Top Selective High Schools in NSW (2026 Rankings)

If you have searched “top selective schools NSW” you have probably hit a wall of lists that all say something slightly different. Here is the clearest version we can give you: the selective high schools that performed best on the most recent HSC — the 2025 results, released in December, with the schools ranked the way every serious list ranks them, and an honest read on what that ranking does and doesn’t tell you about where your child should go.

How we ranked them, and what the numbers leave out

One number does a lot of work in these tables, so it’s worth being clear about it. A 71.6% success rate at North Sydney Boys doesn’t mean every student scored 90+; it means 71.6% of the school’s individual HSC exam marks landed in Band 6 or E4. A big, strong cohort sitting many subjects can post a very high rate. It is a fair way to compare academic strength across schools, but it rewards consistency across a whole cohort, not the single brilliant student, which is exactly why selective schools, with their concentrated high-achieving intakes, dominate the top.

NSW selective high schools by 2025 HSC results

Here are the selective schools that scored highest on the 2025 HSC. The table sorts by success rate by default; tap any heading to re-order it by name, region or cohort — useful if you’re shortlisting by where you live or whether you want a single-sex school.

A few things jump out. North Sydney Boys (71.6%) and James Ruse (70.4%) sit clear of the field, as they have for years. North Sydney Girls is the strongest girls’ school in the state at 60.5%, and Baulkham Hills (51.5%) is the top co-educational selective school, the one most north-western Sydney families have in mind. After that the rates ease down through the high-40s and 40s, where Sydney Girls, Penrith and Fort Street sit. The gap between number one and number eleven is real, but every school on this list is performing far above the state average, where only about one in eight HSC marks reaches Band 6.

The schools at the very top

North Sydney Boys (Crows Nest) finished number one in NSW for the third year running, having overtaken James Ruse in 2023 after Ruse’s decades-long reign. Its 2025 cohort posted the school’s strongest results yet. James Ruse Agricultural (Carlingford) slipped to second on the Band 6 measure but remains the school for the very top end: it produced nine students with a perfect 99.95 ATAR in 2025, more than any other school in the state and out of just 53 perfect scores statewide.

North Sydney Girls (Crows Nest), directly across from North Sydney Boys, is the top-ranked girls’ school and one of the top three schools overall. Baulkham Hills (Hills District) is the highest-placed co-ed selective and one of the largest, with a strong record right across English, maths and the sciences, and the highest share of 99+ ATARs of any selective school in 2025. Hornsby Girls rounds out the top tier on the North Shore, with a 2025 cohort that lifted its Band 6 count again on the year before.

Strong selective schools beyond the top tier

The table above isn’t the whole map. Across Western Sydney, Girraween High is a standout — its 2025 cohort had one of the highest shares of ATARs above 95 of any school in the state — and Penrith High is the strongest selective in the outer west. To the south, St George Girls (Kogarah), Sydney Technical High (Bexley), Caringbah High in the Sutherland Shire and Hurlstone Agricultural (Glenfield, with its boarding and farm) are the names families shortlist. The inner west and city hold Fort Street (Petersham) and the Sydney Boys / Sydney Girls pair at Moore Park, and the Northern Beaches has the selective campus at Manly.

Outside Sydney, the picture is regional but strong: Merewether High is the top school in the Hunter, Gosford High leads the Central Coast, and Smith’s Hill serves the Illawarra from Wollongong. Rural and remote students aren’t left out either. Aurora College delivers selective classes online to students who stay enrolled at their local school.

Why the top of the table isn’t the whole story

Here’s the part the rankings can’t tell you. A school three places higher on a success-rate table but an hour each way on public transport is not, for most children, the better choice. That commute runs twice a day for six years. Nor is the most academically intense environment automatically right: some children are lifted by a room full of equally able peers, and others quietly shrink in it. If your child is the kind who thrives as a confident standout, a strong comprehensive or a partially selective stream can serve them better than the most selective campus in the state.

One change worth knowing: from the 2027 intake, co-educational selective and partially selective schools move to equal numbers of girls’ and boys’ places. It doesn’t affect single-sex schools, but at a co-ed school it can shift where a borderline offer falls. If you’re weighing whether selective is the right move at all, our piece on whether a selective school suits your child works through the trade-offs honestly.

How to actually use this list

Treat the ranking as one input, then work through the things it ignores:

1. 1

   Start with fit, not the rank

   Ask whether your child is energised or rattled by a room full of equally high achievers. Some thrive on it; others do better as a standout in a strong comprehensive.

2. 2

   Map the real commute

   It is a six-year journey, twice a day. A train-and-bus trip that looks fine in Year 7 wears thin by the HSC. Be honest about what is sustainable.

3. 3

   Decide co-ed or single-sex deliberately

   The top of the 2025 table is mostly single-sex, but Baulkham Hills, James Ruse, Penrith and Fort Street show co-ed schools sit right up there too. Choose on your child, not the ranking.

4. 4

   Order your preferences honestly

   You can list up to three selective schools. Put the school you most want first, regardless of its rank. The order is read as genuine preference, not as a tactical bet.

5. 5

   Don’t overlook partially selective schools

   Schools like Girraween and Caringbah run a selective stream inside a comprehensive. For many children that mix is a better fit than a fully selective campus.

When the 2026 test runs and how to apply

Every selective school takes students through the one NSW Selective High School Placement Test, sat in Year 6 for Year 7 entry. Applications for the 2026 round (for 2027 entry) have already closed; the next round opens in late 2026, with applications lodged through the NSW Department of Education. The cycle runs to roughly the same calendar each year:

If your child is preparing, the single most useful thing you can do is have them sit a full, timed paper on a computer before the real day — the test is entirely on-screen, and children who have only ever done questions on paper tend to lose time to the interface. The Selective Test Bundle mirrors the real interface with worked solutions, and families who want weekly structure rather than self-study use Selective Mastery for Years 5 and 6. For the full rundown of what the test involves, see our 2026 Selective test guide; if you’re comparing tutoring options, how to choose a selective tutor sets out what to look for. Plenty of children also earn a place with steady reading at home and no tutoring at all.

Common questions about NSW selective rankings