A partially selective public high school in Tempe, in Sydney’s inner west, 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.
Bing’s Academy is independent of the school. Every figure here is from a public source, named under each section.
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The selective stream is a set of classes for students offered a selective place, most of them through the Selective test in Year 6. Later places depend on vacancies and on meeting the school’s academic requirements.
What the school says: “Years 8-12 selective enrolments are subject to places available and the meeting of academic requirements.” The school’s enrolment policy, read 28 October 2026
Year 7 places go through the Department’s Selective test. Selective places in Years 8 to 11 go through the school directly.
The Year 7 dates are the Department’s official dates. The school hasn’t published its dates for Years 8 to 11. Ask the school.
| Question | Selective stream | Enrichment stream |
|---|---|---|
| Who chooses | For Year 7, the Department, by the Selective test | Tempe |
| Test | Yes: the Selective test, on a computer in Year 6 | None mentioned: the school reviews a portfolio. |
| Who can apply | Families living in NSW | Local students, or families who have applied to enrol in Tempe’s mainstream classes (the school’s other classes). The school is over its enrolment cap, so families from outside the area are only considered for a waiting list. |
| How to apply | Apply online to the Department | A form emailed to the school, with a 300-word statement written by your child and their Year 5 report and NAPLAN (the national literacy and numeracy tests in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9) results. The school reviews the portfolio for academic achievement, strengths and learning behaviours. |
| When | 5 November 2026 to 15 February 2027, for Year 7 in 2028 (official) | Last round, for Year 7 in 2027: applications closed on Friday 27 March 2026, and families were told in early June (the school’s two copies of the form say 3 and 4 June). |
The dates for the classes are last round’s; the next round isn’t announced yet.
Source: NSW Department of Education (Year 7; who can apply); Tempe 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. The marks cover every Year 12 student at Tempe, whichever classes they were in.
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. 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.
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. A placement panel considers each application and its evidence; no test is named.
60 selective places in Year 7: 30 for boys and 30 for girls. From the Department’s list (read 28 October 2026).
No. Only the selective stream is. The figures on this page cover the whole school.
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 joining later.
