Students are offered placement in opportunity classes on the basis of academic merit. Academic merit is based on the results of reading, mathematical reasoning and thinking skills tests in the Opportunity Class Placement Test.

For placement in 2024, students will be ranked in order of merit with special consideration being given to maintaining equity of access on the grounds of educational disadvantage, Aboriginal background, rural and remote status, and disability.

Age and Year

Students are usually in Year 4 at the time of applying and when sitting the test in 2023. They are usually born between 1 January 2013 and 31 July 2014. These students will be aged between 9 years and 5 months and 11 years at the time they start Year 5. If the child is out of this age range or in another school Year when the application is made, the selection committee will carefully check the reasons parents give. They may ask for more information, or for an interview with the parent and the child if he or she is very young, to determine whether there are special requirements the school can provide.

The selection committee may:

• decide not to accept students who are much older than the usual age range set out above
• consider that students doing the test for a second time have gained an unfair advantage from their previous test experience with the test
• decide not to accept students who are already in Year 5 in 2023 and who are seeking to repeat Year 5 in an opportunity class in 2024 even after the student sits the test.

The selection committee may also require evidence of consultation with the school principal if seeking acceleration from Year 3 in 2023 to Year 5 in 2024. They may also consider acceleration inappropriate for some students.

Residency requirements

A student's family must be living in NSW by the beginning of the school year of entry.

A student must be an Australian citizen, a permanent resident of Australia or a New Zealand citizen to enrol in an opportunity class.

Check the visa classes and subclasses schedule to determine your child's eligibility.

Information on Australian citizenship is available from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.

• Applicants who do not meet residency requirements at the time of applying - but expect to meet them before October when initial offers are made - can sit the Opportunity Class Placement Test but will not be offered a place in an opportunity class unless permanent residency has been granted.
• Applicants must show evidence of meeting residency requirements prior to being offered a place.
• Applicants who do not meet the residency requirements - including those who hold diplomatic visas - but who qualify for entry on academic grounds, can appeal if extenuating circumstances apply.
• Citizens of New Zealand living in NSW are eligible for opportunity class entry. Permanent residents of New Zealand are not.

School principals are required to check claims of residential status and citizenship against school records. All successful applicants will be required to show original documentation, such as a birth certificate, Australian Citizenship certificate or visa, before enrolment can be finalised by the school.

Find more information about interstate and overseas applications.

Residential address

A student's family must be living in NSW by the beginning of the 2024 school year. Applications from parents who continue to live outside NSW after the 2024 school year begins will be considered only if there are vacancies after all suitable applicants from NSW have been placed.

Offers will be cancelled if the placement was based on false or misleading information.

Choosing a school

Consider carefully the school choices and the order of school choices when you are choosing an opportunity class. You can change choices by logging in to your application and make changes up until Sunday 6 August 2023.

You cannot change your school choices after Sunday 6 August 2023 unless something unexpected and outside your control changes and you have documentary evidence. Any request for a change of school choices must be approved by the principal of the school with an opportunity class and/or the Unit Leader.

Changes of choice cannot normally be made after placement outcome information is released and you cannot transfer between primary schools with opportunity classes.

Where can I get further information?

The Unit updates information about opportunity class placement procedures regularly on this website.

Contact the Unit by:

• logging in to your application dashboard to send and receive messages and to upload documents
• Phone: 1300 880 367. The phone system has updates at key stages of placement. If you need help with English to make your enquiry please call the telephone interpreter service on 131450 and ask for an interpreter in your language. Tell the operator that you want to call 1300 880 367 and they will get an interpreter on the line to help you. You will not be charged for this service. You will need to give the application number and other identifying information when talking about a particular student
• Join the Facebook group for regular updates on the placement process. Note: This page is used mainly to provide information and not to respond to requests.
• Email: ssu@det.nsw.edu.au For email enquiries you should use the original email address used to register your application.

Ask your child's teacher if you want advice about whether or not your child might benefit from attending an opportunity class.