There are more than 45 selective schools in New South Wales and this article will introduce the best selective schools in Sydney.

Firstly, we should understand what is selective education in NSW:

For Year 5 to Year 6: Opportunity Class (abbr. OC);
For Year 7 to Year 12: Selective High School.

The NSW Department of Education described in its official website: Opportunity classes and selective high schools form part of the NSW Department of Education's commitment to identify and provide a range of opportunities for gifted and talented students in NSW.

For more information about other excellent high schools in Sydney or in Australia, you can find through the School Finder in CatEight, which is a global course search and application platform, and includes more than 700 Australian high schools as well as New Zealand’s high school.

1. James Ruse Agricultural High School

James Ruse has been the NO.1 in selective high school in NSW for more than 20 years, with its remarkable HSC, NAPLAN results.

School Features:

• Gifted and Talented Education: James Ruse Agricultural High School focuses on teaching students in accordance with their aptitude. Teachers often take a differentiated approach to teach students according to their characteristics. In addition, the school has integrated cognitive technology into the curriculum to improve students’ learning speed, reading comprehension, cognitive processing speed, and critical thinking.

• Languages Other Than English (LOTE): James Ruse offers three small language courses in Japanese, French, and Latin to help students understand various cultures as well as broaden their horizons. In grade 7, students are required to take introductory courses in all three languages. At the end of grade 7, students can take a language course based on their interests.

2. North Sydney Boys High School

North Sydney Boys High School is an academically selective high school for 920 students. Since 1912, North Sydney boys have achieved outstanding success.

Students can enjoy a diverse curriculum and co-curriculum program which allows each boy to explore and develop their interests and strengths within a supportive and inclusive environment.

North Sydney Boys High School continues the proud tradition of providing holistic education to gifted and talented boys.

3. Hornsby Girls High School

Hornsby Girls' High School is an academically selective school, located adjacent to the central business district of Hornsby.

Hornsby Girls High School has excellent academic results for years. Meanwhile, girls in HGHS can get involved in many extracurricular activities such as various sports activities, varied musical rehearsals, and debating, etc.

4. Sydney Girls High School

Sydney Girls High School is one of the best selective high schools in Sydney. SGHS is located at Moore Park, which is a beautiful park in Sydney. For many years, Sydney girls' high school has been ranked in the top 10 among more than 2,000 secondary schools in NSW in terms of academic performance. In addition, it also performs outstandingly in sports and arts! For example, SGHS is good at basketball, football, hockey, volleyball, tennis, water polo, rowing, swimming, social debate speech, music, dance, and performance. Students here can give full play to their talents and realize their dreams.

5. North Sydney Girls High School

Founded in 1914, North Sydney Girls' High School is dedicated to the development of tomorrow's outstanding girls in sociology, academia, media, and the arts. The school opens assorted of extra curriculums, such as music, visual arts, photography and digital media, linguistics (Chinese) French German Japanese Latin, theatre design & technology, food science and technology, textile design, computer study, the software and information technology, business, history, taking geography, philosophy, such as physical activity, social & cultural & sports science courses.

6. Baulkham Hills High School

BHHS is located in the Baulkham Hills and was established in 1971. As one of the top selective schools in Sydney, BHHS attaches great importance to special talents. It cultivates students' interests and hobbies through a variety of extracurricular activities to help them realize their potential, with special emphasis on cultivating students' sports, culture, and interdisciplinary development.

7. Sydney Boys High School

Founded in 1883, Sydney boys' high school is a prestigious public boys' high school and the Alma mater of many dignitaries, judges, and sports stars.

SBHS is one of 17 best selective schools in Sydney, NSW. To get into the school's grade 7, students have to pass the fierce competition and strict entrance exams, and their scores in the original primary school are also an important target.

8. Normanhurst Boys High School

Normanhurst Boys High School is an academically selective high school, fostering excellence in young men through a holistic educational experience.

The school became fully selective in 1994 and has continued to build upon its strong academic base, achieving outstanding results in the School Certificate and Higher School Certificate Examination. Students from NBHS consistently achieve results that place them in the top range of all schools, both government and private.

The school became fully selective in 1994 and has continued to build upon its strong academic base, achieving outstanding results in the School Certificate and Higher School Certificate Examination. Students from NBHS consistently achieve results that place them in the top range of all schools, both government and private.

9. NBSC Manly Campus

NBSC Manly Campus is a co-educational high school with students from Years 7 - 12.

The school aims to provide a safe and happy environment that encourages gifted and talented students to achieve a high standard of academic excellence. Excellence is encouraged in all areas of endeavor: academics, cultural creativity, leadership, sport, and citizenship.

10. Fort Street High School

Fort Street High School was established in 1849. As the oldest selective high school, Fort Street has a unique place in the history of the State of NSW, having educated and nurtured some of the most prominent and influential citizens in Australia. Fort Street is acknowledged as epitomizing and espousing the following: academic excellence individualism multiculturalism tolerance social and political awareness and responsibility the liberal tradition of a broad based education and educational philosophy, and a strong sense of tradition, embodied in the saying, Once a Fortian, always a Fortian.

summary

Basic information about the top 10 selective schools in Sydney is listed above. What is noteworthy is that all selective schools don’t accept international students. However, there are also many qualified high schools in Sydney, which parents can search through Cateight’s School Finder.

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