Bing's Academy
Selective schools › Partially selective › Leichhardt Campus

Sydney Secondary College Leichhardt Campus

A partially selective public school in Leichhardt, in Sydney’s inner west, for Years 7 to 10. For Years 11 and 12, students usually move to Blackwattle Bay Campus, the college’s senior campus in Glebe. 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.

Book a free consultation

start here

How could your child get in?

Pick the year your child is in now (2026).
Book a free consultation

60 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. This campus runs Years 7 to 10; Years 11 and 12 are at Blackwattle Bay Campus.

Year 760 selective places, through the Selective test
Years 8–10When a place is free, decided by a placement panel
Years 11–12At Blackwattle Bay Campus, the senior campus in Glebe
What the school says

What the Department says: “Sydney Secondary College Balmain and Leichhardt campuses offer places in Years 7 to 10. Students from these campuses will generally proceed to Sydney Secondary College Blackwattle Bay Campus for Years 11 and 12.” The Department’s list of selective high schools, read 28 October 2026

Worth knowing
  • Leichhardt Campus says it manages Years 8 to 10 selective entry, including vacancies, assessments and placement decisions.
  • Blackwattle Bay’s pages disagree on how to apply for Year 11: one says apply directly to the school, another says selective students apply through the Department. Ask Blackwattle Bay.
  • The HSC results and Band 6 counts are Blackwattle Bay Campus’s, for all its Year 12 students. Student numbers and attendance are this campus’s.

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 Leichhardt Campusask 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
Sydney Secondary College Leichhardt Campus, which says it manages Years 8 to 10 selective entry
What it involves
The Department’s general form with school reports and NAPLAN (the national literacy and numeracy tests in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9) reports, considered by a placement panel
Fee
Not published 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
Sydney Secondary College Leichhardt Campus’ website

Source: NSW Department of Education (Year 7; who can apply); Sydney Secondary College Leichhardt Campus’s website, read 28 October 2026 (Years 8 to 10).

Above the NSW average in all 36 subjects listed.

Students from this campus usually move to Blackwattle Bay Campus for Years 11 and 12, so these are Blackwattle Bay’s results, for all its Year 12 students, who come from more than one campus. 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.

Sydney Secondary College Blackwattle Bay Campus · HSC 2025 · whole campusAverage 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.

At Blackwattle Bay: 265 Band 6 results in 2025. The most in five years.

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

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.
  • 147 students got at least one Band 6 in 2025.
  • 6 students were All-round Achievers: a Band 6 in 10 or more units of study.
  • 3 state ranks: equal 2nd (2 students) in French Beginners and 5th in Industrial Technology.

Source: NESA’s HSC merit lists, 2021 to 2025, counted by Bing’s Academy. The counts are Blackwattle Bay Campus’s, for all its Year 12 students. These counts are shown on their own. We don’t rank or compare schools by results.

784 students, with more boys than girls.

Students, 2025 (Leichhardt Campus, all students)
784: 480 boys and 304 girls Between 58% and 61% boys every year since 2022.
Attendance
89.4% of school days, Semester 1 2025This campus has Years 7 to 10 only. The NSW average for public schools, Years 7 to 12, is 83.7%, so the two don’t compare directly.
Years 11 and 12
At Blackwattle Bay Campus, the college’s senior campus in GlebeThis campus runs Years 7 to 10
Home language
38% of students speak a language other than English at home, or have a parent who does
Getting there
Leichhardt North light rail stop (L1 line), a 9‑minute walkPlan a trip (opens in a new tab)
Address
Balmain Rd, Leichhardt NSW 2040 · 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 Sydney Secondary College Leichhardt Campus use HAST?

Its pages don’t name a test for Years 8 to 10. A placement panel considers each application with school reports and NAPLAN.

How many Year 7 places are there?

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

Where do students go for Years 11 and 12?

Usually to Blackwattle Bay Campus, the college’s senior campus in Glebe. Ask the college whether your child needs to apply and whether their selective place continues. The HSC results on this page are Blackwattle Bay’s.

What mark do you need to get in?

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

Aiming for Leichhardt Campus?

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.

Book a free consultation