THE SELECTIVE SCHOOL TUTORING BLOG

Looking to get in to Manly Selective? This article will outline the requirements and how best to prepare for the selective school exam.

Manly Selective High School is located at 138 Abbott Rd, North Curl Curl and is a co-ed school for students in years 7-12. It is part of the Northern Beaches Secondary Campus and is a consistent top 10 performer in the HSC.

As the only selective high school on the Northern Beaches, Manly Selective is very hard to get in to. Thousands of students apply and only about 120 are accepted, so it is crucial that students go through a comprehensive preparation program in the lead up to the exam.

In 2019, the minimum required score to get in to Manly Selective School was 219 out of 300. This is the 11th highest required score in the state. You can view all entry scores here.

This score is made up of both internal school marks and test scores. The test accounts for 200 of the marks, of which English and Maths count for 50 each, and general ability counts for 100 marks. The internal school marks include both English and Maths for 50 each.

How can I get my child in to Manly Selective School?

Getting in to Manly Selective High School is not easy, and even the brightest students struggle without an adequate preparation program. But the good news is that we are here to help!

Alchemy Tuition has been assisting students with selective school preparation for more than a decade and has thousands of success stories to show for it. In 2018 our success rate was 92% – while the state average success rate is only 30%. Working with an Alchemy Tutor triples your child’s likelihood of success.

Our program is one-on-one, which means every lesson is tailored around your child’s unique needs. We come to you at a time that works for you, and one of our selective-school accredited tutors will work closely with your child to ensure they walk in to the exam with confidence and come out with their head held high.

Our selective school tuition is affordable, contract-free and flexible. You can view further details about our program and offering here.

See why we have more verified 5-star reviews on Google than anywhere else. We hire the best tutors and treat them like family, which makes them go the extra mile – resulting in incredible results amongst our students and families.

At Alchemy we care about more than just marks. We want to see your child come alive to their full potential. It would be an honour to partner with you, help your child get in to Manly Selective School and ultimately bring out the gold that we know is within them.

Get started with your first session here.

Looking for practice papers to prepare for the selective school exam? We’ve got them! Download your Thinking Skills & Mathematical Reasoning papers today and get practicing. Check out a free sample here!

Are you targeting a specific selective school for your child? This article shows the minimum entry score for every selective high school in NSW in 2019, how these scores are calculated and what you can do to ensure your child makes it in to a selective high school.

Year after year, NSW selective schools continue to rank in the top 10 performing schools in the HSC. These schools offer an opportunity for gifted students to showcase their talent and thrive in a competitive environment that prioritises hard work and dedication.

There are 17 fully selective high schools in NSW, 26 ‘partially’ selective schools (that will have at least one selective class in each grade) and 4 agricultural selective high schools.

In 2019, 14,501 students attempted entry for 4,526 selective school seats; meaning that about 70% of students that attempted the exam were unsuccessful. Selective school entry is fiercely competitive with students often starting their preparation from as young as second grade! Below we will show you how you can make sure your child is one of the 30% that achieves success!

The minimum entry scores in 2019 were:

How is the entry score calculated?

The entry scores takes in to account both internal school marks and performance in the challenging selective school exam.

The total is out of 300, with 100 of that coming from internal marks and 200 from the exam. Within the exam, English and Mathematics are worth 50 each and General Ability is worth 100. Internal marks are comprised of mid-year report results and NAPLAN results, and include 50 marks for both English and Mathematics.

How can I get my child in to a selective school?

Alchemy Tuition have been helping students prepare for the selective school exam for more than a decade with thousands of success stories to show for it.

Unfortunately due to the extreme competition in the exam, natural intelligence is no longer enough – a comprehensive preparation program is a necessity to achieve success in the exam. A recent article in the Daily Telegraph revealed that 95% of students in one selective school had engaged a tutor in the lead up to the exam, with some starting work with a tutor as early as second grade.

Our selective school preparation is one-on-one and is designed to target your child’s unique strengths, weaknesses and learning styles. It covers all four components of the exam with the ultimate goal of your child walking in to that exam with confidence and leaving with their head held high that they will be going to the selective school of their choice next year.

We come to you and work around your busy schedule. All our selective school tutors go through our selective school accreditation ensuring that they have the skills to effectively prepare your child across all components of the exam. Our tuition is affordable, contract-free and flexible. You can download our course prospectus here to learn more about our tutors, program and how we work.

In 2018, our success rate was 93% – which is more than triple the state average. Get started today and see why we have more verified 5-star reviews on Google than anywhere else.

Alchemy is all about bringing out the gold in the students we work with. We care about so much more than just marks. We want to see your child grow to their full potential, and we carefully choose our tutors to align with this.

Book your first session here.

A recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald talks about a proposed overhaul of the selective school entry exam due to coaching concerns.

The article speaks of how the current system favours wealthy families who can afford coaching over those that can’t – creating an imbalance of students in selective schools.

This is absolutely true. Selective school tutoring is now not just a benefit, but a requirement to succeed in the exam – because if you don’t have it, you are disadvantaged against students who do. The article doesn’t provide stats on how many successful students received coaching in some form, but it is my own experience that most do.

The government’s review will look at replacing the selective schools test with “computer-adaptive IQ tests that assess cognitive skills, student work portfolios” or “problem-solving tasks that rely more on higher-order and critical thinking skills”.

The issue here is that there is always going to be a way to prepare. If they need to test all students fairly, it is going to be impossible to do this without allowing students to prepare for the test without coaching. Let’s say they base it on recommendation from teachers, followed by interviews by admission staff (the only way I could really see them overcoming tutoring influencing outcomes), there are still students that will get coached on what to say in the interview and how to impress the interviewers, plus additional pressure on the teachers from parents pushing to get their referral.

The reality is that when the outcome is important, not all can be equal.

I would recommend that if they want to balance the socioeconomic make up of selective schools, they reserve a number of spots at each school based on household income. It is in no way a perfect plan, but it is probably the only way of achieving what appears to be their goal. That being said, a low household income does not mean they still won’t be willing to make sacrifices to pay for coaching – especially when they know they are more likely to get a place that is reserved for them. I would say that 50% of the students I have worked with over the year have been single parent families, not wealthy families.

They say that any changes are still a long way off, so until then it is business as usual.

If you have a child attempting to gain entry to a selective school ensure you have the right coach to prepare them for the selective school test. Get in touch and let me help them be one of the fortunate few to gain entry to a selective high school.

The selective school entrance exam is really hard. Like really hard. And not just for year 6 students. Most adults would struggle with many of the questions in the exam.

They do this on purpose; to make it hard for even the brightest of students so that they essentially create outliers.

The exam is also very clever in how it is written. They intentionally write questions that are virtually impossible for a year 6 student to answer, but it then becomes about how they can determine the most appropriate answer to the question.

Let me give you an example from a recent exam paper:

Three of the following words have similar meanings. Which word has a different meaning?

A. SCORN

B. RIDICULE

C. CONTEMPT

D. RECOGNITION

I feel like I didn’t even know the difference between contempt and content until after High School!

Whilst you may be able to work this one out (D is the right answer), there is no denying that it is super challenging for a 12/13 year old student – and I think this is an easy example!

The selective school exam tests a students ability to think logically – so that even when they don’t know the correct answer, they can use their skills of deduction to determine the best answer.

One of the greatest challenges for students attempting the selective school test is that they are very unlikely to receive help from their classroom teacher. Teachers are so busy trying to keep 30 students engaged that they can’t redirect attention for the 1 or 2 students that have a shot at the exam.

They also can’t go it alone. There are too many challenges in the preparation process – they need someone to guide them through.

That is why I really like the term Selective School Coaching – because like any good coach, we take the natural talent that is already there and we refine it. We show them how to best utilise the skills they have and when to use different parts of their brains.

If you are considering a selective high school for your child, they need an experienced coach for the selective school exam. It is hard. Really hard. Natural talent won’t get them through it alone. Get in touch today to start the conversation about how I can get them prepared for the selective school test – I maintain a 100% success record with my students since 2005! Learn more or book your child’s first session

NSW Selective Schools consistently fill the top 5 spots in the HSC. Whilst one school has dominated every year for the last 26 years, there is always an interesting battle between the next 4 schools for the title of highest performing (after James Ruse of course…).

The success rate of a school is determined by the number of band 6’s received in total (a band 6 is a mark of 90+ in a subject). This means, total number of Band 6’s received, divided by number of exams sat (each student will sit around 5 or 6 exams). Whilst this usually means a high ATAR (the rank that Universities look at), ATARs are not made publicly available so the number of band 6’s achieved is the best metric we can use.

Here are how the top ten selective schools ranked in the 2016 HSC:

#1. James Ruse Agricultural High School, 73% success rate (773 Band 6’s out of 1058 exams – impressive!)

#2. Baulkham Hills High School, 62% success rate

#3. North Sydney Boys High School, 59% success rate

#4. North Sydney Girls High School, 52% success rate

#5. Hornsby Girls High School, 51.5% success rate

#6. Sydney Boys High School, 50% success rate

#7. Manly Selective High School, 49% success rate

#8. Normanhurst Boys High School, 46% success rate

#9. Sydney Girls High School, 43% success rate

#10. St George Girls High School, 42% success rate.

It is worth noting that this just compares selective schools, and is not their overall ranking across the state (although 1-5 were the top 5 performing schools in the state). The top ranked private school was Sydney Grammar School, with a success rate of 50%, and the top ranked non-selective public school was Sefton High School, with a success rate of 24%. It shows the incredible results that selective schools achieve, but more than just the marks, the importance of self-discipline and motivation taught to the students. Considering the significant difference of the cost of a selective school vs private school, it is clear why entry is so competitive each year.

If you are considering a selective high school for your child, they need a comprehensive preparation program for the selective school exam. It is hard. Really hard. Natural talent won’t get them through it alone. Get in touch today to start the conversation about how I can get them prepared for the selective school test – I maintain a 100% success record with my students since 2005! Learn more or book your child’s first session.

There are 46 selective schools in NSW, however only 21 of them are fully selective – the remainder incorporate a selective stream in each year group.

The fully selective high schools in NSW are:

Baulkham Hills High School, Baulkham Hills

Caringbah High School, Caringbah

Fort Street High School, Petersham

Girraween High School, Girraween

Gosford High School, Gosford

Hornsby Girls High School, Hornsby

Merewether High School, Broadmeadow

Normanhurst Boys High School, Normanhurst

North Sydney Boys High School, Crows Nest

North Sydney Girls High School, Crows Nest

NBSC Manly Selective Campus, Curl Curl

Penrith High School, Penrith

Smiths Hill High School, Wollongong

St George Girls High School, Kogarah

Sydney Boys High School, Surry Hills

Sydney Girls High School, Surry Hills

Sydney Technical High School, Bexley

There are also 4 agricultural selective schools:

James Ruse Agricultural High School, Carlingford

Hurlstone Agricultural High School, Glenfield

Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School, Calala

Yanco Agricultural High School, Yanco

Competition to gain entry to these school is fierce – which can be further compounded by geographic isolation, like when there is only one selective school in a region, i.e. Manly Selective on the Northern Beaches, Gosford High School on the Central Coast etc.

That being said, it is clear why. Selective schools constantly fill the top 5 performing schools in the HSC, with James Ruse Agricultural High School being the number one performer for the last 26 years.

If you are considering a selective high school for your child, they need a comprehensive preparation program for the selective school exam. It is hard. Really hard. Natural talent won’t get them through it alone. Get in touch today to start the conversation about how I can get them prepared for the selective school test – I maintain a 100% success record with my students since 2005! Learn more or book your child’s first session.