Hurlstone Agricultural High School: Day and Boarding Entry in Years 8 to 11

Entry test

HAST (Higher Ability Selection Test). A boarding applicant outside the HAST process sits a substitute assessment instead

Year levels

Years 8, 9, 10 and 11, as a day student or a boarder

How to apply

On the NSW Department of Education's general form, handed in at reception or sent by Express Post, never by fax or email

Last cycle, for 2027 entry

Day applications closed 3pm Friday 24 July 2026. HAST sat on Saturday 8 August 2026

2028 entry (exams in August 2027)

Still to be announced by the school (checked 3 October 2026)

Last checked 3 October 2026 against Hurlstone Agricultural High School's HAST enrolment page and its Quick Guide for 2027 entry.

The school offers boarding to students from regional, rural or remote areas, and it takes boarding applications outside its main window, so the boarding route has its own section below. If you are weighing several schools, our guide to selective school transfer compares Years 8 to 11 entry across NSW.

How Years 8 to 11 entry works at Hurlstone Agricultural High School

These steps follow last cycle, for 2027 entry, as the school set them out on its HAST enrolment page and in its Quick Guide. The school can change the details for the next round, so read both again when it opens.

1. Pick up to three selective schools, in order. The school's guide says you may apply to a maximum of three selective high schools in total. You list them in order of preference on the form and lodge a separate application at each school.
2. Fill in the Department's form. Hurlstone Agricultural High School requires the NSW Department of Education's general Years 8 to 11 application form. Last cycle it could be downloaded from the school's HAST page from Wednesday 17 June 2026. If your child is applying to board, mark the package as Boarder Entry.
3. Photocopy what the school asks for. The documents are listed under "What the package must contain" below. The school takes copies only and will not accept original documents.
4. Pay the fee with the package. For 2027 entry it was $140 with Hurlstone Agricultural High School as first preference, which covered all examination costs. With the school as second or third preference, and the HAST sat at an earlier-preference school in the shared sitting, it was $50. You paid by cash or EFTPOS when lodging in person, with no online payment. A postal application carried a bank cheque or money order made out to Hurlstone Agricultural High School, with your child's name as the reference.
5. Lodge the package by the deadline. Last cycle it had to reach the school by 3pm on Friday 24 July 2026, handed in at reception or sent in an Express Post envelope. Faxed and emailed applications are not accepted, and no late application or supporting document was taken after the closing date. Each applicant receives an Acknowledgement of Payment Letter once the application is lodged.
6. Test day is at the school you put first. Last cycle's HAST fell on Saturday 8 August 2026, and the school says there is no alternate date. Bring a hard-copy or card photo ID, such as a current passport or a school photo ID card, because the school does not accept digital ID. A child sitting the test at Hurlstone Agricultural High School goes to Roy Watts Road, Glenfield, and Glenfield is the nearest train station.
7. The school assesses each application. The Enrolment Committee weighs your child's HAST performance alongside its own assessment of the application. The school's page says its panel looks at the HAST (or substitute) scores together with the documents on attendance, achievement, engagement and potential.
8. Some students are invited to interview. After the committee's assessment, the school panel may invite your child to an interview at the school. The school is clear that an invitation to interview is not an offer.
9. Outcomes arrive by email. The school emails outcome advice once the Enrolment Committee has finished. It also keeps a reserve list in order of priority, which for 2027 entry runs until the end of Term 1, 2027.

Only Years 8 to 11 enter through this process. Year 7 entry runs through the NSW Department of Education, and the school's guide says it does not take enrolments into Year 12. The Department also says agriculture is a compulsory subject from Years 7 to 10 at its agricultural high schools, so a student joining in Year 8, 9 or 10 will study it.

Which schools share the HAST sitting

Last cycle, the school's guide listed these selective high schools as coordinating their Years 8 to 11 entry test on Saturday 8 August 2026:

• Hurlstone Agricultural High School
• Caringbah High School
• Fort Street High School (Year 11 only)
• Girraween High School
• Gosford High School
• Hornsby Girls High School
• Macquarie Fields High School
• Northern Beaches Secondary College Manly Campus
• Penrith Selective High School (written in the guide as Penrith High School)
• St George Girls High School
• Sydney Technical High School

As listed in Hurlstone Agricultural High School's Quick Guide for 2027 entry, read 3 October 2026.

For a selective school outside this list, the guide says to contact that school directly. If your first preference is a school that does not use the HAST and Hurlstone Agricultural High School comes later on your form, ask the school where your child will sit the test and which fee applies, because its guide is not clear on that case.

What the package must contain

Last cycle's guide asked for photocopies of:

• your child's two most recent school academic reports (for 2027 entry, Semester 2, 2025 and Semester 1, 2026)
• the most recent NAPLAN results, from 2025 or 2026 depending on year group
• evidence of co-curricular activities over the past two calendar years, up to 10 pages
• certificates from competitions entered in the past two years, with ICAS given as an example

Every Years 8 to 11 application also needs a copy of one identity document under the NSW Department of Education's rules, which name the birth certificate, citizenship or passport. A postal application carries the bank cheque or money order in the same Express Post envelope.

Applying as a boarder

Boarding applications for Years 8 to 11 use the same package, marked as Boarder Entry, with these differences.

• Outside the main window. The school accepts boarding applications outside its main application timeframe. On 3 October 2026 its HAST page said day applications for 2027 entry had closed and boarding applications for 2027 entry were still open.
• The boarding criteria. The Principal assesses every boarder application against the boarding criteria before it is accepted. The criteria are not published in the guide. The Department's form has a boarder section that considers geographic isolation: your nearest government high school, the distance and travel time to it, and the Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme.
• A substitute assessment. The school says that where boarding applicants apply outside the HAST process, "a substitute assessment will be administered by arrangement". It does not say what that assessment is, when it runs or whether it costs anything, so ask the school.
• What the school expects. Boarding applicants are expected to show a strong commitment to learning, positive behaviour and active participation in school life.
• Remote, regional and rural applicants. The guide said boarder applications from these students would close on Monday 30 November 2026 and re-open in February 2027. It does not say which year of entry the February date covers.
• Boarder or day student. The NSW Department of Education says a student offered a boarder place at Hurlstone Agricultural High School cannot automatically transfer to a day place. Its page says this in general terms, without tying it to Year 7 or to Years 8 to 11 entry.
• Tours and fees. You can book a boarding school tour by calling the school; the number is on its contact page. Boarding fees are separate from the application fee and are set each year by the Minister of Education. The school's site gives the 2026 annual boarding fee as $14,450, and no later fee is published.

Key dates

Last cycle's round: 2027 entry (HAST in August 2026)

The school published the dates below for the round that brings in 2027 entrants. Day applications for that round have closed, and its outcomes and interviews fall in September to October 2026. They are here so you can see the order of events, not to predict when the 2028-entry round will run.

Dates as at 3 October 2026. Sources: Hurlstone Agricultural High School's Quick Guide, HAST enrolment page and events page, and the NSW Department of Education.

2028 entry (exams in August 2027)

Hurlstone Agricultural High School has not published any date for 2028 entry. As at 3 October 2026, its HAST enrolment page covers only the 2027-entry round, and 2028 is mentioned neither in its Quick Guide nor on the Department's Years 8 to 11 applications page. The one standing rule is that the school accepts boarding applications outside its main timeframe. Keep an eye on the school's HAST enrolment page. For what other selective schools have said about 2028 entry, see our selective school transfer guide.

The test

Hurlstone Agricultural High School uses the HAST for day and boarding applicants in the main round, and the test's developer, ACER, lists the school for all three secondary levels: junior, middle and senior. The school's Quick Guide links to ACER's Student Information Bulletin. That bulletin says students sit either three or four tests, depending on the package their school selects, and neither the school's Quick Guide nor its HAST enrolment page says which package it uses.

Our HAST guide explains what each test asks and how the levels work.

How we prepare students for Hurlstone Agricultural High School

Our HAST course is how your child prepares for Hurlstone Agricultural High School. It is small-group tutoring that is taught live on Microsoft Teams, with a two-hour lesson every week, ten in a term, and a recording of each lesson. Because every lesson is online, a boarding applicant in a regional, rural or remote area joins from home in the same way as a day applicant in Sydney.

The HAST is only part of what the school weighs. Its Enrolment Committee also reads the reports, NAPLAN results, co-curricular evidence and competition certificates in the package, all from your child's last two years at school. If you would like to go through the Quick Guide's list for your child before the next round, book a short call.

Free practice and guides

• Free practice: our HAST practice test, with worked answers.
• The application: what each school asks for, and how to make each part strong.
• The interview: selective school interview questions and how to prepare.
• By entry year: Year 8, Year 9, Year 10 and Year 11 entry, every school compared.

HAST course prices

Prices as at 1 October 2026.

The live term course is 20 hours of teaching, so $900 works out at $45 an hour. It includes small group classes, lesson recordings, a full-length mock exam with a comprehensive review, marking feedback on weekly homework and the mock, lesson and homework booklets, and online messaging support.

A question bank gives your child practice. It does not contain any teaching hours, and it cannot tell you which school to apply to, what the school report needs to show, or when the application closes.

Our timetable shows this term's HAST classes, and courses and prices sets out every course we teach.

Our students at Hurlstone Agricultural High School

Hurlstone Agricultural High School has made Year 8 to 11 offers to Selective Success Academy students, as shown in our record of offer schools dated 2 October 2026.

Who teaches this

Ilia founded Selective Success Academy and is its head tutor. He has been through this himself: he missed out on selective school at first, then entered North Sydney Boys High School by lateral transfer. He became a North Sydney Boys High School Dux, finished school with a 99.90 ATAR and now studies Medicine at UNSW. His story was featured in The Sydney Morning Herald in April 2026.

What families say

Rated 5/5 from 90+ parent reviews

80+ selective school offers. See our students' results

Questions parents ask about Hurlstone Agricultural High School entry

Does my child sit the HAST for Hurlstone Agricultural High School, even as a boarder?

Yes, if your child applies in the main round, as a day student or a boarder. The school's HAST enrolment page lists completing ACER's Higher Ability Selection Test as part of the process. The exception is a boarding applicant who applies outside the HAST process: the school says a substitute assessment will be administered by arrangement, and it does not describe that assessment.

How many places are there?

Places vary from school to school and from year level to year level, and at Hurlstone Agricultural High School they also differ between day students and boarders. The NSW Department of Education leaves vacancies and placement decisions to each selective school, and the school's HAST page repeats that rule. We give no figure for this school or any other. Book a call to talk over your child's year level and whether a day or boarding application fits your family.

When do 2028-entry applications open at Hurlstone Agricultural High School?

Not yet announced. On 3 October 2026 the school's HAST enrolment page still described the 2027-entry round, with day applications closed and boarding applications open. In that round, the school took day applications from Wednesday 17 June to 3pm Friday 24 July 2026. Its HAST sitting was on Saturday 8 August 2026. Because boarding applications are accepted outside the main timeframe, a boarding family can ask the school directly.

What is the application fee at Hurlstone Agricultural High School?

In the 2027-entry round it was $140 with Hurlstone Agricultural High School as first preference, an amount that covered all examination costs. A family that put the school second or third, with the HAST sat at an earlier-preference school in the shared sitting, paid $50. The school took cash or EFTPOS at lodgement, or a bank cheque or money order by post, and gave no refunds after the closing date or for illness or misadventure. Nothing has been published on the fee for 2028 entry.

Can my child apply to board at Hurlstone Agricultural High School?

Yes, in Years 8 to 11. The school offers boarding to students from regional, rural or remote areas and accepts boarding applications outside its main timeframe. Mark the package as Boarder Entry, and the Principal checks it against the boarding criteria before accepting it. Outside the HAST process, a substitute assessment is arranged with the school. To learn about the residential program first, call the school to book a boarding school tour.

Is an interview part of entry to Hurlstone Agricultural High School?

For some students, by invitation. After the Enrolment Committee's assessment, the school panel may invite your child to an interview at the school, and the school is clear that an invitation is not an offer. For 2027 entry, the school's key dates put outcomes and interviews in September to October 2026. No interview date or format has been published.

Sources

Every link below was opened and read on 3 October 2026.

• Hurlstone Agricultural High School: Enrolment for Years 8 to 11 (HAST)
• Hurlstone Agricultural High School: Quick Guide, Entry into Years 8 to 11, 2027 (PDF)
• NSW Department of Education: the 2027-entry Years 8 to 11 application form (PDF, hosted by Hurlstone Agricultural High School)
• Hurlstone Agricultural High School: Enrol
• Hurlstone Agricultural High School: contact us
• Hurlstone Agricultural High School: events
• Hurlstone Agricultural High School: Orientation Day
• Hurlstone Agricultural High School: boarding policies and procedures
• Hurlstone Agricultural High School: information and assessments
• NSW Department of Education: selective high schools, Years 8 to 11 applications
• NSW Department of Education: list of selective high schools
• ACER: HAST participating schools
• ACER: HAST Student Information Bulletin, Secondary (PDF)