Selective schools · Profile
Chatswood High: Selective Entry & Places
Chatswood High School is a partially selective co-educational high school in Chatswood, Lower North Shore. It offers 60 Year 7 selective places, entered through the Selective High School Placement Test.
A Lower North Shore school (1959) with a strong stage-band tradition — the first Australian school band invited to the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Chatswood High School at a glance
| Type | Partially selective |
|---|---|
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Suburb | Chatswood, Lower North Shore |
| Year 7 places | 60, 2027 entry — per aggregated Department data (AcePath) |
| Entry routes | Year 7 via the Selective High School Placement Test.Selective-stream vacancies in Years 8–11 are advertised and filled by application to the school. |
| Boarding | None — day school. |
| Official website | chatswood-h.schools.nsw.gov.au |
How entry works
Year 7 entry to Chatswood High runs through the statewide NSW Selective High School Placement Test, sat in Year 6. There is no separate school exam and no catchment for selective places — you nominate the school among your preferences, and offers are made from a single statewide placement score. The steps and deadlines are in our application walkthrough.
About one applicant in four receives a selective place across the state. A miss says very little about a capable child — with roughly four applicants for every place, the maths alone means most well-prepared children miss out, and are fine.
Later years: Selective-stream vacancies in Years 8–11 are advertised and filled by application to the school.
The last-published entry score — read this honestly
The last time the Department published a per-school minimum entry score was for 2021 entry, on the retired 300-point scale. For Chatswood High School that figure was 214/300 (213/300 the year before).
That is a historical record, not a current cut-off. The test and its scoring have changed since — four equally-weighted components, computer-based, no school-assessment mark — the Department no longer publishes per-school minimums, and it states plainly that there is no set entry score. Treat any "current" cut-off you see quoted for Chatswood High as an estimate, not a fact.
On the last-published (2021) figures, this was the highest minimum entry score of any partially selective school — a historical old-system figure, not a current cut-off.
Where these figures come from, why the Department stopped publishing them, and how to sanity-check any number you read: our cut-off scores guide.
Known for
- A co-educational Lower North Shore secondary school, established in 1959 and partially academically selective.
- Its Stage Band was the first Australian school stage band invited to the Montreux Jazz Festival (1996).
- Runs outdoor and Duke of Edinburgh programs and is part of the North Shore 5 (NS5) schools collaboration.
Families near Chatswood
Many families sitting for Chatswood High come from the surrounding suburbs. We compare the selective coaching options — centre by centre, with published prices — for Chatswood and Gordon.
Other nearby areas: Willoughby, Artarmon, Lane Cove, Roseville, Lindfield, North Ryde.