ONE in five selective high school students accepted into the University of Sydney is failing first-year subjects, new figures show. However, selective high school students still outperform students from other high schools.

The university has released for the first time the performance of its first-year students, categorising them by school background.

Marie Carroll, the university's director of academic affairs, said students from selective schools performed better overall, with 83 per cent passing all subjects last year.

Those from disadvantaged schools compared favourably, with 71 per cent passing all subjects. This was the same as the success rate of students from comprehensive government and independent high schools.

However, Professor Carroll said the inability of selective school students to transfer their success to university highlighted a wider problem.