Mount Lawley Senior High School

About Mount Lawley SHS

Mount Lawley Senior High School is the northern-suburbs flagship selective school, located in the inner-north suburb of Mount Lawley. It is particularly distinctive for the breadth of its selective offerings (academic, visual arts and performing arts) making it a natural destination for academically strong students with creative passions.

Mount Lawley draws heavily from Mount Lawley itself, Inglewood, Maylands, Bedford, Bayswater, Morley and the inner-northern corridor. It is also a common destination for families across Perth who specifically want the arts-plus-academic combination it offers.

GATE programs at Mount Lawley SHS

Mount Lawley SHS runs the following Department of Education GATE programs:

• GATE Academic Extension (Years 7-10)
• GATE Visual Arts (audition)
• GATE Performing Arts (audition)

Each program has its own intake size and audition or interview requirements beyond the GATE / ASET exam, so always cross-check the school's own admissions page before applying.

What the cut-off looks like

Mount Lawley SHS GATE Academic typically sits around 200-225 TSS, slightly lower than the Willetton / Shenton / Rossmoyne band but still competitive. Visual Arts and Performing Arts streams have an audition / portfolio component in addition.

Note: actual cut-offs shift slightly each year based on the cohort. The WA Department of Education publishes Total Standard Scores (TSS) historically per school — we recommend cross-checking the latest Department of Education figures before you build a goal score for your child.

How to prepare your child for Mount Lawley SHS entry

Academic entry to Mount Lawley follows the same balanced-performance pattern as other GATE Academic programs. For the arts streams, the audition / portfolio is the heavier discriminator. Students still have to clear the academic threshold, but the artistic component does the ranking work above that floor.

Our in-person GATE classes at Rossmoyne SHS calibrate every weekly module to the practical cut-off range at this school, and our online platform covers the same material at $22 per week if in-person isn't practical for your family.

Before committing to any program, sit our Free GATE Mock Exam at Rossmoyne SHS this July. You'll get a section-by-section results report that tells you whether your child is tracking towards the Mount Lawley SHS cut-off, or which sections need most of the runway.

Related guides

• Perth Modern School — entry requirements
• How to get into Perth Modern through GATE
• All WA selective schools by GATE program
• GATE practice questions by section
• GATE preparation tips for Year 4 and Year 5
• Comparison of GATE tutoring options in Perth