Selective schools · Profile
Northern Beaches SC, Manly: Selective Entry & Places
Northern Beaches Secondary College, Manly Campus is a fully academically selective co-educational selective campus in North Curl Curl, Northern Beaches. It offers 120 Year 7 selective places (60 boys, 60 girls), entered through the Selective High School Placement Test.
The fully selective Manly campus of Northern Beaches Secondary College; its lineage traces to Manly Public School (1859) and it gained selective status in 1990.
Northern Beaches Secondary College, Manly Campus at a glance
| Type | Fully selective |
|---|---|
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Suburb | North Curl Curl, Northern Beaches |
| Year 7 places | 120 (60 boys, 60 girls), 2027 entry — per aggregated Department data (AcePath) |
| Entry routes | Year 7 via the Selective High School Placement Test.Entry to Years 8–11 is coordinated through the school to fill vacancies; applicants sit the ACER Higher Ability Selection Test (HAST). |
| Boarding | None — day school. |
| Official website | northernbeaches-s.schools.nsw.gov.au/manly-campus.html |
How entry works
Year 7 entry to Northern Beaches SC, Manly 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: Entry to Years 8–11 is coordinated through the school to fill vacancies; applicants sit the ACER Higher Ability Selection Test (HAST).
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 Northern Beaches Secondary College, Manly Campus that figure was 208/300 (207/300 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 Northern Beaches SC, Manly 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
- The academically selective campus (Years 7 to 12) of Northern Beaches Secondary College, a multi-campus college on Sydney's Northern Beaches. source
- Traces its origins to Manly Public School (1859); became Manly High School in 1983 and was granted selective status in 1990. source
- Enrolment of around 766 students (2025). source
Families near North Curl Curl
Other nearby areas: Manly, Dee Why, Brookvale, Freshwater, Balgowlah, Frenchs Forest.