Sydney Girls High School Entry After Year 7: EduTest, Portfolio and Interview

The test

EduTest, sat by every applicant

Years the school's entry section covers

Years 8, 9 and 10. The school says it "will not accept students into Years 11 and 12 after 2027"

How to apply

The NSW Department of Education's form, the school's questionnaire and a portfolio, lodged at the school by post, courier or in person. Not by email

How the school selects

A longlist from EduTest results, a portfolio review, then an interview for the shortlist

Last cycle (2027 entry)

Applications ran from 17 June to 24 July 2026, then the EduTest on Saturday 15 August 2026

2028 entry (exams in August 2027)

No dates yet, as at 3 October 2026

Last checked 3 October 2026 against Sydney Girls High School's enrolment page, Edutest's registration page for the school and the NSW Department of Education's Years 8 to 11 page.

The school's enrolment page puts it plainly: "Sydney Girls High School is a selective state school and has a rigorous admissions process." Selection by examination goes back to the beginning: the school's history page says entry was by examination when it opened on 8 October 1883. Year 7 is a separate route, through the Selective School Test, which the NSW Department of Education runs rather than the school. Comparing several schools? Our selective school transfer guide lists the tests NSW selective schools use for entry after Year 7.

How Years 8 to 11 entry works at Sydney Girls High School

The school sets out its process on its enrolment page, under the heading "Years 8-10", and gives no dates of its own. Your complete application is due at the school by the NSW Department of Education's closing date, and the EduTest registration closes on the date Edutest publishes. The steps below follow the school's page as it read on 3 October 2026, with last cycle's dates added. The process may change between rounds, so read the page again when applications open.

Which year levels. The school's entry section, and the questionnaire it asks for, cover Years 8, 9 and 10. The same page says: "Sydney Girls High School will not accept students into Years 11 and 12 after 2027." Edutest's registration page for the last round, which the school linked, was headed "Entry to Years 8 - 11 in 2027". If your daughter would be entering Year 11, ask the school how its sentence applies to her before you plan around it.

1. Check the Department's requirements. The school asks every applicant to meet the NSW Department of Education's requirements for Years 8 to 11 entry and to follow its application process by the required date. The Department's Years 8 to 11 page sets them out.
2. Fill in the Department's application form. The school asks for the NSW Government's Years 8 to 11 entry to selective high schools application form. The version for 2027 entry told families to send a completed form to the principal of each selective high school they applied to, up to three. The Department asks you to list your schools in the same order of preference on every form.
3. Complete the school's Student Questionnaire for Years 8 to 10. It goes in with the application. On 3 October 2026 the questionnaire link on the enrolment page had expired, so look for a working one when the next round opens.
4. Build the portfolio. It should show your daughter's academic and co-curricular achievement. "What to attach", below, lists what goes in it.
5. Register and pay for the EduTest on Edutest's site. This is a separate step from the school application, with its own closing date. The school says a combined application processing fee is paid to Edutest. For 2027 entry, Edutest's page for the school showed a registration fee of $180.00, paid online at the end of registration, and a registration was not valid until it was paid. Applying to another EduTest school as well? Last cycle Edutest required a separate application, and a separate payment, for each school.
6. Lodge the complete application at the school by the Department's closing date. Send it by post or courier, or hand it in at the school office between 8.30am and 3.30pm on school days. Email applications are not accepted. The office also closes for the July school holidays, so plan around them if you are delivering it yourself.
7. Test day. Applicants sit the EduTest at a nominated venue on a specific date. Last cycle that was Saturday 15 August 2026 at 9:00am, on paper for everyone sitting in Sydney, with no alternative date. Under Edutest's conditions last cycle, your daughter sat the test at the school whose registration was submitted first, and that choice was fixed after 24 July.
8. The selection committee makes a shortlist. The committee is the principal, the deputy principal, the student support officer and teaching staff. It draws up a longlist from the EduTest results, reads the portfolios of the girls on that longlist, and compiles a shortlist.
9. Interview, then offers. Shortlisted candidates are interviewed, and those who are successful at interview receive offers. Reply within the time the offer letter gives, or the school will assume you have declined. If you will be on holiday when offers go out, leave other contact details or ask someone to respond for you. For last cycle, the Department's timeline put outcomes in September to October 2026 and the start of school in late January 2027.

What the committee weighs. For Years 8 to 10, the school says "selection is based on academic merit, participation, and achievement in a range of co-curricular, competition, and leadership activities." The portfolios the committee reads are those of the girls on the EduTest longlist, so the test comes first.

What to attach

The school asks for a portfolio with evidence from the current and previous calendar year, including:

• your daughter's school reports. The school reviews all academic results and comments, with emphasis on English, Maths and Science
• results from any external competitions or tests, including her most recent NAPLAN results
• evidence of a balanced and resilient student, such as extracurricular participation in sport, leadership roles, service and volunteer work

With the portfolio go the Department's form and the school's questionnaire (steps 2 and 3), and proof of citizenship or residency. The Department asks for a copy of the student's birth certificate, citizenship or passport. Last cycle, Edutest's conditions for this school asked for documentation such as evidence of Australian citizenship, a birth certificate, an Australian passport or a permanent residency visa with each application.

Conditions to know before you apply

• Who can enrol. Australian citizens, permanent residents and families of diplomats. The school cannot take fee-paying overseas exchange students, temporary visa holders or students from exchange organisations.
• Accelerated courses. New students cannot join the school's existing accelerated courses.
• Full-time study. The school enrols every student on the understanding that she will study full time.
• Long exchanges. The school will not consider an exchange of six months or a year, and a student who went on one would have to give up her enrolment. Leave is possible only for very short periods around the summer holidays, approved by the principal in advance.

Key dates

The 2027-entry round (EduTest in August 2026)

Sydney Girls High School's enrolment page gives no dates of its own. The rows below are the NSW Department of Education's dates for Years 8 to 11 entry, and Edutest's dates from its registration page for this school.

Dates as at 3 October 2026, from the Department's and Edutest's pages that day. Edutest now marks this round "Applications closed".

2028 entry (exams in August 2027)

Not published yet. As at 3 October 2026, Sydney Girls High School's enrolment page describes the process without dates, the NSW Department of Education's Years 8 to 11 page carries only the 2027-entry timeline, and Edutest's public list of open assessments has nothing for Sydney Girls High School. The school's EduTest link still opens last cycle's registration page. The Department says its dates and procedures may change and asks families to check back regularly, so revisit the school's enrolment page through the year.

School tour

As at 3 October 2026, the school's next tour is on Thursday 5 November 2026, from 10:45am to 1pm. It starts at the Governors Centre, reached from Cleveland Street, with a welcome from the Principal, and bookings are required. There is no parking on site. The school is at 560 Cleveland Street, Moore Park, and the Principal's welcome says it is easy to reach by light rail from Central Station, or by bus or car. The events page does not say which entry year the tour is for.

The test

Sydney Girls High School requires every applicant to sit the EduTest, and its selection starts from those results. Last cycle, Edutest's page for the school said a girl applying to one or more of Sydney Girls High School, Baulkham Hills High School, James Ruse Agricultural High School, North Sydney Girls High School and Chatswood High School sat the test once only, with her results sent to each school she applied to. The school's own page does not describe the sections of the test.

For what each EduTest section asks and how to practise for it, see our EduTest guide.

How we prepare students for Sydney Girls High School

At Sydney Girls High School the EduTest decides who reaches the longlist, so that is what our tutoring prepares for. Girls aiming for this school join our EduTest course, taught live in small groups on Microsoft Teams: ten two-hour lessons a term, one a week, with marking feedback on weekly homework, lesson recordings and a full-length mock exam with a review.

The lesson booklets, homework and mock exams are Selective Success Academy's own, written in the style of the EduTest. They are not Edutest's material and they are not past papers.

The rest of the application is your daughter's own record: her reports from this year and last, her competition and NAPLAN results, and what she does outside class. To go through the school's portfolio list and the deadlines for your daughter, book a short call.

Free practice and guides

• Free practice: our EduTest 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 and Year 10 entry, every school compared.

EduTest tutoring fees

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.

Find this term's EduTest class times on the timetable. Every course we run, with its price, is on courses and prices.

Our students at Sydney Girls High School

Selective Success Academy students have received offers to join Sydney Girls High School after Year 7. That is from the list of schools where our students have had offers, as at 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 Sydney Girls High School entry

Which entrance test do girls sit for Sydney Girls High School?

The EduTest. The school's enrolment page says all applicants must complete the Edutest entrance test, and the school builds its longlist from the results. Sydney Girls High School also appears on Edutest's list of client schools. For Year 7 the route is different: the school's page says entry is through the Selective School Test, organised by the Department's Selective Schools Unit.

Can my daughter apply for Year 11 at Sydney Girls High School?

The school answers this in its own words: "Sydney Girls High School will not accept students into Years 11 and 12 after 2027." Its entry section and questionnaire cover Years 8 to 10, while Edutest's page for the last round was headed "Entry to Years 8 - 11 in 2027". If Year 11 is your daughter's entry year, ask the school how that sentence applies to her before you plan around it, and book a short call if you would like to talk through other schools.

How many places are there?

Places differ between selective schools and between year levels, and the choice belongs to each school. Here it rests with Sydney Girls High School's selection committee, which decides who is offered entry. Selective Success Academy does not publish a number for any school. Book a short call and we can talk through your daughter's year level and her options.

When will applications for 2028 entry open at Sydney Girls High School?

Sydney Girls High School has not said. As at 3 October 2026, its enrolment page gives no dates, and the NSW Department of Education lists only the 2027-entry timeline. In that round, applications ran from Wednesday 17 June to Friday 24 July 2026, and the EduTest was on Saturday 15 August 2026. Keep checking the school's enrolment page.

What does the application cost?

The school says a combined application processing fee is paid to Edutest. For 2027 entry, Edutest's registration page for Sydney Girls High School showed $180.00, paid online when registering, and each EduTest school you applied to was paid for separately. Remote testing costs extra. The 2028-entry fee is not published yet.

Will my daughter be interviewed by Sydney Girls High School?

Yes, if she is shortlisted. The selection committee builds a longlist from the EduTest results, reads those girls' portfolios, then interviews a shortlist, and candidates who are successful at interview receive offers. The school publishes no interview date or format.

Sources

All of these were read on 3 October 2026.

• Sydney Girls High School: Enrol
• Sydney Girls High School: Contact us
• Sydney Girls High School: Events
• Sydney Girls High School: History of Sydney Girls High School
• Sydney Girls High School: Principal's welcome
• NSW Department of Education: Years 8 to 11 entry, applications and key dates
• NSW Department of Education: the selective high schools list
• NSW Department of Education: Years 8 to 11 application form for 2027 entry (PDF)
• Edutest: Sydney Girls High School's registration page, 2027 entry
• Edutest: client schools
• Edutest: open assessments (data feed)