Selective schools · Profile
Peel High: Selective Entry & Places
Peel High School is a partially selective co-educational high school in Tamworth, New England. It offers 30 Year 7 selective places, entered through the Selective High School Placement Test.
A Tamworth school running a selective stream in each junior year, alongside agricultural programs including sheep, cattle and poultry.
Peel High School at a glance
| Type | Partially selective |
|---|---|
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Suburb | Tamworth, New England |
| Year 7 places | 30, 2027 entry — NSW Department of Education selective-schools list |
| Entry routes | Year 7 via the Selective High School Placement Test.The selective stream operates in each junior year (7–10); later-year entry is via the High Performing Students Unit. No specific later-year place count is published. |
| Boarding | None — day school. |
| Official website | peel-h.schools.nsw.gov.au |
How entry works
Year 7 entry to Peel 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: The selective stream operates in each junior year (7–10); later-year entry is via the High Performing Students Unit. No specific later-year place count is published.
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 Peel High School that figure was 160/300 (160/300 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 Peel 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 partially selective public high school serving Tamworth and the New England region (opened 1976–77).
- Runs an academically selective stream in each junior year alongside a comprehensive stream.
- Agricultural programs include Suffolk sheep, Angus cattle and poultry breeding, alongside a technology focus.
Families near Tamworth
Other nearby areas: South Tamworth, West Tamworth, Hillvue, Oxley Vale.