Next month, thousands of students and their families will find out whether they have been offered a place in Year 7 at a selective high school in New South Wales.
Selective schools dominate the top Year 12 results, and demand for places always outstrips supply. About 18,500 students sat the NSW selective high school test this year, for 4,200 spots next year.
The NSW government says gifted students “benefit both academically and socially” from learning alongside other students with similar abilities in selective schools. But there are few published studies on whether selective schooling pays off for individuals in terms of better outcomes later in life.
