Our boarding school caters to high performing and gifted students from rural and remote areas. Facilities include spacious rooms, common rooms, access to sporting fields and onsite gym and a large dining and kitchen complex.
We have a Wellbeing Centre that offers health support for our students, with a registered nurse available from 7:30am to 11pm each day, with the capability of 24 hour support when needed.
The boarding school is an outstanding facility for students to expand and enhance their educational opportunities. It is home for students as they learn vital living skills. It brings city and country students together in a rural environment, only 40 minutes from the centre of Sydney.
Our new residential facility opened for student use in Term 3, 2024 and this has provided students with modern and spacious facilities. We encourage potential boarding students to contact the school for an opportunity to view the spaces and our facilities.
Boarding students have direct access to the farm, the dining room, sports field, tennis courts, music, technology and library facilities. Close to the centre of Australia’s biggest metropolis, students have easy access to a broad range of opportunities. Our brand new farm hub that will focus on high tech, intensive operations will open in early 2025.
The boarding school relies on a Wellbeing team currently coordinated by two boarding deputy principals, two head teachers welfare and a team of support staff. Each day we have a team of 5 staff working with our students along with support from Recreational Officer and Student Support Officer and Counselling team.
The boarding students share a great sense of pride in the school’s history and are committed to maintaining many of its proud traditions. These traditions include the school song and war cry, a love of learning, a belief in the importance of developing leadership skills and a commitment to the concept of the “Hurlstone family”. Student and staff leaders have a strong commitment to maintaining Hurlstone’s sense of history and a sense of future; these combine as the sources of pride and affection for students past and present.
Student leadership training is provided and the student role in the operation of the boarding school is significant. The student body is represented by the elected Boarder Council that works closely with the school executive in developing the best environment for our residents. Recreation activities are organised for boarders and academic tutors support boarding school students with their studies.
Our boarding school community enjoys a strong link between home and school and communication between families and school is maintained with the use of Sentral, REACH and Schoolbytes applications. We hold meetings twice a term (in weeks 3 & 8) between boarding executive staff and all families using our dedicated MS Teams platform. Student leaders provide student voice in the meetings reporting on activities and student morale. The meeting explores policy and processes and issues to strengthen the effectiveness of our boarding school in catering for student needs.
Our student academic results are exceptional. Enrolment into the boarding school is by a competitive examination. The High Performing Students Unit accepts applications for Year 7 with an examination for incoming students when in Year 5. The High Perfoming Student Unit has developed a process that enables early entry offers for Year 7 boarding students, applying for enrolment in Agricultural, residential high schools. Details of that process are available here. Entry examinations for all other years are held in August and enquiries can be made through the school office. For more information, access the enrolment page here.
For more information about boarding at Hurlstone Agricultural High school, download our Boarding School Handbook here.
Boarding School Expos 2025
Our Boarding School Senior Executive team will be sharing details of our boarding school and boarding school enrolment at the coming events
1. Dubbo - May 16 & 17
2. Griffith - June 19
3. Wagga Wagga - June 20 & 21
4. Narrabri - July 25 & 26
For more information about Boarding School Expos, please visit their website here.
Applications for a Boarding Enrolment
Students who are applying to start in Year 7 as a boarder at Hurlstone must apply through Selective Education Unit (SEU). More information about the application process (which includes an Early Entry pathway), can be found here. This webpage also provides information about financial obligations and support.
Applicants who would be applying for Years 8-11, should check here, from Term 2 the year before.
For more information and support for boarding applicants, please contact the school and the Boarding School Deputy Principals will be able to assist.
Boarding School Facilities upgrade
For the latest information about the upgrade of our boarding school facilities and the development of our new farm hub, please refer to the School Infrastructure NSW website here.
Privacy Notice: CCTV security system at Hurlstone Agricultural High School
As part of the NSW Government upgrade to student boarding accommodation at Hurlstone Agricultural High School, a closed-circuit television (CCTV) security system has been installed in the new buildings (Block U and Block T).
This privacy notice outlines how the CCTV system will be used in our school as per state and federal privacy law and the department’s policies and procedures.