Key Points
- Victoria, NSW, Queensland and Western Australia have selective entry schools.
- Entry into selective entry schools is through a highly competitive entrance exam.
- Entry levels, examination dates and requirements for these highly sought after schools may vary in different states.
Selective entry public high schools provide economical but highly academic schooling options for gifted students.
Entry into these schools is highly competitive, and the number of available places, the course structure, examination requirements and the entry year may vary in different states.
In Western Australia, 225 students entering Year 7 are selected via the Academic Selective Entrance Test in the state's only selective school, Perth Modern School.
In Victoria, four selective schools offer nearly 1,000 places in Years 9 to 12, based on examination results and achievements in the junior secondary school. No more than five per cent of Year 8 students from any one school are accepted across the four selective entry schools.
Queensland has one partially selective high school where selective students attend separate English, mathematics and science classes and three fully selective high schools.
New South Wales has the highest number of fully and partially selective entry schools - 21 and 26 respectively, which offer 4,196 places in Year 7.
Selective entry high school tests
NSW Department of Education’s Chief Education Officer Ben North says there is a strong demand for selective schools.
In total, there is a little bit over four thousand places spread across the 47 schools, and the Department of Education receives over 15,000 applications.
Mr North says the NSW Department of Education has developed a new Selective High School Placement Test in 2021, with an emphasis on thinking skills, mathematical reasoning, and problem-solving.
In Victoria, the selective entry high school examination comprises five tests: verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning, persuasive or creative writing, reading comprehension and mathematics.
In NSW, there is a little bit over four thousand places spread across the 47 selective schools for which over 15,000 students compete. Source: Getty Images/SolStock
Despite being nervous during his selective entry exam, Adi Joshi excelled on the day and is now in Year 10 at the Suzanne Cory High School in Werribee.
I remember I was very nervous; I could feel my arms shaking; my heart was thumping.
“And I remember my weaker out of the subject was writing, and it was a pretty hard topic. There was a mysterious object in a shop, and we had to write about what that object was, and we were given four images, and we had to relate to those images a narrative, and yeah, I would say that was the hardest thing for me.”
The Victorian Selective Entry High School Examination is conducted in June every year, and the NSW Selective High School Placement Test is held in March.
In Victoria, the selective entry high school examination comprises five tests. Source: Getty Images/SDI Productions
An environment that inspires learning
When Dr Majeda Awawdeh migrated to Australia in 2015, she didn’t know about selective schools, so her elder daughter didn’t sit the test. But, years later, her younger daughter gained entry in one of the NSW fully selective schools.
Dr Majeda says she noticed a big difference in how much more effort her younger daughter was putting into learning because of the school environment.
Suzanne Cory High School’s Year 10 student Adi Joshi agrees.
I like the fact that I’m in a group of the smartest students generally. Competing against them makes me want to do better.
Are selective schools good for students?
University of Technology Sydney Associate Professor Christine Ho is has been researching different aspects of Australia's education system, particularly selective schools.
She says most of the students in these schools are from migrant backgrounds, with their parents placing a high value on education.
However, she says that pushing any child to perform at a high level over a long period could negatively affect their mental health.
"There is evidence of the mental health strain on students who are being pushed to achieve very, very high levels for a long time," she says.
At the same time, they understand that as migrants they do need to work harder than anyone else just to get the same opportunities.
Pushing any child to perform at a high level over a long period could negatively impact mental health. Source: Getty Images/Carol Yepes
She says that students attending their one-year course for selective schools have an 80 per cent success rate at getting an offer based on the Selective Placement Test in New South Wales.
However, she says 50 per cent of the students who came to her institute had been categorised as average students at school.
Dr Majeda points out that nominating your three-school preference in the right order can maximise a child’s chances of getting an offer.
The order of preferences plays part in child’s likelihood of getting an offer. So be realistic and be informed. That’s the key point.
School Performance and the NSW Department of Education’s Chief Education Officer Ben North advises parents to list the order of school preference based on the vicinity of the school so that their child doesn’t need to travel long distance every day. 
Selective schools are competitive and result-oriented environments where students are nurtured to become the world’s future leaders. Source: Getty Images/SDI Productions
Is extra tuition necessary?
Mr North also points out that the Department of Education doesn’t recommend students enrolling in lengthy and expensive tutoring classes as part of their preparation for the selective school test.
"In general, the Department doesn’t recommend or endorse that student do preparation courses or tutoring courses. On the Department selective high schools’ website, sample papers or sample test exams are up and available," he says.
University of Technology Sydney's Dr Ho says the selective entry school system doesn't benefit students from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
If you can’t afford to send your kids to tutoring, you are probably not going to get into a selective school.
Six months before sitting the examination test for a selective school in Victoria, Adi Joshi attended around eight hours of private tutoring over the weekends.
"If I didn’t attend the tutoring classes, I would have been quite surprised as to what was on the test."
To find out more about the selective entry high schools and access a sample test visit the Department of Education website in , , and .