus sits in parkland, bounded by Moore Park, Anzac Parade, Sydney Girls High School and Cleveland Street^{8Sydney Boys High · 13 October 2026 · Published}.

The Department lists the school at Cleveland Street, Moore Park, Surry Hills^{1NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published}, in the Sydney - Eastern Suburbs^{10NSW Education data · 13 October 2026 · Published} region. ^{10NSW Education data · 13 October 2026 · Published}

The school's location page points to light rail routes L2 and L3, with the Moore Park stop across Anzac Parade by pedestrian bridge^{8Sydney Boys High · 13 October 2026 · Published}. It also lists school special buses each morning and afternoon, to and from Bondi Junction (612) and Mascot (708)^{8Sydney Boys High · 13 October 2026 · Published}.

The Department notes that a school close to home means less travel, more time for other activities^{2NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published}. Plan your commute opens the school in your own map app.

Sometimes, through the school's own process instead of the Selective test. Each selective school fills its Years 8 to 11 vacancies itself. ^{12NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published}

Sydney Boys High uses its own Placement Tests of literacy and numeracy tasks for short-listed applicants, plus a general ability science test for Year 11^{7Sydney Boys High · 13 October 2026 · Published}.

Its policy caps each year group at 180 a year in Years 7 and 8, 210 in Years 9 and 10, and 216 in Years 11 and 12^{7Sydney Boys High · 13 October 2026 · Published}. So the cap is higher from Year 9 than in Years 7 and 8.

Is the school's Placement Test the same as the Selective test?

No. The Selective test sets Year 7 offers everywhere. Sydney Boys High's Placement Tests are its own step, only for short-listed later-year applicants.

A shared later-entry test with past papers is not published^{12NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Not published}. Forms for the next round go up on the school's Years 8 to 11 enrolment page.

Use the school's own form, because a family placement claim only counts on it. ^{7Sydney Boys High · 14 October 2026 · Published} Last round, each application carried a non-refundable A$110^{7Sydney Boys High · 14 October 2026 · Published} payment. The school takes applications only during school hours, not in school holidays, when the office is closed^{7Sydney Boys High · 14 October 2026 · Published}.

Weigh your child's interests and abilities, academic and co-curricular needs, social and emotional needs, and any specialised support^{2NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published}, as the Department suggests. Nothing here is saved or sent.

• ✓

  Your child is happy at a boys-only school. ^{1NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published}

• ✓

  Your child is keen to play at least two sports each year with Friday night or Saturday fixtures^{7Sydney Boys High · 13 October 2026 · Published}.

• ✓

  The light rail or a school bus works from your home. ^{8Sydney Boys High · 13 October 2026 · Published}

• ✓

  Your child wants to go there, which the Department calls an important consideration. ^{2NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published}

• ✓

  You've visited, or plan to. ^{2NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published}

Nothing official. There is no set minimum entry score^{5NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published} for Sydney Boys High or any other selective school. The level needed moves every year. ^{5NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published}

HSC results describe past Year 12 students, not how a Year 6 child will be placed. For reviews, the Department suggests you ask friends, family and your community about their experiences^{2NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published}.

The same as every selective school, because the Department runs one timetable. Exact dates for entry in 2028 are not out yet ^{4NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Not published}, so the months below are expected ones.

1. November 2026–February 2027 Expected^{4NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Expected}

   Applications, with Sydney Boys High on your list

   For a child in Year 5 in 2026.

2. early May 2027 Expected^{4NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Expected}

   Test days

3. August 2027 Expected^{4NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Expected}

   Offers and reserve lists

If this school is a higher choice than an offer you've accepted, you can stay on its reserve list after 3 December 2026, 3 pm (Sydney time)^{4NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published} only by declining that accepted offer by then. ^{5NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published}

The first three are the closest, by straight line from the Department's coordinates. Sydney Secondary College is measured to its Blackwattle Bay campus, which takes only Years 11 and 12. ^{1NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published} The last two are other fully selective boys' schools.

With a son and a daughter, you make two separate choices: the two neighbours share a fence, not an intake or a reserve list. Search every school by suburb.