What an opportunity class is
An opportunity class is a Year 5 and 6 class in a NSW public primary school for academically gifted students. There are a limited number of places, so entry is by a placement test rather than by enrolment area. A child sits the test in Year 4 and, if offered a place, starts in Year 5 — often at a different school from the one they are at now.
It is not a selective high school, and it is not NAPLAN. It is a separate application with its own test, run by the NSW Department of Education.
The three sections
All questions are multiple choice and are answered on a computer at a test centre, usually a local high school. No calculators and no rulers. The questions draw on the NSW curriculum up to Year 4 — but they are applied at a level well above ordinary Year 4 classwork, which is the whole point of the test.
Reading · 40 minutes
14 questions, 33 answers. More answers than questions because one text carries several parts. Texts are drawn from fiction, non-fiction and poetry — novel extracts, magazine articles, reports and poems.
Mathematical Reasoning · 40 minutes
35 questions, multiple choice with five options each. It tests applying mathematical knowledge to unfamiliar problems rather than recalling procedures. No calculator.
Thinking Skills · 30 minutes
30 questions, multiple choice with four options each. Critical thinking and problem solving. The department states that no previous knowledge is required — it is not a content test, which is exactly why it cannot be prepared for with a curriculum bank.
No writing task
Unlike the Selective High School test, the OC placement test has no writing section. The three sections above are the whole test.
Section names, timings and question counts above are from the NSW Department of Education's own test-preparation pages, read on 30 August 2026. Check the official pages before test day — the department can change the format.
When it happens
The timetable repeats every year and is easy to miss, because the application opens more than a year before the child would start. Applications open in early November, while the child is in Year 3. They close in February. The test is sat in May, in Year 4. Outcomes are released later the same year, and the child starts in an opportunity class the following Year 5.
We deliberately do not print a specific date here. Sitting dates are published by the department year by year, and a date we cannot verify is worse than no date — check the official application process page for the current one.
What we can help with — and what we can’t
Reading and Mathematical Reasoning: yes. A child sitting the OC test is in Year 4, and our Year 4 English and Year 4 Maths banks are 15 graded tests each, running from Foundation to Extension. The Extension tier is calibrated above year level, which is where a placement test sits. Many families use the Year 5 banks for the same reason.
Mathematical Reasoning written for this test. The OC & Selective plan adds 4,799 Mathematical Reasoning questions of its own — 120 for every maths skill from Year 3 to Year 6, multi-step and above year level, with five options like the real paper and every answer explained. None of them is in our standard practice banks, and the timed paper's Mathematical Reasoning section draws from them.
Reading written for this test. The plan also adds 2,906 Reading questions on 245 original texts — stories, information texts, persuasive pieces and poems, and the real test's formats: four-text matching sets, cloze passages and gapped texts. The timed paper's Reading section draws from them.
Thinking Skills: yes. 1,000 questions across critical thinking and problem solving fill this section of the timed paper — a third of the test, 30 questions in 30 minutes — and the OC & Selective plan's 1,400 Thinking Skills questions also make up its practice sets and skills ladder. They are our own questions, not past papers, and they are drawn fresh each time, so a child practises the reasoning rather than memorising one paper.
The Year 3 to Year 6 skills ladder. Every maths, reading and Thinking skill the paper draws on, in order — learn, practise, then master, with a level saved for each child. The first skill in each column is free. See the ladder →
The timed paper is in exam mode. It builds all three sections to the published structure and times them one after another, with the five options the real Mathematical Reasoning paper gives. Open exam mode →
Common questions
What year does my child sit the OC test?
Year 4. Applications open in early November while they are in Year 3, close in February, and the test is sat in May of Year 4. A successful child starts in an opportunity class in Year 5.
What is on the Opportunity Class placement test?
Three computer-based multiple-choice sections: Reading (40 minutes, 14 questions and 33 answers), Mathematical Reasoning (40 minutes, 35 questions), and Thinking Skills (30 minutes, 30 questions). There is no writing task.
Is the OC test done on a computer?
Yes. The placement tests are computer-based and sat at a test centre, usually a local high school. Calculators and rulers are not allowed.
Do you have Opportunity Class practice tests?
Yes. Exam mode builds all three sections to the published structure and times them section by section: Reading, Mathematical Reasoning with the five options the real paper gives, and Thinking Skills. The OC & Selective plan adds a Year 3 to Year 6 skills ladder and 42 Thinking Skills practice sets. The questions are our own, drawn fresh each time, never past papers.
Is the Opportunity Class test only in NSW?
Yes. Opportunity classes are NSW public primary school classes and the placement test is run by the NSW Department of Education.
Related: Selective High School placement test · OC & Selective — skills ladder, practice sets and plans · NAPLAN.
AceTheirTest is an independent practice platform. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to ACARA, NAPLAN, the National Assessment Program, or the NSW Department of Education. Exam names are used only to describe what each exam is.