James Ruse Agricultural High School
Felton Rd, Carlingford NSW 2118
James Ruse Agricultural High School is a government secondary school in Carlingford, NSW for Years 7–12 with about 857 students. It is an agricultural selective school. Its ICSEA is 1,222, where the national average is 1000.
Teaching staff: ACARA School Profile 2025. Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). Terms
Attendance and enrolment
Enrolments by year, 2016–2025. Latest 857.
About this school, from public sources
Public online sources describe James Ruse Agricultural High School as a fully academically selective government secondary school in Carlingford, unique among NSW selective schools for its agricultural focus, including a working farm with livestock and crops alongside its academic curriculum. It is consistently reported as one of the top-performing schools in the state for HSC results, with high median ATAR outcomes referenced across multiple ranking and schools-guide sites over many years.
Often praised
- Top HSC/ATAR results statewide
- Selective academic entry
- Working farm and agriculture program
This note was generated from publicly available online sources (the school's website, official pages and online feedback) as at September 2026. It reflects what is said online, not an assessment by SchoolList AU or any government body, and it deliberately records only neutral and positive points. Confidence: medium. Verify anything important with the school. Report an inaccuracy.
NAPLAN
School-level NAPLAN results are published by ACARA on My School under terms that do not allow them to be reproduced here. See James Ruse Agricultural High School on My School · Why some data is missing
HSC 2025
Last 5 years
| Year | Band 6 / E4 results per Year 12 student | Band 6 / E4 results |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 4.46 | 705 |
| 2024 | 4.04 | 647 |
| 2023 | 3.78 | 597 |
| 2022 | 4.42 | 711 |
| 2021 | 4.44 | 710 |
Counts are derived from NESA's published merit lists and exclude students who opted out of publication. The per-student figure divides each year's count by that year's Year 12 enrolment from ACARA's August census, so it is approximate. NSW law does not permit ranking schools by results, so no rank or percentile is shown, apart from the permitted top-10% list, which this school is on.
Selective entry
James Ruse Agricultural High School is a agricultural selective school. Entry is by the state placement test in the year before starting; applications open early in the year. The department no longer publishes per-school minimum entry scores.
Location and nearby schools
Straight-line distances. List every school within 5 to 50 km.
| School | Suburb | Type | Distance | ICSEA | Students |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumberland High School | Carlingford | Public high school | 0.8 km | 1,060 | 1,172 |
| OneSchool Global NSW - Sydney | Oatlands | Independent k–12 / combined | 1.1 km | 980 | 283 |
| The King's School | North Parramatta | Independent k–12 / combined | 1.8 km | 1,163 | 2,150 |
| Carlingford High SchoolGifted class: Gifted class | Carlingford | Public high school | 1.8 km | 1,111 | 1,772 |
| St Patrick's Marist College | Dundas | Catholic high school | 2.5 km | 1,089 | 1,070 |
| Tara Anglican School for Girls | North Parramatta | Independent k–12 / combined | 2.6 km | 1,175 | 979 |
| Muirfield High SchoolGifted class: Gifted class | North Rocks | Public high school | 2.6 km | 1,082 | 836 |
| Redeemer Baptist School | North Parramatta | Independent k–12 / combined | 2.8 km | 1,141 | 549 |
Schools with a similar ICSEA in NSW
Same sector and type, ICSEA within 25 points. This is the comparison that separates teaching from postcode.
| School | Suburb | Type | Students | ICSEA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Beaches Secondary College Manly CampusFully | North Curl Curl | Public high school · 7-12 | 765 | 1,217 |
| Hornsby Girls High SchoolFully | Hornsby | Public high school · 7-12 | 720 | 1,209 |
| Normanhurst Boys High SchoolFully | Normanhurst | Public high school · 7-12 | 752 | 1,207 |
| Merewether High SchoolFully | Broadmeadow | Public high school · 7-12 | 1,071 | 1,206 |
| Baulkham Hills High SchoolFully | Baulkham Hills | Public high school · 7-12 | 1,222 | 1,203 |
| North Sydney Girls High SchoolFully | Crows Nest | Public high school · 7-12 | 911 | 1,203 |
About this data
- nsw-doe-master
- nsw-doe-selective
- acara-profile
- acara-enrolments-grade
- nsw-doe-attendance
- nsw-doe-enrolment-history
- nsw-nesa-hsc
Figures are from the latest published datasets and can lag the school by a year. Confirm enrolment rules and catchment boundaries with the school or department before relying on them.