Australian Selective School Statistics 2026: State-by-State Data
Official figures on selective school and gifted-education programs across Australia — places available, students who sat placement tests, and program scale for NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, drawn from government and exam-administrator sources.
By Braintree Editorial, Exam preparation editors, Braintree Coaching Australia
Reviewed by Braintree Academic Panel on
Last updated
Braintree Coaching Australia is online-only, exam-specialist, national coverage, built for regional families — so families comparing options get the same expert exam guidance wherever they live in Australia.
Quick Answer
No Australian education department publishes an official selective-school acceptance rate. They publish two separate figures — places available and how many children sat the test — and in NSW those were 4,338 Year 7 places against 16,487 children who sat the 2024 Selective High School Placement Test, and 1,840 Year 5 Opportunity Class places against 13,200 who sat the 2024 OC test. Victoria offers about 1,000 Year 9 places across its four Selective Entry High Schools, and Western Australia reported over 7,000 Gifted and Talented applicants in 2025.
- NSW selective 2024 — sat / places (official)16,487 → 4,338
- NSW places ÷ 2024 sitters — our calculation, not a published rate~26%
- NSW OC 2024 — sat / places (official)13,200 → 1,840
- VIC SEHS Year 9 places (official)~1,000
Braintree Coaching Australia maintains this page of Australian selective school statistics because the figures parents most want are scattered across five state education departments, and the one figure they ask for first — an acceptance rate — is not published by any of them. Every number below can be traced to an official government or exam-administrator source: places available, how many children sat each placement test, and program scale, so you can weigh a selective school preparation decision against real demand rather than rumour.
Where an authority does not publish applicant or acceptance figures, this page says so rather than estimating. Percentages labelled “places vs sitters” are calculated from official place counts and official “children who sat the test” counts; they are not the same as a published “acceptance rate” from the department. Every figure on this page was re-checked against its official source in August 2026, including re-reading the source PDFs directly.
How large are the main selective programs?
The largest program by volume is NSW, which runs both the Selective High School Placement Test (Year 7 entry) and the Opportunity Class Placement Test (Year 5 entry). The table below uses only figures published by state education departments or their appointed exam administrators.
| Program | State | Students who sat (latest official) | Places per year (official) | Places vs sitters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selective High School Placement Test | NSW | 16,487 (2024 test) | 4,338 Year 7 places | ~26% |
| Opportunity Class Placement Test | NSW | 13,200 (2024 test) | 1,840 Year 5 places | ~14% |
| Selective Entry High Schools (SEHS) | VIC | Not published on the public SEHS page | ~1,000 Year 9 places | Not published |
| Gifted and Talented (all pathways) | WA | Over 7,000 applicants (2025) | Academic Year 7 vacancies published by school (see WA section) | Not a single statewide rate |
Sources: NSW Department of Education performance-report examples and school-list pages; Victorian Government SEHS page; WA Department of Education Gifted and Talented materials. Checked August 2026.[^1] [^2] [^3] [^4] [^8] [^9]
Queensland Academies and South Australia’s IGNITE program do not publish comparable statewide applicant/places tables on the public pages reviewed for this update, so they are covered qualitatively below rather than with invented numbers.
What are the NSW selective high school figures?
NSW operates fully selective, partially selective and agricultural selective high schools, plus Aurora College (virtual selective classes for rural and remote students). The Selective High School Placement Test is held annually for students seeking Year 7 entry.
Official NSW Department of Education figures:
| Metric | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Children who sat the 2024 Selective High School Placement Test | 16,487 | NSW DoE performance report example (2024 test for Year 7 entry in 2025)[^3] |
| Year 7 selective places available | 4,338 | NSW DoE selective high schools page[^1] |
| Places vs 2024 sitters | ~26% | Our calculation from the two official figures above — not a departmental acceptance rate |
NSW selective high school types (official counts):[^1] [^5]
| Type | Count | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Fully selective high schools | 17 | All Year 7 places filled through the selective placement process |
| Partially selective high schools | 27 | A selective stream alongside a local comprehensive intake (Year 7 entry) |
| Agricultural selective high schools | 4 | Selective schools with an agriculture emphasis (some with boarding) |
Aurora College additionally delivers online selective classes to eligible rural and remote students through host schools. The department describes it, but does not count it as a fourth school type, so it is not given a number here.[^1]
Examples of fully selective high schools listed by NSW DoE include Baulkham Hills High School, Caringbah High School, Fort Street High School, Girraween High School, Gosford High School, Hornsby Girls High School, Merewether High School, Normanhurst Boys High School, Northern Beaches Secondary College Manly campus, North Sydney Boys High School, North Sydney Girls High School, Penrith High School, Smiths Hill High School, St George Girls High School, Sydney Boys High School, Sydney Girls High School and Sydney Technical High School.
Agricultural selective schools include James Ruse Agricultural High School, Hurlstone Agricultural High School, Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School and Yanco Agricultural High School.[^1]
The placement tests are computer-based. Students sit on computers provided by the department.[^6]
What are the NSW Opportunity Class figures?
The NSW Opportunity Class (OC) Placement Test is sat in Year 4 for placement in Years 5–6 OC classes. Preparation pathways are covered in our Opportunity Class preparation hub.
| Metric | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Children who sat the 2024 OC Placement Test | 13,200 | NSW DoE OC performance report example[^4] |
| Year 5 OC places available | 1,840 | NSW DoE opportunity classes page[^2] |
| Opportunity classes in NSW | 89 | NSW DoE opportunity classes page[^2] |
| Places vs 2024 sitters | ~14% | Our calculation from the two official figures above — not a departmental acceptance rate |
Current OC test structure (computer-based, all multiple choice):[^7]
| Section | Questions | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Reading | 14 (some with multiple parts) | 40 minutes |
| Mathematical Reasoning | 35 | 40 minutes |
| Thinking Skills | 30 | 30 minutes |
What are Victoria's selective entry high school statistics?
Victoria has four Selective Entry High Schools (SEHS): Melbourne High School (boys), The Mac.Robertson Girls' High School, Nossal High School (co-educational) and Suzanne Cory High School (co-educational). Entry for Year 9 is through a centralised examination administered by ACER on behalf of the Victorian Department of Education.[^8] [^10] Families weighing an application can start with our Victoria SEHS FAQ for dates, caps and eligibility.
| Metric | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Selective Entry High Schools | 4 | Victorian Government SEHS page[^8] |
| Year 9 places (approx.) | ~1,000 across the four schools | Victorian Government SEHS page[^8] |
| Statewide applicant / sitter total | Not published on the public SEHS page reviewed | — |
Places are offered under a published selection policy: standard merit (85%), equity consideration (up to 10%), and principal discretion (up to 5%).[^8]
Current exam structure (ACER):[^10]
| Component | Time |
|---|---|
| Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning | 60 minutes |
| Reading and Verbal Reasoning | 55 minutes |
| Writing (two tasks) | 40 minutes |
Exam tasks take 2 hours 35 minutes; the full administration including registration and breaks is about four hours.[^10]
Victorian families should confirm the current test format and dates on vic.gov.au and the ACER SEHS site before your child starts preparing.
How competitive are Queensland Academies?
Queensland has three specialist academies for senior secondary students: the Queensland Academy for Science, Mathematics and Technology (QASMT), the Queensland Academy for Creative Industries (QACI) and the Queensland Academy for Health Sciences (QAHS). Enrolment is managed through the Queensland Academies Admissions Office and includes entrance testing and other merit components; public enrolment-eligibility plans describe a merit process against available capacity rather than publishing a single statewide applicant/places table.[^11]
Brisbane State High School also runs selective academic pathways. Official statewide applicant and places totals for Queensland Academies and for BSHS selective entry were not verified from a Tier 1 public statistical release for this update, so this page does not publish estimated acceptance rates for those programs. The BSHS selective exam preparation hub covers preparation strategies for the Brisbane State High School selective pathway.
What about South Australia and Western Australia?
South Australia — IGNITE Program
South Australia’s IGNITE program is a gifted-education pathway offered at selected public secondary schools. The South Australian Department for Education’s special-interest schools list identifies IGNITE at Aberfoyle Park High School, Glenunga International High School and The Heights School.[^12]
Official statewide annual applicant and places totals for IGNITE were not found on the public department pages reviewed for this update, so acceptance-rate estimates are not published here. Our IGNITE program preparation hub covers test format and study strategies where schools use aptitude assessment for entry.
Western Australia — Gifted and Talented / ASET
Western Australia’s Gifted and Talented Secondary Selective Entrance programs are available at 24 select public secondary schools, including a fully selective academic school (Perth Modern School), arts and languages programs, regional options and an online academic program for country students.[^9]
Official WA Department of Education materials state there were over 7,000 applicants from WA, interstate and overseas in 2025 across Gifted and Talented pathways.[^13]
All applicants must sit the Academic Selective Entrance Test (ASET). The WA Department publishes Year 7 vacancies school by school in its Applicant Guidelines, not as a state total.
For the 2027 intake it lists 225 academic places at Perth Modern School, 64 each at Shenton College and Willetton SHS, and 32 each at Albany SHS, Alkimos College, Bob Hawke College, Bunbury SHS, Carine SHS, Comet Bay College, Duncraig SHS, Ellenbrook SC, Fremantle College, Governor Stirling SHS, Harrisdale SHS, Kelmscott SHS and Melville SHS, plus an online academic program listed as unlimited for eligible country students.[^14] Adding up those published face-to-face rows gives 769 places — that total is our arithmetic, not a figure the Department publishes, and because the online program is uncapped it is not a ceiling on academic placements.
Because the “over 7,000 applicants” figure covers academic, arts and languages pathways together, this page does not convert that into a single statewide acceptance percentage. Preparation resources are covered in the ASET and GATE exam preparation hub.
EduTest is also used as a selection tool by independent schools in SA, WA and VIC for scholarship and academic-program entry — the EduTest selective school and scholarship exam hub covers that pathway.
What do these numbers mean for your child?
A statewide ratio is not a prediction for one child, and this is where the official figures stop and our own observation begins. Everything in this section is Braintree Coaching Australia's own data from coaching NSW families, clearly separated from the departmental figures above — none of it is published by any education department, and none of it is a guarantee.
Entry scores are set by the field, not by a published bar. NSW states that there are no set minimum entry scores: outcomes depend on the applicants, their performance, the places available and how many families decline offers. From calibrating our selective score calculator and building the school comparison tables in our NSW selective schools directory, we observed 2024 entry scores at 11 benchmark NSW selective schools spanning roughly 246 out of 300 at the most in-demand school down to about 178.
Treat that spread as a guide to how wide the gap between schools is, not as a target — these are our observations, not NSW DoE published cut-offs, because the department does not publish them.
A "no" in September is often not the final answer. Across the 2024 and 2025 NSW Selective reserve rounds we observed a consistent pattern in when reserve-list offers land: Band A offers typically in the first fortnight of the round, Band B from late September to late October, Band C mid-October to late November, Band D through November to mid-December, and Bands E–F only in the final weeks of December and rarely. We explain how the bands work in the NSW selective reserve list guide. This is our observation of two rounds, never a promise about yours.
What the ~26% actually changes about preparation. In our 2025 NSW Selective cohort — Year 6 children we coached through the May 2025 sitting — fortnightly full computer-based mocks in the final term were the preparation step our tutors most often credited when talking to parents before outcomes day. That is a programme observation from our own mock-review records rather than a placement claim, and it reflects the shape of the test: with 16,487 children sitting a timed on-screen paper, familiarity with the format is worth more than another topic worksheet.
If you want a concrete next step rather than a statistic, put your child's practice marks into our selective entry score calculator to see where they currently sit against those observed benchmarks, or start with a free timed mock test.
Is competition for selective schools increasing?
No Australian education department publishes a year-by-year applicant series, so no state can be shown to be getting more competitive from official data alone. What the official sources do support is that demand is large relative to places, in every state that publishes both numbers:
- NSW selective demand is large relative to places. In 2024, 16,487 students sat the Selective High School Placement Test against 4,338 Year 7 places.[^1] [^3]
- NSW OC demand is also large relative to places. In 2024, 13,200 students sat the OC test against 1,840 Year 5 places.[^2] [^4]
- Victoria publishes places, not a public statewide applicant total. About 1,000 Year 9 places are available across four SEHS schools.[^8]
- WA reports high absolute demand. Over 7,000 Gifted and Talented applicants in 2025, with academic Year 7 vacancies published school-by-school.[^13] [^14]
- NSW testing is computer-based. Both the OC and Selective High School placement tests are delivered on department-provided computers.[^6]
Historical year-by-year applicant tables that previously appeared on this page have been removed because the precise annual figures could not be verified against current Tier 1 statistical releases. When NSW DoE or other authorities publish updated multi-year series, those can be restored with citations.
Where does this data come from?
Figures on this page are drawn from official government and exam-administrator sources, each re-checked in August 2026. Where the source is a PDF, we read the document text itself rather than relying on the summary page that links to it:
- NSW Department of Education — selective high school and opportunity class school lists, place counts, placement-test pages, and official performance-report examples stating how many students sat the 2024 tests.[^1] [^2] [^3] [^4] [^5] [^6] [^7]
- Victorian Government / Department of Education — Selective Entry High Schools policy page (schools, ~1,000 Year 9 places, selection categories).[^8]
- ACER — Victorian SEHS exam format and timing.[^10]
- WA Department of Education — Gifted and Talented program overview, the 2027-intake parent presentation stating 2025 applicant volume, and published Year 7 vacancies by school.[^9] [^13] [^14]
- South Australian Department for Education — special-interest / IGNITE school list.[^12]
- Queensland Department of Education — Queensland Academies enrolment-eligibility materials (process described; statewide applicant totals not used here because not verified as a published statistical series).[^11]
If a figure is not on an official page or official PDF, it is not presented as fact on this page.
[^1]: NSW Department of Education, Selective high schools
[^2]: NSW Department of Education, Opportunity classes
[^3]: NSW Department of Education, Selective High School Placement Test Performance Report Example
[^4]: NSW Department of Education, Opportunity Class Placement Test Performance Report Example
[^5]: NSW Department of Education, Opportunity classes and selective high schools fact sheet
[^6]: NSW Department of Education, Placement test
[^7]: NSW Department of Education, Opportunity class practice tests
[^8]: Victorian Government, Selective entry high schools
[^9]: WA Department of Education, Gifted and Talented
[^10]: ACER, Victorian Selective Entry High Schools — Prepare
[^11]: Queensland Department of Education, Queensland Academies enrolment eligibility plans (e.g. QASMT)
Key facts.
- NSW Selective Placement Test — children who sat (2024, NSW DoE)
- 16,487
- NSW Year 7 selective places (NSW DoE)
- 4,338
- NSW OC Placement Test — children who sat (2024, NSW DoE)
- 13,200
- NSW Year 5 OC places (NSW DoE)
- 1,840
- Victoria SEHS Year 9 places (Victorian Government)
- ~1,000 across 4 schools
- Every figure re-checked against its official source
- August 2026
Data sources and references.
- NSW Department of Education — Selective high schools (places and school types)
NSW Department of Education
Year 7 places available (4,338), fully/partially selective and agricultural school counts
- NSW Department of Education — Opportunity classes (places)
NSW Department of Education
Year 5 OC places (1,840) and opportunity class count (89)
- NSW Department of Education — Selective High School Placement Test performance report example
NSW Department of Education
States 16,487 students sat the 2024 Selective High School Placement Test
- NSW Department of Education — Opportunity Class Placement Test performance report example
NSW Department of Education
States 13,200 students sat the 2024 Opportunity Class Placement Test
- NSW Department of Education — Placement test
NSW Department of Education
Confirms computer-based delivery for Selective and OC placement tests
- Victorian Government — Selective entry high schools
Victorian Government / Department of Education
Four SEHS schools; approximately 1,000 Year 9 places; selection policy categories
- ACER — Victorian Selective Entry High Schools (exam format)
Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)
Official exam structure and timing for Victorian SEHS Year 9 entry
- WA Department of Education — Gifted and Talented
WA Department of Education
Programs available at 24 select public secondary schools
- WA Department of Education — Gifted and Talented parent presentation (2027 intake)
WA Department of Education
States over 7,000 applicants from WA, interstate and overseas in 2025
- WA Department of Education — Applicant Guidelines (Year 7 vacancies 2027)
WA Department of Education
Published Year 7 program vacancies by school for the 2027 intake
- South Australian Department for Education — Special interest schools and programs
South Australian Department for Education
Lists public secondary schools offering the IGNITE program
Common questions, plainly answered.
8 questions Australian parents ask most often about this topic.
Exam preparation guides.
- Selective school preparation 2027–28: NSW Year 6 placement test guide
- NSW Opportunity Class (OC) Test Preparation 2027
- Brisbane State High School Selective Entry Preparation (HAST)
- IGNITE Program Preparation for South Australian Specialised Public Secondary Schools
- ASET (GATE WA) Selective Entry Preparation for Perth Modern and GATE Programs
- HAST (Higher Ability Selection Test) Preparation for Australian Selective and Independent Schools
- EduTest Selective School & Scholarship Exam Preparation
Related guides for parents.
Ready to plan your child’s next step?
Speak with a Braintree Coaching Australia faculty member about the right preparation for your child. Start with a free full-length mock test, or send us a question through the contact page.