WA Gifted and Talented Test (ASET): A Parent's Guide

Western Australia runs Gifted and Talented programmes in its public secondary schools, and every academic place is decided by one test: the ASET. This guide covers who sits it, when, how to apply, what is on each of the four tests, how offers are made, and how to get ready without letting it take over the year.

What the ASET is, and who runs it

The Academic Selective Entrance Test (ASET) belongs to the WA Department of Education. Its Gifted and Talented Selection Unit runs applications, testing and offers for all the programmes. The Department says the test measures learning potential rather than what a child has learned at school, so children who suit these programmes do not always have top grades or high NAPLAN results.

There are 24 Gifted and Talented programmes across the state: academic, arts and languages, plus an online academic programme for regional students. Sixteen schools run an academic programme. Perth Modern School is the only fully selective school, with 225 Year 7 places; Shenton College and Willetton Senior High School have 64 each, and the others 32. There is no advantage in living in a school’s catchment.

Who sits it, and when

A child applies in the year before entry and is tested in March. For Year 7 entry, they sit it in Year 6. Later entry is to Years 9, 10 and 11, sat in Years 8, 9 and 10, for places that open when students leave. There is no Year 8 intake.

Other regional centres test on 8 and 9 March. The Department says its dates can change, so check its Key Dates page each year.

How to apply

Applications are made online on the Department’s Gifted and Talented website. You list one to three programme preferences in order, and your choices decide which assessments your child is invited to. Only one application is allowed per child per intake, and late applications are accepted only in exceptional circumstances. Requests for adjusted test conditions go on a separate form by the same closing date.

The guidelines name no application fee for testing in WA. Families living interstate can sit the test at an ACER office in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne or Adelaide for $250, paid to ACER.

What is on the test

The Department’s overview for Year 7 applicants gives these lengths and times under standard conditions, with a 10-minute break in the session. The three multiple-choice tests have four answers, A to D, marked in pencil in one answer booklet.

The Department suggests about a minute a question for Reading and Quantitative Reasoning. Abstract Reasoning is faster still: 35 questions in 20 minutes. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so no question should be left blank. Smart watches are not allowed.

How the writing is marked

At least two trained markers score each piece. The front sheet of the Department’s sample writing test tells children they are judged on four things:

• the connection to the prompt
• the quality and originality of their ideas
• the style choices they make and how those express the ideas
• how clearly and effectively they communicate.

The ASET Handbook spells the same thing out at more length: relevance to the prompt; how complex, fresh and interesting the ideas are; style and form; the strength of the plot, message, issue or information; organisation and coherence; voice and tone; and the language itself. It is not marked like NAPLAN writing: handwriting, spelling and punctuation matter little as long as the piece is readable, and length is not a criterion.

The rule that matters most is the link to the prompt. The child may write in any style, genre or form, but the prompt must be central, not mentioned in passing. A vague or tacked-on link gets a very low score. Writing a senior panel agrees is off-topic, or that is memorised or not the child’s own, scores zero.

How offers are made

Each of the four scores is standardised and the four are added to make a Total Standard Score (TSS), so all four count equally. Academic places are decided on the TSS alone, by preference and the number of places. Languages programmes use the ASET for 80% of the score and an interview for 20%; arts programmes use it for 20%.

Cut-off scores for an intake are published only once they are known. The Department publishes past years’ minimum entrance scores, but no rankings. Its own advice is worth repeating: very few children are strong in all four tests, and a weak test can be made up in the others.

How to prepare

1. Sit the Department’s practice ASET first. It is full length, with the real answer booklet, and shows the format better than anything else.
2. Practise the pace. A minute a question for Reading and Quantitative Reasoning, and well under that for Abstract Reasoning. Timed practice is the only way to feel it before the day.
3. Keep maths about thinking. The Quantitative test is not a school maths test. Problems that take several steps and are worked by hand prepare a child better than drills on sums.
4. Write to fresh prompts. A new picture or line each time, 25 minutes, a moment to think, then a complete piece. Try a second, less obvious idea for the same prompt.
5. Do not over-prepare. The Department says the test measures aptitude, and everything a child needs is in the booklet. Practice should make the test familiar, not fill every weekend.

Practice in the ASET style

Our WA Gifted and Talented practice follows the Department’s lengths and times: Reading Comprehension (35 questions, 35 minutes), Quantitative Reasoning (35 questions, 35 minutes) and Abstract Reasoning (35 questions, 20 minutes, with only the two question kinds the real test uses). There are papers for Year 6, for Year 7 entry, and for Years 8, 9 and 10, for later entry. Writing prompts are a picture, words or both, timed at 25 minutes, and marked on how well the piece grows from the prompt, the ideas, the style choices and how clearly it communicates, with your child’s own sentences quoted as the reason. Off-prompt writing is marked down, as on the real test. You can also practise one question type at a time. Every paper is new when your child starts it, and every question is explained afterwards.

To be clear about what these are: tests we wrote in the ASET style, not real ASET questions, and we are not connected with the WA Department of Education or ACER. The Department does not publish the mix of questions inside each test, so ours is our own estimate. Our score is the number right, not a Total Standard Score or a prediction. A free account includes 3 practice tests, and the ASET pack opens unlimited tests with the answers, worked solutions and marked writing.

What’s next

Start with the WA Gifted and Talented practice page. Many schools in other states use ACER’s HAST, which is close to the ASET in style, and the HAST page covers it. For the reading and maths your child meets at school, see our NAPLAN practice.