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In this High School Guide, we profile North Sydney Boys High School - one of NSW's best performing high schools in the HSC.
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Want to know how North Sydney Boys maintains its consistently high HSC rankings? In this overview, we look at its history, famous alumni, and the experience of past students.
We’ve created this Guide to provide information to parents and students so they can make an informed decision about applying for North Sydney Boys High School.
North Sydney Boys High School is an academically selective public school situated in Crows Nest. The school is built on the land of the Cammeraygal people of the Eora Nation, who are its Traditional Custodians.
Up to 150 students are admitted into year 7 through the Selective High Schools Test, while a smaller portion of students gain entrance in years 8 to 11 by directly applying to the school.
In 1912, North Sydney Public School established an intermediate high school section enrolling both males and females. Then, it was located on Blue Street where Greenwood Plaza currently stands.
In order to better facilitate its high school students, the school was expanded onto two separate sites as North Sydney Girls High School and North Sydney Boys High School in 1914 and 1915 respectively. The boys’ school was relocated to its current site on Falcon Street, which is what inspired the falcon on its logo.
The first headmaster was Nimrod Greenwood and was succeeded by Charles Rattray Smith in 1915, who went to go head Sydney High School in 1918. Over the past 5 years, as of 2021, North Sydney Boys High School has ranked in the top 3 of NSW high schools for HSC performance.
Inspired by the street that the school is located on, Falcon Street, the alumni of North Sydney Boys High School are known as “Old Falconians”.
North Sydney Boys High School is responsible for producing some significant public figures in public service, academia, science, business and sport.
| Alumni | Contribution |
| Richard Conti | Judge of Federal Court of Australia |
| Frank Kitto | Justice of High Court, Chancellor of University of New England |
| Ted McWhinney | Canadian academic lawyer, Professor of International Law at Simon Fraser University, former Member of Canadian Parliament, authority on space law and constitutional law |
| Alumni | Contribution |
| Peter Coleman | Leader of the NSW Opposition (1977–1978), editor of The Bulletin |
| Michael Richardson | Shadow Minister for the Environment |
| Peter Baume | Federal Health Minister (1982), Chancellor of Australian National University (1994–2005) |
| Alumni | Contribution |
| Raewyn Connell | Sociologist, Visiting Professor of Australian Studies at Harvard, advisor to UNESCO and UNO initiatives relating men, boys and masculinities to gender equality and peacemaking (her work is translated into 13 languages) |
| John J. Furedy | Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto (1975–2005), President of the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship, co-wrote Theories and Applications in the Detection of Deception: A Psychophysiological and International Perspective |
| Richard Bryant | Scientia Professor of Psychology at the University of New South Wales, Director of the Traumatic Stress Clinic, Appointed Companion of the Order of Australia for his work in Indigenous and refugee mental health, and as an adviser to government and international organisations |
| Alumni | Contribution |
| Andrew Vern-Barnett | Pioneered care and treatment of autistic children in Australia, first chairman of the Autistic Children’s Association |
| Leo Radom | Professor of Chemistry at the University of Sydney and Australian National University, awarded Schrödinger Medal 1994, H G Smith Medal 1988 and Rennie Medal 1977 |
| Robert Clancy | Inventor of the vaccine against bronchitis, Professor of Discipline of Immunology and Microbiology at the University of Newcastle, author of The Mapping of Terra Australis. |
| Alumni | Contribution |
| Peter Overton | Television journalist, presenter for Nine News |
| Kenneth G. Hall | First Australian to win an Oscar (1942), awarded for documentary Kokoda Front Line |
| John Polson | Founded Tropfest (the biggest short-film festival in the world), director of Hide and Seek, Flash Forward, Without a Trace, Fringe, The Mentalist, The Good Wife and Happy Town |
| Alumni | Contribution |
| Allan Border | Australian Test Cricket Captain, holds the world record for the number of consecutive Test appearances and the number of Tests as captain, Australian of the Year in 1989 |
| Ian Craig | Youngest Australian to play Test cricket (17 years 239 days) and the youngest Australian Test cricket captain (22 years) |
| David Hawkins | Three-time gold medallist for 220 yards breaststroke at 1950 Empire Games, Semi-finalist at Helsinki Olympics 1952, Lovett-Learned Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School |
| John Treloar | Finalist at Helsinki Olympics 1952 for 100 Metres Sprint; gymnasium at North Sydney Boys High School in named after him |
How many students go to North Sydney Boys? What’s the student diversity like? How does it perform? Let’s take a look.
The total number of students enrolled had stayed relatively consistent over the years.
| Year | Total number of students |
| 2019 | 915 |
| 2018 | 927 |
| 2017 | 927 |
| 2016 | 923 |
North Sydney Boys High School has ranked in the top 3 over the past five years. The full list of school rankings can be found here.
| Year | Rank | B6/E4 results | Unique B6/E4 students | State ranks | Success rate (%) |
| 2020 | 3 | 526 | 151 | 8 | 59.64% |
| 2019 | 3 | 612 | 182 | 14 | 62.70% |
| 2018 | 2 | 561 | 177 | 17 | 58.13% |
| 2017 | 3 | 579 | 183 | 16 | 59.14% |
| 2016 | 3 | 581 | 189 | 13 | 59.23% |
Note: If you want to learn more about what high school rankings, including what Unique B6/E4 students and success rates mean, check out our Beginner’s Guide to High School Rankings.
| Faculty | Subjects |
| English |
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| Maths |
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| Science |
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| Creative and performing arts |
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| HSIE |
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| Technological and Applied Studies |
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| Languages | All subjects offered in Continuers and Extension:
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Now that you know a little bit about North Sydney Boys, do you want to attend it? Well, in the next article, we go through the entrance requirements for North Sydney Boys High School! Read now.
All of our information is sourced from the NSW Department of Education website: North Sydney Boys High School.
Written by Matrix Education
Matrix is Sydney's No.1 High School Tuition provider. Come read our blog regularly for study hacks, subject breakdowns, and all the other academic insights you need.
© Matrix Education and www.matrix.edu.au, 2023. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Matrix Education and www.matrix.edu.au with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
