NSW Selective Schools · NSW Department of Education

When will the offer arrive?

Braintree Coaching Australia tracks the NSW Selective reserve list week by week. Choose your child's reserve band and see the exact week families in the same band received their offer in prior years, school by school. Updated weekly from the NSW Department of Education's published status.

Quick answer

The NSW Selective Schools reserve list is the ranked queue the NSW Department of Education uses to fill places that offered families decline, worked through in reserve-band order. Band A families have historically been contacted first — often within the opening two weeks of the round — with each lower band waiting progressively longer. Choose your reserve band below to see the exact week families in that band received their offer in prior years, school by school.

Entry year

2026 2025

Where this data comes from

Compiled by Braintree Editorial, Braintree Coaching Australia editorial team

Reviewed by Braintree Academic Panel on 5 June 2026

Last updated: 22 December 2025

This tracker mirrors the NSW Department of Education's published reserve-list status for NSW selective high schools. It is maintained by hand, not a live feed: the figures change only when an admin records a new weekly status. Braintree Coaching Australia has maintained it since the 2024 entry round, drawn from the NSW Department of Education's published reserve-list status. Mirrored weekly from the admin-maintained reserve-list app during the placement round; admins confirm provenance in the reserve-list manager.

We surface the past, not a prediction. The offer dates shown are the actual weeks families in each band received their letters in prior years, a record of what happened rather than a forecast of when your own offer will arrive.

If the offer doesn't come

Is the reserve list the only path to a top school?

No. Year 7 entry into Sydney's academically selective private schools is decided by the HAST and EduTest. Both run through Term 1 of Year 6, so families waiting on a selective offer can prepare in parallel.

Not every child needs to sit a second exam. If your child is already stretched, waiting on the reserve list alone is a reasonable choice. The course outlines below are there to read, not a step you have to take.

Many families who sit a selective reserve band also prepare for HAST or EduTest, so a private-school place stays on the table while they wait.
Braintree Editorial · Braintree Coaching Australia editorial team

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FAQ

What do parents ask during the reserve round?

These are the questions Braintree Coaching Australia hears most from families waiting in the middle of a live reserve round.

After initial selective placement offers are made, families who decline open up spaces. The NSW Department of Education then works through a per-school reserve list, ranked by test mark. Bands A–F group reserve students by rank position: band A is closest to receiving an offer, band F is furthest away. Your band is assigned in the original placement letter from the NSW Department of Education.

We mirror every weekly update the NSW Department of Education publishes to the parent portal. The 2025 and 2024 offer dates shown in the predictor are the actual recorded dates families received their letters. We do not predict the future — we surface the past.

They are the two tests that determine Year 7 scholarship and full-fee entry into most of Sydney's academically selective private schools — Knox, Newington, Pymble, MLC, Barker, Trinity, Kambala and others. Both tests run February–April, after the selective reserve round has closed. For most families this is the realistic next option.

The NSW Department of Education finalises the year’s reserve list at the end of Term 1 of the entry year (typically early April). After that, any further movement is school-by-school discretionary. The window for HAST and EduTest closes around the same time, so the two timelines are tight.

Yes — and we encourage it. Some families who hold a selective offer also sit HAST. You can accept a selective offer, sit HAST, then accept or decline the private school offer when it arrives.