The minimum entry scores for most of the top selective schools have increased significantly, with students required to achieve up to 16 points more than the previous cohort in the entry test that began to be overhauled this year.

The minimum score required to gain entry into James Ruse Agricultural High School, which has topped the HSC for the past 23 years, has reached 250 for the first time, up nine points from last year and nearly 20 points higher than in 2015.

The lowest minimum score remained unchanged from previous years, with students required to score 160 points to gain a place in the selective streams at Armidale, Auburn Girls, Karabar and Kooringal high schools.

Students can score a maximum of 300 points in the NSW Department of Education's selective school placement test, of which a maximum of 100 points come from the student's scaled school assessment score and 200 points are derived from the scaled test mark.