Selective schools · Profile
Penrith High: Selective Entry & Places
Penrith High School is a fully academically selective co-educational high school in Penrith, Western Sydney. It offers 150 Year 7 selective places (75 boys, 75 girls), entered through the Selective High School Placement Test.
A co-educational selective school in Western Sydney, selective since 1989 and a partner school in the state's High Potential and Gifted Education policy.
Penrith High School at a glance
| Type | Fully selective |
|---|---|
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Suburb | Penrith, Western Sydney |
| Year 7 places | 150 (75 boys, 75 girls), 2027 entry — per aggregated Department data (AcePath) |
| Entry routes | Year 7 via the Selective High School Placement Test.Vacancy-based transfer entry to Years 8–11 is available, applied for directly with the school; applicants sit an entrance examination. |
| Boarding | None — day school. |
| Official website | penrith-h.schools.nsw.gov.au |
How entry works
Year 7 entry to Penrith 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: Vacancy-based transfer entry to Years 8–11 is available, applied for directly with the school; applicants sit an entrance examination.
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 Penrith High School that figure was 209/300 (208/300 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 Penrith 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 fully academically selective co-educational government day school for Years 7 to 12 in Western Sydney. source
- Officially established in 1950 and became academically selective in 1989. source
- A partner school in the NSW High Potential and Gifted Education policy, with extension programs, STEM clubs and university/industry partnerships; enrolment around 925 students. source
Families near Penrith
Many families sitting for Penrith High come from the surrounding suburbs. We compare the selective coaching options — centre by centre, with published prices — for Penrith.
Other nearby areas: Kingswood, St Marys, Emu Plains, Werrington, Glenmore Park, Cambridge Park.