A three-hour round trip, early mornings in the dead of winter and living an hour from friends were all part of high school life for former Branxton resident, Eloise.
She commuted to Merewether High School - the region's only fully academically selective school - until graduating. Leaving home at 6:50am and returning after 5pm was daily routine.
Eloise graduated in 2016 - that was over seven years ago. The populations of Cessnock and Maitland local government areas have since become two of the fastest growing in the state, yet there are no more selective schools in the pipeline.
Melissa Callingham, Eloise's mother, said she chose Merewether to ensure her daughter was in an environment with other students who wanted to learn. While she did not regret the decision, it placed "a lot of strain" on the family.
"We actually left Branxton to move to the Maitland area so it would cut her commute in half," Ms Callingham said.
"As [Eloise] got older, her study expectations got higher and she wasn't able to [play] sport. She wasn't able to socialise. It just became too much."
Ms Callingham "absolutely" would have sent her daughter to a closer selective school if it was available.
NSW has 17 fully academically selective high schools (SHS), which require students apply and pass a rigorous entry exam to attend.
Just three of these schools - Merewether, Gosford and Wollongong - are outside the greater Sydney region.
SHS aren't geographically zoned, so students can enrol from anywhere in the state if they can commute.
And although Merewether high has students from across the Hunter and further, the top five enrolments postcodes in 2023 were all within the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, suggesting the school was most accessible to students within close proximity.
The postcodes were:
- 2287: Wallsend, Fletcher, Elermore Vale, Maryland, Newcastle, Birmingham Gardens, Rankin Park, Minmi (130 students)
- 2305: New Lambton, New Lambton Heights (108 students)
- 2289: Adamstown, Kotara, Adamstown Heights, Kotara South, Garden Suburb, Highfields (103 students)
- 2290: Charlestown, Gateshead, Redhead (102 students)
- 2291: Merewether, Newcastle, The Junction, Merewether Heights (90 students)
The Department of Education could not release a breakdown of data from all student postcodes.
'Growing pains' in Hunter schools
Advocates for increased diversity in Maitland and Cessnock schools believed the lack of selective schooling in the area may point to bigger gaps in educational infrastructure development.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics' regional population analysis for 2021-22 showed that, at three per cent, Maitland had the largest annual rate of population growth. It was followed by Cessnock at 2.6 per cent, with that area's population likely to almost double in the two decades to 2041.
A spokesperson from the Department said there were "[no] plans to change the number of selective high school places available in the area". A comprehensive high school has been promised by the Labor state government for Huntlee, Branxton and Greta students.
Maitland major Philip Penfold said the "need to provide additional funding" to regional Hunter schools was "important".
"There are growing pains in public schools in Maitland in general," he said.
A parent of children at East Maitland Public School, who did not wish to be identified, said she questioned the "logic" of having academically-selective classes at local public schools but no local SHS.
"The way I see it is that we have two [opportunity classes at] primary schools locally around here," she said. "So why is there not an option for high school?"
The Department of Education does not have data on the number of Merewether high students who were previously enrolled in an opportunity class.
The mother is currently considering where she may send her 10-year-old child for high school and said Merewether was "not a viable option".
"There are so many factors - lifestyle, work, school commitments. [Merewether] is not just a five minute drive down the road," she said.
The mother-of-two felt there were good comprehensive schools in Maitland and Cessnock, but she questioned the academic pipeline for students hoping to be schooled in a selective environment.
She believed, when weighing up high school options for her own children, the rigorous testing process to gain entry to an academically selective school was compounded in the Hunter.
"One selective high school for this area means the pressure would be amazing. It would just be so stressful for a child," she said.
There are 180 places at Merewether High School for Year 7 entry. Hunter students can, technically speaking, travel to Gosford and Sydney to attend selective schools.
Do selective schools perform better?
Amidst the push for more selective schools, a question hangs: would Hunter academic results be bolstered by an additional SHS?
Research from the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research in 2018 tracked the performance of two groups of students who applied for selective schooling.
The study - reported in the Sydney Morning Herald - found the group who were successful in gaining SHS entry achieved only marginally better Australian Tertiary Admission Ranks than their counterparts. All students performed similarly in Year 7 and 9 NAPLAN tests.
Conversely, Merewether High School ranked 44th in the 2023 HSC. Maitland, Maitland Grossman and Cessnock high schools were not within the top 100.
But far beyond marks, Ms Callingham felt the opening of another selective school would increase choice for regional parents and their children.
Each of her four children went to different schools. Most commuted a distance of more than 30 kilometres.
"We chose based on each child," she said. "It's good, because they are not all the same and all looking for different things. I just find it's been successful for us.
"Not every [family] has that option."
