Improving equity in gifted education enhances our national capabilities

Structural inequities in education mean gifted children from marginalised groups are less likely to be identified.

A new equity model for selective school placements improves access for gifted and talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds. In 2024, 394 students in New South Wales (NSW) gained a place in selective schools as a result of the Equity Placement Model.

“Intellectually gifted students – the top 10% in intellectual ability in a particular age group – may be among those who have the greatest capacity to contribute to and advance the various career fields,” says Professor Jae Jung, Director of GERRIC at UNSW.

“However, some of these students are missing out on gaining places in selective schools because they experience educational disadvantage. The Equity Placement Model helps make access fairer for more high potential and gifted students in our community.”

The NSW Department of Education (NSW DOE) commissioned Prof. Jung to investigate and report on its selection and placement process for academically selective schools.

“Selective high schools provide specialist learning environments for advanced academic study,” he says. “They support gifted students’ learning by grouping them with other gifted students and allow the use of special teaching methods so that gifted students can learn advanced content at a faster pace. At the same time, these environments support the wellbeing needs of gifted students.”

The 2018 Review of Selective Education Access found that students from disadvantaged backgrounds face additional barriers to entry into selective education.

Research has shown the cumulative effects of disadvantage mean fewer opportunities for students to learn. Students from families who have lower parental education levels are less likely to apply and receive a place in selective schools than those with higher parental education levels.

“Criticism of the selection process for selective schools has often focused on its inability to support these students,” Prof. Jung says.

By contrast, educationally advantaged students tend to do better in school over time because they more often benefit from extra educational opportunities that flow from their family background.

“This is known as the ‘excellence gap’. Failing to address this can further entrench inequality and disadvantage.”

Under the new model, up to 20% of places in NSW’s 49 selective high schools and 77 opportunity classes are reserved for students from low socio-educational advantage areas (10%), Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students (5%), students from rural and remote locations (2.5%), and students living with disability (2.5%).

“As long as students perform within 10% of the cutoff for selective places, they are offered a place. This helps ensure that entry into selective schools is based on ability rather than background.”

Prof. Jung is a leading expert in gifted education and students’ career decision-making. Many of the key recommendations in his report – for example, the need to explicitly identify and allocate equity categories for gifted students from disadvantaged backgrounds – draw on his research.

He engaged in ongoing consultation with the NSW DOE during the model’s development, implementation and promotion to raise the awareness and likelihood of gifted students taking advantage of these new opportunities.