Sydney Technical High School, Bexley: Years 8 to 11 Entry and the HAST
Sydney Technical High School in Bexley is a fully selective government school for boys. It accepts applications for entry into Years 8 to 11, and ACER lists it among the schools that use the HAST (Higher Ability Selection Test). Boys preparing for that test can join Selective Success Academy's HAST course: live online small-group classes on Microsoft Teams.
- The test
- HAST (Higher Ability Selection Test), on ACER's list of participating schools. The school's own website names no test
- Year levels
- Years 8 to 11. Below Year 11, a new student is considered only when a current student leaves
- How to apply
- No form or lodging method on the school's website. Families are asked to contact its enrolments officer
- Interview
- No page of the school's website raises one
- Last cycle (2027 entry)
- Open 8am Wednesday 17 June 2026, closed 3pm Friday 24 July 2026
- 2028 entry (exams in August 2027)
- Not yet published by the school or the Department, as at 3 October 2026
Last checked 3 October 2026. Sources: Sydney Technical High School's enrolment page, ACER's HAST participating schools and the NSW Department of Education's Years 8 to 11 applications page.
The NSW Department of Education runs Year 7 entry. From Year 8 onwards, your son applies to the school itself. Still deciding between schools? Our selective school transfer guide covers Years 8 to 11 entry across NSW.
How Years 8 to 11 entry works at Sydney Technical High School
Sydney Technical High School, founded in 1911, is a selective school for boys in Years 7 to 12, at 686 Forest Rd, Bexley. The NSW Department of Education lists it as fully selective, and leaves each selective school to manage its own later-year vacancies, assessments and placement decisions.
These nine steps trace the 2027-entry round. Where Sydney Technical High School is silent, we give the NSW Department of Education's rule for every selective school, and say that it is the Department's.
- Work out your son's year of entry. Applications are made a year ahead: last cycle's round ran in June and July 2026, for boys starting in late January 2027. For Years 8, 9 and 10, the school says a new student is considered only when a current student leaves. Year 11 is different, because the school also takes in additional new students at that level.
- Talk to the enrolments officer. The school directs Years 8 to 11 enquiries to its enrolments officer, through the school office listed on its contact page. Its office hours are 8:15am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, in school terms.
- Ask which application form to use. The Department says some schools use their own online form and others use its general form, and that the form goes to the school you are applying to. On 3 October 2026 Sydney Technical High School's page showed neither form and no way to lodge one.
- Fill in one application per school. Applying to several selective schools? The Department wants a separate form for each one, listing the schools in one fixed order of preference across all of them.
- Gather the documents. The school lists none of its own. From the Department's side, include a copy of your son's passport, citizenship or birth certificate, along with any extra forms the school requests.
- Check the fee. The school's website shows no application or test fee for Years 8 to 11 entry. The Department says the school will tell you if testing is required and whether there is a fee, and ACER also tells families to ask the school.
- Your son sits the HAST on the day the school sets. The school has not published its test date, venue or times. ACER's student bulletin says the school will tell you the test day, the arrival time and where to go. ACER also says that when two of your schools hold the test on one day, your son sits it at just one of them, which you choose.
- A selection committee decides. Under the Department's rules, the committee weighs the academic performance your son's application shows, plus his test result where testing is used. The outcome is an offer, a reserve list position or an unsuccessful result.
- Answer a phone offer quickly. If the offer comes by phone, the Department gives you 24 hours to accept or decline it.
After an unsuccessful result, the Department's page lets you request a review within 7 days of receiving it, but only on the grounds it sets out. A reserve list does not carry over to the next school year, and the Department says it may close after Term 2.
If your son would join in Year 10 or Year 11
Sydney Technical High School accelerates its whole Year 10 cohort: every Year 10 student takes Preliminary HSC (Year 11) courses, such as Advanced and Extension Mathematics and Engineering Studies. In Year 9, students are mentored and prepared to take on a Year 11 HSC course the following year (high potential and gifted education, learning).
The school's pages do not say how a boy who joins in Year 10 or Year 11 fits into that pattern. If that is your son's year of entry, ask the enrolments officer. For Year 11 applicants, the school's Year 11 subject selection page has video overviews of the courses offered to Year 11 in 2026, among them Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Engineering Studies, Software Engineering and Economics.
Key dates
Last cycle: 2027 entry (applications June to July 2026)
Sydney Technical High School published its own application window for 2027 entry, and its enrolment page now says that window has closed. The remaining rows are Department-wide windows covering all selective schools, not dates this school set. The school did not publish a test date or an outcome date of its own.
| 2027 entry | When | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Window opened at 8am, the school's own date | Wednesday 17 June 2026 | Sydney Technical High School enrolment page |
| Window closed at 3pm, the school's own date | Friday 24 July 2026 | Sydney Technical High School enrolment page |
| Each school sets out its assessment requirements, Department-wide timing | July to August 2026 | NSW Department of Education |
| Testing period, Department-wide. The school published no test date | August to September 2026 | NSW Department of Education |
| Offers and other outcomes sent out, Department-wide timing | September to October 2026 | NSW Department of Education |
| Successful boys begin at the school, Department-wide timing | Late January 2027 | NSW Department of Education |
As at 3 October 2026: the first two rows come from the school's enrolment page, the rest from the NSW Department of Education.
2028 entry (exams in August 2027)
Nothing published yet. When we last checked on 3 October 2026, Sydney Technical High School's enrolment page still showed only the closed 2027-entry window, and no other page on its website mentioned Years 8 to 11 entry in 2028. The NSW Department of Education lists 2027-entry dates only, and warns that its dates and procedures may change. We would rather wait for the school than guess. Watch the school's enrolment page, and see our selective school transfer guide for what other schools have said so far about 2028 entry.
The test
ACER, the Australian Council for Educational Research, lists Sydney Technical High School as a HAST school at the junior, middle and senior secondary levels. ACER matches those levels to the year of entry: junior secondary for Year 8, middle secondary for Years 9 and 10, and senior secondary for Year 11. The school has not said whether it uses three or four of the HAST's tests, so confirm the details with its enrolments officer.
Our HAST guide covers each test, its timing and which level your son sits.
How we prepare students for Sydney Technical High School
To prepare for Sydney Technical High School, your son joins our HAST course. Each term brings ten two-hour lessons, live and in a small group on Microsoft Teams. Your son receives lesson and homework booklets and a recording of every lesson. His weekly homework is marked with feedback, and he sits a full-length mock exam, followed by a detailed review.
Selective Success Academy writes the HAST-style practice questions used in the course. They do not come from ACER and are not past papers.
With so little published about the school's Years 8 to 11 process, it can be hard to know what to ask. Book a short call and we can help you work out your questions for the enrolments officer.
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.
- By entry year: Year 8, Year 9, Year 10 and Year 11 entry, every school compared.
HAST course fees
| What you get | Price |
|---|---|
| Term course, live: 10 weekly lessons of 2 hours each, on Microsoft Teams | $900 a term, which is $90 a lesson |
| The same live course, booked at the early bird price | $800 a term |
| Term course, recordings only | $600 |
| Two term courses | $1,400 |
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.
The timetable sets out this term's HAST classes by year level, and courses and prices covers everything else we teach.
Our students at Sydney Technical High School
As at 2 October 2026, Sydney Technical High School is one of the selective schools where boys from Selective Success Academy have received offers.
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
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It was a good engagement with Selective Success Academy since last term. Ilia explains concepts clearly and to the level of difficulty required. The mock exams and feedback were helpful. A well-run program.
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Questions parents ask about Sydney Technical High School entry
Is the HAST the test for Sydney Technical High School?
According to ACER, yes. ACER's list of schools using the Higher Ability Selection Test (HAST) includes Sydney Technical High School at the junior, middle and senior secondary levels. The school's own website does not name a test for Years 8 to 11, so confirm it with the enrolments officer when you apply. What the HAST covers is set out in our HAST guide.
How many places are there?
It depends on the school and the year level: places vary, and each school decides its own. At Sydney Technical High School, the enrolment page says a new student is considered for Years 8, 9 or 10 only when a current student leaves. For Year 11, the school also takes in additional new students. We will not put a figure on it for any year level. Book a short call to talk through your son's year of entry.
Are the 2028-entry dates for Sydney Technical High School out yet?
Not yet. The school's enrolment page, as we read it on 3 October 2026, still described only the 2027-entry window and marked it closed. The NSW Department of Education had published nothing beyond last cycle either. Last cycle's window ran from 8am on Wednesday 17 June 2026 to 3pm on Friday 24 July 2026. Until new dates appear, check the school's enrolment page from time to time.
Does Sydney Technical High School interview Years 8 to 11 applicants?
The school's website does not say either way. As at 3 October 2026, none of its pages mentions an interview at any of these year levels. Ask the enrolments officer whether one is part of the next round.
Is there an application fee?
Sydney Technical High School's website shows no application or test fee for Years 8 to 11 entry. The NSW Department of Education says the school will tell you if testing is required and whether there is a fee. Ask the enrolments officer before you apply.
Who can apply to Sydney Technical High School?
Boys who are Australian citizens, New Zealand citizens or permanent residents of Australia. The school says that is a condition of attending any selective high school. Where you live does not matter, because selective high schools are unzoned, as the school points out. The NSW Department of Education adds one more rule: your son and your family must both be living in NSW by the time that school year begins.
Sources
Every source here was read on the day this page was last checked, 3 October 2026.
- Sydney Technical High School: Enrol
- Sydney Technical High School: contact us
- Sydney Technical High School: why choose us
- Sydney Technical High School: archives and history
- Sydney Technical High School: high potential and gifted education
- Sydney Technical High School: learning
- Sydney Technical High School: Year 11 subject selection
- 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 support
- ACER: HAST Student Information Bulletin, Secondary, 2024 edition (PDF)
Not sure which test or school suits your child? Book a short call with Ilia, or let your child try a lesson first.