How to apply for a NSW selective high school (2028 entry): step by step

Step by step

1. 1

   Step 1: Check that your child can apply

   • Selective entry is into Year 7. You apply at the end of Year 5 or the start of Year 6, and your child sits the test in Year 6.
   • Children are usually aged 11 years 5 months to 13 years at the start of Year 7; for 2028 entry that means born between 1 January 2015 and 31 July 2016.
   • Your family must live in NSW by the first day of the school year of entry. Your child must be an Australian or New Zealand citizen, an Australian permanent resident, or hold an eligible visa.
   • Children from any school can apply: NSW public, non-government, home schooling, interstate and overseas. You apply yourself, not through the school.
   • Accelerated a year, or repeating one? The application needs written support from the current principal within two weeks of the closing date, or your child cannot sit the test.

   Watch for

   • Fee-paying temporary residents and dependant international students are not eligible for any selective high school, agricultural high school or selective class.
   • Visa not granted yet? Your child can apply and sit the test, but no offer is made until the conditions are met.
   • Families living outside NSW are considered only if places remain after every suitable NSW applicant has been placed. This rule is in the placement policy, not on the parent pages.
   • Siblings and twins get no priority; each child qualifies on their own result.

   Where

   Application process and key dates, Selective high schools

   Applies to

   Everyone, Families living interstate or overseas, Visa holders and temporary residents

   Source

   Application process and key dates, Selective high schools, Temporary residents procedures PD-2002-0006-03, Placement procedures PD-2002-0006-06, checked on 30 October 2026

2. 2

   Step 2: Create the parent account on the application website

   Opens 5 November 2026 Confirmed

   • Register at shsoc.education.nsw.gov.au with your own name, email and Australian mobile number. The account belongs to the parent or carer, so do not use your child's email.
   • Choose a password of at least 14 characters with upper and lower case, a number and a special character, then click the link in the verification email (check the junk folder).
   • Every login emails you a confirmation code. It can take up to 10 minutes to arrive and lasts 15 minutes, and you get three tries; pressing resend again and again does not speed it up.
   • Applied for an older child before? Log in to that account and start a new application from it.
   • Separated parents: the parent the child lives with most of the time applies. With equal care, the parent the child is with at the time of applying does.

   Watch for

   • Only the registered carer can use the dashboard. Other carers you add to the application can phone and email the Department about it, but cannot log in.

   Where

   Application website, Using the application website

   Applies to

   Everyone

   Source

   Using the application website, Application process and key dates, checked on 30 October 2026

3. 3

   Step 3: Gather what you need before you start

   • Your child's full name, gender, date of birth, the address where they live most of the time, current school year, school name and type, and their student email.
   • Citizenship or residency. For a permanent resident or another visa, the visa class and sub-class.
   • Any court orders about who makes decisions for your child, with the names and relationships (you can choose to provide the documents later).
   • Students at a non-government school, home-schooled, interstate or overseas: documents to upload in the Student background section, which the form asks for.
   • Written support from the current principal if your child is outside the usual age or school year (see step 1), and evidence for any reasonable adjustments (see step 6).
   • Interstate and overseas families: the NSW suburb or town where you would like your child to sit the test.
   • A photo of your child (optional). It is printed on the test admission ticket and used to identify them on the day.

   Watch for

   • The address is where your child lives most of the time, and the family must be living in NSW by the first day of the school year of entry.

   Where

   Using the application website

   Applies to

   Everyone, Non-government school students, Home-schooled students, Families living interstate or overseas, Visa holders and temporary residents

   Source

   Using the application website, Placement procedures PD-2002-0006-06, checked on 30 October 2026

4. 4

   Step 4: Complete every section and submit before the closing date

   Closes 15 February 2027 Confirmed

   • Start with Student details. After that the other sections (school choices, reasonable adjustments, residency, court orders, background, parent and carer details, photo) can be done in any order.
   • Add every parent or carer who may contact the Department about the application.
   • Press Submit, then check three things: the status reads Submitted, a confirmation email has arrived, and there is a message in your dashboard.
   • Applications are open from 5 November 2026 to 15 February 2027. Applying and sitting the test are free.
   • No internet at home? A local public library works. If a disability makes using a computer hard, contact the Selective Education Team.

   Watch for

   • Saving is not submitting. A draft that was never submitted is not an application.
   • There are no late applications. The Department says closing dates are strictly observed.
   • Apply once per child. Duplicate applications are deleted.
   • To change something later, choose Update application in the dashboard, edit, and press Submit application again; nothing is saved until you resubmit.

   Where

   Application website, Using the application website

   Applies to

   Everyone

   Source

   Application process and key dates, Using the application website, Parents applying for selective education (PDF), checked on 30 October 2026

5. 5

   Step 5: Order your school choices, and change them until the deadline

   Last day to change 25 June 2027 Confirmed

   • List up to three selective high schools in order of preference; at least one is required. Only list schools your child would genuinely attend.
   • Your child is considered for every school on the list on test performance alone. Putting a school first earns no extra consideration.
   • Your child gets one initial offer only: from the highest-listed school whose required performance they reached. The schools below it show Not applicable.
   • You can change the schools and their order in the dashboard until 25 June 2027.
   • Weigh travel time, single-sex or co-ed, fully or partially selective, subjects, and what you saw at open days.
   • Boarding: Hurlstone Agricultural High School boarding is chosen on this list as "Hurlstone (Boarding)"; boarding at Farrer and Yanco is applied for directly with the school.

   Watch for

   • Declining an offer does not pass you down to a lower choice. If your child qualifies for all three, the only initial offer is from the first.
   • The key-dates table and both timeline PDFs give 25 June 2027 as the last day to change choices, and they are the authority; the placement policy says "mid-May" and a Department video says "a week after the test", so make any change before the test to be safe.
   • There are no published cut-offs or minimum entry scores. The level needed depends on who applies, how they perform, the places available and how many offers are declined.

   Where

   Application website, Choosing your schools

   Applies to

   Everyone

   Source

   Choosing your schools, Using the application website, Boarding at agricultural high schools, Placement procedures PD-2002-0006-06, checked on 30 October 2026

6. 6

   Step 6: Request reasonable adjustments by the same closing date

   Request by 15 February 2027 Confirmed

   • If your child has a disability, a medical condition or another need, ask for adjustments in the Reasonable adjustments section of the application and upload the evidence.
   • The Department gives these examples: extra time, large-print or braille papers, magnification or different colours, assistive technology, medical equipment such as a blood glucose monitor, specific seating or a separate room, fidget or sensory items, noise-reducing earphones and wheelchair access.
   • Adjustments your child already gets for NAPLAN or school assessments can be made for the test.
   • Glasses and asthma medication need no request; bring the asthma action plan. Anaphylaxis kits are handed to the supervisors, and a trained person is at every centre.

   Watch for

   • The last day to ask is the application closing date, 15 February 2027, not a date nearer the test. Requests made later are not guaranteed.
   • The Department says what you tell it about a disability or medical condition cannot be used to restrict your child's access to a placement.
   • A sudden injury just before the test, such as a broken arm: contact the team straight away. If adjustments cannot be arranged in time, the route is an illness or misadventure request and the make-up test.

   Where

   Using the application website

   Applies to

   Students who need adjustments

   Source

   Using the application website, Placement procedures PD-2002-0006-06, checked on 30 October 2026

7. 7

   Step 7: Get the test admission ticket and find your centre

   About two weeks before the test on 13–14 May 2027 Confirmed

   • The ticket appears in your dashboard about two weeks before the test. It shows the test centre, the date and time, any approved adjustments, your child's photo and a QR code.
   • Centres are mostly NSW public high schools. Children are allocated by the postcode of their current school, and every student from one primary school sits on the same day.
   • Keep both test days free until the ticket arrives.
   • Print the ticket and check the centre's address and travel time before the day.

   Watch for

   • The Department says a digital copy on a phone or device will not be accepted. Bring it on paper.
   • The centre and the day cannot be changed, except for reasons outside your control.
   • The Placement test page tells you to look for the ticket release in the key dates, but the current key-dates table has no such row; the Department's timeline PDF says April 2027.

   Where

   Application website, Placement test

   Applies to

   Everyone, Families living interstate or overseas

   Source

   Placement test, Application process and key dates, checked on 30 October 2026

8. 8

   Step 8: Test day: what to bring and what happens

   Test days 13–14 May 2027 Confirmed

   • Each child sits on one of the two days, at the time on the ticket. A child who arrives late still sits, but finishes with everyone else.
   • The test is on Department computers: Reading (45 minutes), Mathematical Reasoning (40), Thinking Skills (40) and Writing (30), each worth 25%. Children get two A4 sheets of working paper, with more on request.
   • Bring the printed ticket, two 2B pencils, an eraser and a sharpener, a clear water bottle, a hat and a substantial nut-free snack for the long break, and wear school uniform.
   • Optional: approved adjustment items, medication such as an EpiPen or inhaler, glasses, tissues, a clear plastic bag for stationery, and a watch that is not a smartwatch.
   • Leave at home: pens, rulers, calculators, dictionaries, books, note paper, nuts, pencil cases, phones, smartwatches and other devices.
   • Parents leave the grounds after drop-off. Anyone else collecting your child needs a signed note from you.

   The test is sat on a computer against the clock. If your child has not met that format yet, our free Selective Set 01 papers run on the same computer-based layout, free.

   Watch for

   • Sharing questions or answers with anyone, tutoring businesses included, before, during or after the test is malpractice and can cost the placement.
   • The Department asks parents not to take children out of school to prepare; too many unjustified absences may put an offer at risk.

   Where

   Placement test, Selective test day checklist (PDF)

   Applies to

   Everyone

   Source

   Placement test, Selective test day checklist (PDF), Placement procedures PD-2002-0006-06, checked on 30 October 2026

9. 9

   Step 9: If your child is sick or misses the test: the make-up test

   Make-up test 11 June 2027 Confirmed

   • Lodge an illness or misadventure request in the dashboard, usually within five business days of the test. Attach up to three files (a medical certificate that covers the test day, for example) and up to 1,000 characters of explanation. It cannot be edited once submitted.
   • Reasons the Department accepts include illness or injury that affected the test or kept your child away, another incident such as Sorry Business, and problems at the centre or with the technology.
   • If the request is approved, your child sits the make-up test on 11 June 2027 or has their score adjusted.

   Watch for

   • The make-up test is only for approved requests. Forgetting the date, being busy, not knowing the process and a family holiday are not accepted, and a child who misses both the main and the make-up test gets no further sitting.
   • The Placement test page rules out school and local sport, school events and photo days, while the placement policy lists representative sport and entertainment events as valid; ask the team before you rely on either.
   • The Placement test page mentions a make-up test "held in late May"; the key-dates table, which is the authority, gives 11 June 2027.

   Where

   Application website, Placement test

   Applies to

   Everyone

   Source

   Placement test, Placement procedures PD-2002-0006-06, Application process and key dates, checked on 30 October 2026

10. 10

    Step 10: Outcomes, offers, reserve lists and appeals

    Outcomes August 2027 Expected

    • You get an email, then see the outcome for each school in the dashboard (Action, View outcomes), with a performance report. The report places each section in one of four bands: top 10%, next 15%, next 25% or lowest 50% of that year's candidates. No scores or ranks are given.
    • Each school on your list shows one of: Offer, Reserve list only, Offer and higher choice reserve list(s), Unsuccessful, or Not applicable.
    • Offer: accept or decline by the response date or it lapses. You can accept and later decline, but a declined offer cannot be reinstated. After accepting, complete the online enrolment within two weeks of the email.
    • Reserve list: a band from A to F estimates when an offer might come, based on last year's declines. There is no guarantee. Reserve offers can continue until the end of Term 1 of Year 7; after that, vacancies go through Years 8 to 11 entry.
    • Appeals: lodge in the dashboard, typically within five business days of outcomes, with all evidence attached (up to three documents). Appeals cannot be edited, and the panel's decision is final.

    Watch for

    • Holding an accepted offer while waiting on a higher choice? After the reserve decision date in Term 4, families with an accepted offer are removed from their higher reserve lists. Decline before that date if staying on matters more.
    • Not grounds for appeal: practice-test, NAPLAN, ICAS or coaching-college results, lack of preparation, disappointment, travel, friends, siblings or twins. Papers are not re-marked.
    • There is no deferral. A child absent on the first day without the principal's prior approval loses the place.

    Where

    Application website, Outcomes

    Applies to

    Everyone

    Source

    Outcomes, Selective high school Year 7 reserve list bands, Placement procedures PD-2002-0006-06, checked on 30 October 2026

11. 11

    Step 11: Missed out? Entry in Years 8 to 11

    • Selective schools fill later vacancies through their own Years 8 to 11 process. Each school sets its vacancies, its assessment (some test, others review school reports), its selection committee and its reserve list.
    • You apply the year before entry, from June: one form per school, for up to three schools listed in the same order on each form, with a birth certificate, citizenship or passport and anything else the school asks for. The window for 2027 entry ran from 17 June to 24 July 2026.
    • Offers are made by phone and must be answered within 24 hours.

    Watch for

    • There are no automatic transfers between selective schools; current selective students apply through this process too.
    • A review of an unsuccessful application is possible within seven days, and only if the school did not follow its published process or you have proven grounds for a residency waiver.

    Where

    Selective high schools: Years 8 to 11 applications

    Applies to

    Everyone

    Source

    Selective high schools: Years 8 to 11 applications, Placement procedures PD-2002-0006-06, checked on 30 October 2026