What a selective high school is
Selective high schools are NSW public high schools that enrol academically high-achieving students from Year 7, regardless of where the family lives. Places are limited and competitive, so entry is by a placement test rather than by enrolment area. A child sits the test in Year 6 and, if offered a place, starts in Year 7.
It is a different exam from the Opportunity Class test two years earlier, though it is run by the same body — the NSW Department of Education — on the same annual timetable, and it adds a writing task the OC test does not have.
The four sections
Students sit the tests one after another on a computer at a test centre. Reading and Mathematical Reasoning are multiple choice with five options; Thinking Skills has four. Paper is provided for working, but calculators, rulers and dictionaries are not allowed. The department is explicit that the test does not require memorised subject facts.
Reading · 45 minutes
17 questions, 38 answers. More answers than questions because one text carries several parts. Texts are drawn from fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
Mathematical Reasoning · 40 minutes
35 questions, multiple choice with five options each. Applying mathematics to unfamiliar problems, not recalling procedures. No calculator.
Thinking Skills · 40 minutes
40 questions, multiple choice with four options each. Critical thinking and problem solving, requiring no subject knowledge — which is why a curriculum bank cannot prepare for it.
Writing · 30 minutes
One set task. Marked on the creativity of the ideas and on writing effectively for a purpose and an audience — text structure, grammar, punctuation, style and vocabulary all count. This is the section our Writing Coach is built for.
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
Applications open in early November, while the child is in Year 5. They close in February. The test is sat in May, in Year 6. Outcomes are released around the middle of the year, and a successful child starts Year 7 at the selective school the following year.
We deliberately do not print a specific date here. Sitting dates are published 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 this test is in Year 6. Our Year 6 English and Year 6 Maths banks are 15 graded tests each; the Year 6 maths banks were rebuilt specifically for multi-step reasoning rather than single-step arithmetic, which is the difference between classwork and a placement test.
Writing: yes, and this is the one that transfers directly. The Writing Coach takes your child's own writing against a curriculum prompt and marks it on structure, vocabulary, punctuation, grammar and spelling — the same dimensions the Selective writing task is marked on. The Writing Coach covers Years 2 to 10, so it does not stop at Year 6.
Thinking Skills: yes, since 30 August 2026. 246 questions across critical thinking and problem solving. That is a quarter of this test — 40 questions in 40 minutes — and exam mode now fills it with our own questions rather than past papers.
Common questions
What year does my child sit the Selective High School placement test?
Year 6. Applications open in early November while they are in Year 5, close in February, and the test is sat in May of Year 6. A successful child starts Year 7 at a selective high school.
What is on the Selective High School placement test?
Four computer-based sections: Reading (45 minutes, 17 questions and 38 answers), Mathematical Reasoning (40 minutes, 35 questions), Thinking Skills (40 minutes, 40 questions), and Writing (30 minutes, one task).
How is the Selective test different from the Opportunity Class test?
The Selective test is sat two years later, in Year 6 rather than Year 4, and it adds a 30-minute writing task the OC test does not have. Its Thinking Skills section is also longer — 40 questions in 40 minutes rather than 30 in 30.
Do you have Selective practice tests?
Yes, for three of the four sections. Exam mode builds Reading, Mathematical Reasoning and Thinking Skills to the published structure and times them section by section. The writing task is not simulated — it is one open response marked by a person, so the Writing Coach is the right tool for it.
Is the Selective High School test only in NSW?
Yes. It is run by the NSW Department of Education for NSW public selective high schools. Other states run their own selective entry with different tests, and we do not cover those.
Related: Opportunity Class placement test · NAPLAN · all exams.
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.