A fully selective public agricultural high school in Glenfield, in Sydney’s south-west, for boys and girls in Years 7 to 12, with day and boarding places. Fully selective means every student was chosen for a selective place. Here’s how to get in, how its students do in the HSC (the exams at the end of Year 12), and what the school is like.
Bing’s Academy is independent of the school. Every figure here is from a public source, named under each section.
start here
Most Hurlstone students start in Year 7. Day students live at home and travel in each day; boarders live at the school. Later places open up when students leave, and the school publishes a new count each round.
What the school says: “Currently, there are boarding placements available in all year groups 8-11.” The school’s website, read 28 October 2026. The places table is from its quick guide for 2027 entry
Year 7 places go through the Department’s Selective test. Places in Years 8 to 11 go through the school’s own application and HAST (the Higher Ability Selection Test), a test several selective schools share (our HAST guide).
The Year 7 application and test dates are official. The other dates are typical, based on the 2026 round: the school hasn’t announced its own dates for 2028 entry yet.
Inside Hurlstone · once your child is in
Every student here already has a selective place. These are the classes and courses the school chooses students for once they’re in, and any that every student takes.
Since 2026, every Year 10 student takes one Year 11 course and sits its HSC in Year 11. In 2026: Agriculture, Ancient History, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Health and Movement Science, Hospitality, Korean Beginners and Visual Arts. Students rank their preferences in Year 9; the school places them on results, engagement, teacher judgement and family input, and a panel decides the most popular courses.
The HSC.
Source: NSW Department of Education (Year 7; who can apply); Hurlstone Agricultural High School’s website and its Years 8 to 11 quick guide, and Hurlstone’s pages on other classes, read 28 October 2026.
The HSC is the set of exams at the end of Year 12. Each HSC subject is marked out of 100. The school’s yearly report lists the average mark of its Year 12 students in each subject, next to the NSW average. Subjects with fewer than 10 students are not listed. Selective schools choose their students by test, so their averages usually sit above the NSW average: the useful part is which subjects are strongest.
Source: the school’s 2025 annual report, NSW Department of Education (CC BY 4.0). These results are shown on their own. We don’t rank or compare schools by results.
A Band 6 is the top result in an HSC subject. Here is what the count tells you, and what it doesn’t.
Source: NESA’s HSC merit lists, 2021 to 2025, counted by Bing’s Academy. These counts are shown on their own. We don’t rank or compare schools by results.
Source: the school’s 2025 annual report; NSW Department of Education school data, 2 October 2026 (CC BY 4.0); Google Maps and Transport for NSW.
Yes, for Years 8 to 11, followed by a review of the application and, for some children, an interview. HAST is the Higher Ability Selection Test. The schools that use it hold it on one shared day in August, and your child sits it once. For Year 7, children sit the Selective test instead.
180: 75 day and 15 boarding places for boys, and the same for girls, from the Department’s list (read 28 October 2026).
Yes, for boys and girls. The Department’s list shows 15 boarding places for boys and 15 for girls in Year 7. Boarding has its own conditions, so ask the school.
Yes. In 2025 it had 555 boys and 379 girls.
The Department doesn’t publish one. It changes every year, depending on who applies.
Of the 22 students we taught who sat the Selective test in 2026, 17 received an offer of a selective place (not always at this school). We will never promise a place: the Department marks the exam and the cut-offs move every year. What we can promise is that you will know where your child stands, for Year 7 or for HAST.
