A fully selective public agricultural high school in Carlingford, in Sydney’s north-west, for boys and girls in Years 7 to 12. 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 James Ruse students start in Year 7. Years 7 and 8 are limited to 120 by space, and Years 9, 10 and 11 are larger. No one joins in Year 12.
What the school says: “Numbers are limited by accommodation to 120 in each of Year 7 and 8 with an increase in Years 9, 10 and 11. Students are not admitted into Year 12.” The school’s website, read 28 October 2026
Year 7 places go through the Department’s Selective test. Places in Years 8 to 11 go through the school’s own application and a test called the Edutest, run by an outside provider.
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 James Ruse · 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.
Starts in Year 9.
Every student takes Agriculture early.
Other subjectsJapanese Continuers, Music 2 and Health and Movement Science start in Year 10. Which run depends on demand and staffing.
Every student finishes Agriculture’s HSC in Year 11.
The HSC.
The school doesn’t publish how students are chosen, but its report says attendance counts. Students who join in a later year may not be able to enter a course already running.
Source: NSW Department of Education (Year 7); James Ruse Agricultural High School’s website and enrolment documents (Years 8 to 11; 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. Every James Ruse student sits Agriculture’s HSC in Year 11, not Year 12. 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.
No. It uses the Edutest for Years 8 to 11, followed by an application and an interview, both by invitation. The Edutest is held on one day shared by six selective schools. We don’t tutor for the Edutest at the moment. For Year 7, children sit the Selective test.
120: 60 for boys and 60 for girls, from the Department’s list (read 28 October 2026).
Yes. In 2025 it had 490 boys and 367 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. We don’t tutor for the Edutest at the moment.
