About this tool

Disclaimer: This tool provides estimates only. It is not affiliated with NAPLAN, ACARA, or the NSW Department of Education. School cutoff scores are based on community-reported historical data and may not reflect current entry requirements.

How the estimation works

The estimator uses your child's NAPLAN scores across five domains (Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation, and Numeracy) to calculate an estimated placement score on a 0–300 scale.

For Opportunity Classes (Year 3 NAPLAN): The English domains (Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar) are averaged to form an English composite, which is weighted at 40%. Numeracy is weighted at 60%. This reflects the emphasis on mathematical reasoning in the OC placement test.

For Selective High Schools (Year 5 NAPLAN): English composite is weighted at 30%, Numeracy at 30%, and an estimated Thinking Skills score (derived from the average of English and Numeracy) at 40%. This mirrors the new Selective High School Placement Test structure.

The raw composite is mapped from the NAPLAN 0–1000 scale to the placement test 0–300 scale. A margin of ±15 points (OC) or ±18 points (Selective) is added to account for yearly variation and the gap between NAPLAN performance and placement test outcomes.

Understanding the tiers

Safety

Your estimated score range is above the school's typical cutoff range. These are schools where your child is likely competitive based on NAPLAN performance alone.

Target

Your estimated score range overlaps with the school's typical cutoff range. These are realistic options where placement test performance will be the deciding factor.

Reach

Your estimated score is below the school's typical cutoff, but within a reasonable range. A strong placement test performance could make these schools competitive.

Data sources & accuracy

School lists are sourced from the NSW Department of Education (via official publications), Wikipedia, and community education sites. All 76 OC schools and 44 selective high schools listed are officially recognised by the Department.

Cutoff scores are community estimates. The NSW Department of Education does not publish minimum entry scores. The cutoff ranges shown are based on data scraped from:

Mockstar — OC school rankings with tier-based cutoff ranges
SelectiveExams — Selective school cutoff score estimates
Wikipedia — Official school lists and locations
Community consensus — Parent forums and tutoring centre reports

Every school card is labelled with an “Estimated” badge and a confidence range (e.g. ±5, ±10, ±15) to indicate the degree of uncertainty.

Cutoff scores can vary significantly from year to year depending on:

The number of applicants
The difficulty of the placement test
School assessment score variations
Changes to the selection process

We recommend using this tool as a rough guide and verifying with school open days, tutoring centres, and the official NSW Department of Education placement information.

Privacy

All score processing happens entirely in your browser. No data is sent to any server, stored, or tracked. The share link simply encodes your scores in the URL parameters — no database involved.

FAQ

Why isn't there an exact cutoff for each school?

The NSW Department of Education does not publish minimum entry scores. Cutoffs vary every year based on the applicant pool and are only known retrospectively through community-collected data.

How accurate is this?

Our data is crowd-sourced and may be off by 5–15 points depending on the school and year. “Reach” estimates are the least reliable — they represent aspirational outcomes that would require exceptional placement test performance.

Can I submit updated cutoff data?

Not yet — this feature is in development. In future, parents who receive offers will be able to anonymously submit their scores and offer results to improve the dataset for everyone.

What about other states?

Currently this tool covers NSW only. Other states (VIC SEAL programs, QLD Selective Academies, WA GATE) may be added in future based on demand.