Selective schools · Profile
Fort Street High: Selective Entry & Places
Fort Street High School is a fully academically selective co-educational high school in Petersham, Inner West. It offers 150 Year 7 selective places (75 boys, 75 girls), entered through the Selective High School Placement Test.
Its lineage runs back to the Fort Street Model School of 1849, making it the oldest government school of its line in Australia; the present co-ed school formed in 1975.
Fort Street High School at a glance
| Type | Fully selective |
|---|---|
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Suburb | Petersham, Inner West |
| Year 7 places | 150 (75 boys, 75 girls), 2027 entry — NSW Department of Education selective-schools list |
| Entry routes | Year 7 via the Selective High School Placement Test.Places for Years 8–11 are filled when vacancies arise, through the Department's statewide Selective High School Years 8 to 11 application process. |
| Boarding | None — day school. |
| Official website | fortstreet-h.schools.nsw.gov.au |
How entry works
Year 7 entry to Fort Street 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: Places for Years 8–11 are filled when vacancies arise, through the Department's statewide Selective High School Years 8 to 11 application process.
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 Fort Street High School that figure was 216/300 (216/300 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 Fort Street High as an estimate, not a fact.
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 government-funded, fully academically selective, co-educational secondary school for Years 7 to 12, on Parramatta Road, Petersham. source
- Traces its origins to the Fort Street Model School of 1849 — the oldest government school of its lineage in Australia; the present co-educational school formed in 1975 from the amalgamated boys' and girls' high schools. source
- Draws students from across greater metropolitan Sydney and runs an Instrumental Music Program of 300+ students alongside robotics and STEM clubs. source
Families near Petersham
Many families sitting for Fort Street High come from the surrounding suburbs. We compare the selective coaching options — centre by centre, with published prices — for Burwood, Strathfield and Campsie.
Other nearby areas: Ashfield, Marrickville, Leichhardt, Dulwich Hill, Stanmore.