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Karabar High School

A partially selective public high school in Queanbeyan, near the ACT border, for boys and girls in Years 7 to 12. Partially selective means it has selective classes alongside classes for local students. 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.

By John “Bing” Huang, founder of Bing’s Academy · Updated

Bing’s Academy is independent of the school. Every figure here is from a public source, named under each section.

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How could your child get in?

Pick the year your child is in now (2026).
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30 selective places in Year 7.

The selective stream is a set of classes for students offered a selective place, most of them through the Selective test in Year 6. Only a small number of later places come up each year.

Year 730 selective places, through the Selective test
Years 8–10Only a small number of places each year
Year 11The school’s page doesn’t say
What the school says

What the school says: “Only a small number of places are available each year.” The school’s website, read 28 October 2026

Worth knowing
  • For places in Years 8 to 10, Karabar asks for the Department’s application form, your child’s last two school reports, and short statements from both your child and you.
  • Only the selective stream is selective. The HSC results, Band 6 counts and student numbers on this page cover the whole school.

Two ways in, for places starting in 2028.

Year 7 places go through the Department’s Selective test. Selective places in Years 8 to 10 go through the school directly.

Nov 2026DecJan 2027FebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOct
Year 7 entryYear 7 in 2028: children in Year 5 now
Apply online5 Nov to 15 Feb Selective test13 or 14 May OffersAugust
Years 8 to 10 entryYears 8 to 10 in 2028: children in Years 6 to 8 now
Apply to Karabarask the school for dates

The Year 7 dates are the Department’s official dates. The school hasn’t published its dates for Years 8 to 10. Ask the school.

Who runs it, fees and the school’s website

Year 7 entry

Who runs it
The NSW Department of Education, for all selective schools
Score needed
Not published. It changes every year.
The test
Done on a computer, in Year 6, in four parts: reading, mathematical reasoning, thinking skills and writing (our Selective test guide)
Late applications
Not accepted
Who can apply
Families living in NSW by the start of the school year. Conditions may apply if your child isn’t an Australian citizen or permanent resident, or a New Zealand citizen.

Years 8 to 10 entry

Who runs it
Karabar High School, for its selective stream
What it involves
The Department’s form, the last two school reports, and half-page statements from the student and a parent
Test
Not named on the school’s page
Current students
The school doesn’t say whether students in its other classes can apply: ask.
Who can apply
Families living in NSW by the start of the school year. Conditions may apply if your child isn’t an Australian citizen or permanent resident, or a New Zealand citizen.
School website
Karabar High School’s website

Source: NSW Department of Education (Year 7; who can apply); Karabar High School’s website, read 28 October 2026 (Years 8 to 10).

Above the NSW average in all 16 subjects listed.

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. The marks cover every Year 12 student at Karabar, whichever classes they were in.

Whose results are these? The school’s website describes its selective stream as running in Years 7 to 10. In Years 11 and 12 there are no separate selective classes, so these HSC results are the whole year group’s: students from the selective stream and everyone else.
Year 7Year 8Year 9Year 10Year 11Year 12
Selective classesYears 7 to 10
Whole year groupYears 11 and 12
The HSCYear 12
Karabar High School · HSC 2025 · whole schoolAverage mark out of 100, Year 12
The NSW average includes every student in NSW who took the subject.

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.

6 Band 6 results in 2025, down 7 on 2024.

A Band 6 is the top result in an HSC subject. Here is what the count tells you, and what it doesn’t.

About this count
The school says its selective classes are for Years 7 to 10, so these counts are for the whole Year 12 group: students from the selective stream and everyone else. The selective stream takes 30 students a year in Year 7, in a school of 723. The counts cover every Year 12 student.
What the count does and doesn’t tell you
What it is
A mark of 90 or more out of 100 in one subject. In Extension subjects the top band is called E4, and the counts here include E4s.
Where it comes from
NESA, which runs the HSC, lists the students who get one, with their school.
What it misses
One student with three Band 6s counts three times. It also tells you nothing about students who got under 90.
  • 6 students got at least one Band 6 in 2025.
  • No All-round Achievers in 2025: none had a Band 6 in 10 or more units of study.

Source: NESA’s HSC merit lists, 2021 to 2025, counted by Bing’s Academy. The counts cover the whole school, not only the selective stream. These counts are shown on their own. We don’t rank or compare schools by results.

723 students, with more boys than girls.

Students, 2025 (whole school)
723: 389 boys and 334 girls Between 51% and 54% boys every year since 2022.
Attendance
79.4% of school days, Semester 1 2025Average for NSW public schools, Years 7 to 12: 83.7%
After Year 12
36% of the 2025 Year 12 group went on to universityThe school’s own count, in its annual report
Home language
16% of students speak a language other than English at home, or have a parent who does
Getting there
A school in Queanbeyan, with local busesPlan a trip (opens in a new tab)
Address
84 Donald Rd, Queanbeyan NSW 2620 · Open in Google Maps (opens in a new tab)

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.

Before you apply.

Does Karabar High School use HAST?

Its page doesn’t name a test for Years 8 to 10. Ask the school how it chooses students.

How many Year 7 places are there?

30 selective places in Year 7: 15 for boys and 15 for girls. From the Department’s list (read 28 October 2026).

Is the whole school selective?

No. Only the selective stream is. The figures on this page cover the whole school.

What mark do you need to get in?

The Department doesn’t publish one. It changes every year, depending on who applies.

Aiming for Karabar?

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 joining later.

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