SA Ignite Test: A Parent's Guide to Year 7 Entry

Ignite is South Australia’s public program for students with high intellectual potential. It runs at three state high schools, and places in Year 7 are decided by one test sat in Year 6. This guide covers who sets that test, when your child sits it, what is on it, and how to get ready without letting it take over the year.

The three Ignite schools

Ignite is a Department for Education special interest program. It is offered at Glenunga International High School, The Heights School and Aberfoyle Park High School. Each school designs its own program, but all three choose students the same way: through an assessment written and marked by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER).

Selection is based on the ACER result. The schools do not ask for an interview, and their pages list no other criteria. A child selected into Ignite gets a place at that school whether or not you live in its zone. The Heights says it takes up to 60 Ignite students a year, with up to 40 of them from out of zone. Glenunga says it selects 100. Aberfoyle Park does not publish a number on its current page.

Who sits it, and when

The test is for children in Year 6, for entry to Year 7 the next year. It is held once a year, on a Saturday in February. For Year 7 in 2028, that is Saturday 20 February 2027.

• Your child can sit it only once.
• You register for one school only, and your child sits the test there. The schools ask you to choose the school you want to attend.
• Your child must live in Australia. The test cannot be sat overseas.
• Children at country or interstate schools may be able to sit it at their own primary school, with the principal’s approval. Contact the Ignite school before you register.
• Glenunga also accepts Year 5 applicants who send a signed letter of recommendation from their primary school principal before registering.

How to apply

Registration is online, through ACER’s Higher Ability Selection Test (HAST) website, where Ignite is listed as a program at each of the three schools. You create a parent account, add your child, and choose one school.

No late applications are accepted. School Card holders pay the full fee, then email their School Card approval letter to the school; the school refunds most of it after registration closes. Dates move each year, so check your school’s Ignite page before you register.

What is on the test

The test has four parts. The Heights School gives these times for the 2027 sitting, with a break after the first two:

The schools do not publish how many questions each part has. The times are the same as ACER’s HAST Junior Secondary level, and Ignite registers through the HAST system. For HAST Junior Secondary, ACER gives 35 to 40 questions for Reading, 28 to 35 for Maths and 30 for Abstract Reasoning, all multiple choice. ACER does not say in public that Ignite uses the same forms, so treat those numbers as a guide only.

The day runs from a morning registration to early afternoon. Glenunga calls it about 3 hours of testing; The Heights describes the whole visit, with the break, as up to 5 hours. The test is on paper, so no laptop is needed.

How it is marked and when you hear

All papers go to ACER in Melbourne to be marked. The Heights expects results in about nine to ten weeks, with offers in early to mid Term 2, sometimes in two rounds. A child who is not offered a place may be put on a waiting list. Results come by email, and the schools ask families not to call about them. No school publishes a cut-off score.

For HAST’s writing test, ACER marks three things: Thought and Content, Structure and Organisation, and Expression, Style and Mechanics. It also says a rehearsed piece that does not grow from the prompt loses marks. Expect the same here: a memorised story is a risk, not a plan.

How to prepare

1. Read the bulletin when it arrives. After you register, the school’s letter comes with ACER’s Ignite information bulletin and a few example questions. These are the only official examples, so go through them together.
2. Practise to the clock. Forty-five minutes of reading is a long stretch for a Year 6 child. Timed practice makes the pace familiar before the day.
3. Work on reasoning, not only school maths. Multi-step problems done by hand, with no calculator, are the best preparation for Mathematical Reasoning.
4. Meet abstract reasoning early. Picture sequences and grids are rarely taught in class. A few short sets over several weeks make them far less strange.
5. Write to fresh prompts. Twenty-five minutes, a new prompt each time, a minute or two to plan, then a complete piece. Talk about one thing to do better next time.
6. Keep it in proportion. Your child sits this test once. A steady few months of practice, good sleep and a calm morning matter more than a last-minute rush.

Practice in the Ignite style

Our SA Ignite practice is built on ACER’s HAST Junior Secondary level at Year 6, the closest public match to the Ignite test. Each paper is timed like the real thing: Reading Comprehension (36 questions in 45 minutes), Mathematical Reasoning (32 in 40 minutes) and Abstract Reasoning (30 in 30 minutes). Written Expression prompts run for 25 minutes and are marked against ACER’s three HAST criteria, 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: Ignite-style tests we wrote, not real or past Ignite papers, and we are not connected with ACER, the South Australian Department for Education or any of the Ignite schools. Our question counts are our own choice inside HAST’s published ranges. Our score is the number right, not a ranking or a predicted result. A free account includes 3 practice tests, and the HAST pack opens unlimited Ignite and HAST tests with the answers, worked solutions and marked writing.

What’s next

Start with the SA Ignite practice page. Want to know more about the test Ignite is built on? Our guide to the HAST test covers every level, and the HAST practice page has papers from Year 4 to Year 10 for other schools that use it.