Smith's Hill High: Selective Entry & Places

Smith's Hill High School at a glance

How entry works

Year 7 entry to Smith's Hill 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: Later-year (Years 8–11) entry is possible only when a vacancy exists, through direct 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 Smith's Hill High School that figure was 184/300 (181/300 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 Smith's Hill 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

• Opened in 1916 and became academically selective in 1989; a co-educational fully selective school on Gipps Street, Wollongong, serving the Illawarra. source
• Runs music ensembles and drama productions and takes part in enrichment competitions such as Tournament of Minds. source

Families near Wollongong

Other nearby areas: Figtree, Fairy Meadow, Corrimal, Dapto, Thirroul.