At North Sydney Boys, which was ranked third in last year’s HSC results, students travel from Erskine Park in the city’s west, a 56-kilometre one-way trip, as well as from Gymea and Peakhurst in the south and Glenfield in the south-west. Each one-way trip is at least 30 kilometres. Sydney Boys High in Moore Park has students who travel almost 50 kilometres each way from Ingleburn and Minto, as well as from Westmead, Blacktown and Baulkham Hills, while at Hornsby Girls, students live as far away as Umina Beach, some 63 kilometres away. The data, obtained by the Herald using freedom-of-information laws, reveals the extreme distances students are prepared to travel just to attend a selective school.

Mr Stokes said it was unfortunate that some families felt students needed to “travel a couple of hours each way to get to a selective school”. He said there was merit in opening up selective schools to local enrolments and providing more local opportunities for selective classes in comprehensive schools. “In the same way, perhaps those students losing hours a day sitting in a car or on a bus or train might be better off encouraged to go to their local high school,” Mr Stokes said. “Teachers and principals are equipped to cater to the full range of needs in all schools, from students who need additional help in some areas to students who need to be challenged more to remain engaged." This year almost 15,000 students sat the highly competitive selective schools entrance test, vying for about 4200 spots at the state’s fully and partially selective schools.

Stephen Greaves, chair in transport management at Sydney University’s Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, said “freedom of choice in schooling” meant students were travelling vast distances to selective and private schools, and were often driven by their parents. “We know that traffic increases by about 5 to 10 per cent when school is in session, but it actually feels almost twice as bad because of the exponential growth,” Professor Greaves said. “With selective schools and private schools, there are often before or after school activities which are difficult to access by the school bus, and there is also the added issue of students carrying so much more to school whether that be sporting equipment or laptops. “Families are willing to travel phenomenal distances if they think their child will get a better education and for a range of reasons they are often prepared to drive them.” The data also shows that some Sydney students are travelling significant distances, from West Ryde, Hunters Hill and Eastwood, to Gosford High in order to attend a selective school.