NSW Selective High School Placement Test: A Parent's Guide

NSW has selective high schools for children who are highly able academically. Most places in Year 7 are filled through one test, sat in Year 6. This guide covers who sits it, when, what is on each part, how offers are made, and how to get ready without letting it take over the year.

What the test is and who sets it

The Selective High School Placement Test is set and run by the NSW Department of Education. It is used for Year 7 entry to the state’s selective high schools. The Department lists 17 fully selective high schools, 27 partially selective high schools (a selective stream inside a comprehensive school) and 4 agricultural high schools. There is also Aurora College, an online option for rural and remote students.

The selective schools charge no attendance fees, and the Department publishes no fee for applying or sitting the test.

Who sits it and when

Children usually apply at the end of Year 5 or the start of Year 6, and sit the test in May of Year 6. For Year 7 entry in 2028, children will usually be born between 1 January 2015 and 31 July 2016. A child outside that range can still apply, but the application must explain why.

These are the Department’s dates at the time of writing, and it says they can change. Check its key dates page before you plan around them.

Children from any school can apply: public, private, home schooled, interstate or overseas. The family must live in NSW by the start of Year 7, and the test is only held in NSW. Children who are not Australian or New Zealand citizens or permanent residents may face extra enrolment conditions, which must be met before an offer.

How to apply

Parents apply online through the Department’s application website. You can list up to three selective schools in order of preference. Only the first is required. The Department advises listing only schools you would really send your child to. About two weeks before the test, a Test Admission Ticket appears in the application dashboard with the test centre, usually a nearby public high school.

What is on each test

The whole test is done on a Department computer, including the writing. Children do not bring their own device. Each section is worth 25% of the score.

There are short 10-minute breaks between tests and one longer 20-minute break when children can eat a snack. No calculator, ruler, pen or dictionary is allowed. Each child gets two A4 sheets for working out. Some questions are trial items that appear in every version of the test and do not count towards the score.

How the writing is marked

The Department says the writing test looks at creativity of ideas, writing for a purpose and audience and use of language for effect. It adds that structure, grammar, punctuation, spelling and vocabulary also count. Each piece is marked by two people. The Department does not publish a full marking scale.

The most important rule: a response that does not address the topic is marked lower, however fluent or creative it is. The kind of writing asked for also changes, so a child should read the task carefully for the form and the reader before planning.

How places are offered

Offers are made on academic merit: the test result and the order of the school choices. Multiple-choice answers are marked by computer. There is no minimum entry score. The score a school needs depends on how many children apply, how they perform, how many places there are and how many offers are declined.

Up to 20% of places at each school are held for children from low socio-educational backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, rural and remote children, and children with disability. They are still ranked on their test results.

Families see a performance report in bands for each test (top 10%, next 15%, next 25%, lowest 50%), not exact scores or ranks. A child who misses out may be put on a reserve list, and reserve offers can come up to the end of Term 1 in Year 7. Appeals are possible only for things like illness on the day, with evidence. Asking for a re-mark is not a valid reason.

How to prepare

1. Start with the Department’s own practice tests. It publishes sample tests with answers and explanations, plus an online version that looks like the real test software. Try the online one at least once so the screen is not new on the day.
2. Practise to the clock. Thinking Skills is 40 questions in 40 minutes, a minute each. Reading is 38 answers in 45 minutes, including the time to read the texts. Timed practice is the only way to feel that pace.
3. Work on judging arguments. Thinking Skills asks which statement strengthens or weakens an argument, and whose reasoning is correct. These are rarely taught in class, and a few practice sets help a lot.
4. Keep maths working on paper. No calculator is allowed, and most questions take two or three steps. Encourage tidy working on the scrap sheets.
5. Write to fresh topics, typed. Thirty minutes, a new task each time, a short plan, then a complete piece that answers the task. Practise different forms: a story, a report, a diary entry, advice.
6. Keep it in proportion. Sleep, a normal school week and a calm home matter more than one extra practice paper. Practice should make the test familiar, not take over Year 6.

Practice in the NSW selective style

Our NSW Selective practice follows the Department’s published lengths and times at Year 6 level. Reading is 17 questions with 38 answers in 45 minutes: two extracts to compare, a gap-fill text, a poem, sentences or headings to put back, and four short texts. Mathematical Reasoning is 35 questions in 40 minutes, and Thinking Skills is 40 questions in 40 minutes. You can also practise one question type at a time. Writing is one typed task in 30 minutes, marked against the five areas the Department names, with your child’s own sentences quoted as the reason for each band. Every paper is new when your child starts it, and every question is explained afterwards.

To be clear about what these are: selective-style tests we wrote, not real or past test papers, and we are not connected with the NSW Department of Education. The real maths test gives five choices on every question; most of ours do and some give four. The real reading test uses drop-down lists and drag-and-drop for its gaps; ours asks about each gap as its own question, for the same mark. Our score is the number right, not a band, ranking or predicted result. A free account includes 3 practice tests, and the NSW Selective pack opens unlimited tests with the answers, worked solutions and marked writing.

What’s next

Start with the NSW Selective practice page. If you have a younger child, the Opportunity Class page covers the Year 4 test for Year 5 entry, which uses the same Reading, Maths and Thinking Skills sections. For a broader check of reading, writing and numeracy, see our NAPLAN practice.