Rosalind Walsh, an expert in gifted education and a proponent of selective schools, called on the NSW Department of Education to reintroduce catchments for selective schools. Zones for selective schools were dropped in the late 1980s, and dozens more selective schools were established over the following two decades, in an attempt to give all students access. But a recent review found they were dominated by students from advantaged backgrounds. "The idea behind keeping selectives unzoned was so that there was equity," said Dr Walsh. "What it's really done is create a hierarchy. Selective schools are always saying they should reflect their local community. If they went back to zoning ... I think it would make a big difference." Associate Professor Christina Ho from the University of Technology Sydney, a critic of the selective school system, also called for catchments, saying the deregulated system led to highly educated families dominating selective schools across the city at the expense of disadvantaged families.

"A catchment would go a long way to make these schools more equitably accessible to people," Dr Ho said. "These are the kids who have some of the more over-scheduled weekly routines. They are probably already spending hours and hours in extra study and, when you add the hours of commuting, it doesn't leave them much time to be kids." Dr Ho also said the long commutes undermined the rationale for a new selective school in south-west Sydney, announced by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian this year. "It's pointless to site a selective school in a disadvantaged area when no local kids have the chance to get in," she said. Some argue zoning would stop students from the outer suburbs from accessing the benefits of historic schools such as Sydney Boys High, with its well-connected alumni (including Prime Minister Scott Morrison) and involvement in exclusive sporting competitions. "You are going to both limit offerings and availability if you put a 100 per cent catchment rule down," said Melinda Gindy, the president of the Gifted Families Support Group.

But Dr Walsh said the deregulated system prevented suburban selective schools from reaching their full potential. "In 20 years' time, [outer suburban] schools are still going to have the kids that didn't get into Sydney Boys," she said. Loading Professor Jae Yup Jared Jung, an expert in gifted education at the University of NSW, said families should not be denied choice because every school offered something different. "If it is the case that attending their preferred school means travelling long distances, so be it," he said. "We live in a society where choice should be available, and not every school will be suitable for every student." Gary Chan, 17, who finished school this year, travelled an hour and a half each way between his home in Auburn and North Sydney Boys High. Many of his primary school friends went to Fort Street High, also selective, and if he had joined them he would have saved an hour each day.

"What interested us initially was the amount of technology [at North Sydney Boys], versus typical schools in my area," he said. "It was better equipped." Gary passed the time on the train by playing games. Bruno Wu, who attended Fort Street High until last year, also travelled an hour and a half each way, even though Caringbah High, also selective, is 20 minutes from his home in Menai. "The commute was pretty bad; three hours of sitting on buses and trains and stuff," he said. "You could never really [study]. It's too crowded sometimes, and more often than not I was pretty tired. The trains are usually packed to the brim. "I'd go to the library before I went home - I couldn't really concentrate when I got home. But I'd still pick [Fort Street] if I had to pick again." A spokesman for the NSW Department of Education said the department was working on "a range of initiatives" that would enhance the selective high school system.