Year 6 selective school test practice

The 3 sections, with questions you can try now

Each one explains what it asks of a child at this year level and gives you real questions from our papers with worked answers. No account needed.

Four sections, four equal quarters

The Selective High School Placement Test is computer-based and sat in one morning. Every section carries exactly 25% of the result, which is the most important number on this page: a student cannot make up a weak section elsewhere, and cannot decide that one of them does not matter.

Reading — 17 questions, 45 minutes

Three of the questions have several parts. The texts are not long, but the options are written so that two of them are usually defensible and only one is supported by what the passage actually says.

Mathematical Reasoning — 35 questions, 40 minutes

Just over a minute each, on content that never leaves the Year 6 curriculum. The difficulty is in the reading, not the arithmetic. Students who reach for a complicated method are usually answering a question that was not asked.

Thinking Skills — 40 questions, 40 minutes

The tightest section on the paper: one minute per question, forty times, on the section with no syllabus behind it. This is where the field spreads out, and it is worth the same quarter as everything else.

Writing — one task, 30 minutes

The only open response in the test, and a full quarter of the result. Thirty minutes to plan, write and finish one piece. An unfinished piece is the most expensive single mistake available in this test.

Nothing beyond the Year 6 curriculum

Questions are reviewed so that no additional knowledge is required. Tutoring that teaches Year 8 content is preparing for a test that does not exist.

Where Year 6 marks actually go

1. 1Refusing to leave a questionWith one minute per thinking skills question, three minutes spent on a hard one costs two other questions outright. The test is built so that almost nobody finishes comfortably — deciding fast what to abandon is a skill the test is quietly measuring.
2. 2Running out of time in writingThirty minutes, one task, twenty-five per cent. Students who plan for five minutes and write an ambitious piece routinely stop mid-argument. A plain piece with a real conclusion outscores a better piece that never arrives at one.
3. 3Treating one section as a write-offBecause the weightings are equal, the section a student dislikes costs exactly as much as the one they are good at. Preparation that spends all its time on maths because maths is enjoyable is leaving a quarter of the test untouched.
4. 4Choosing the answer that sounds cleverestEvery option is meant to be defensible — that is how the test separates a large field. The correct answer is the one that must follow, not the one that sounds most sophisticated.

How placement actually works

Places are filled by rank, not by a mark. There is no score to clear: the cut-off is wherever the last available place falls that year at that school, which is why it moves between schools and between years and why nobody can tell you in advance what it will be.

Say this to your child before the test, not after. Missing out means a large field and few places — it is not a verdict on their ability, and the habits built preparing for it (reading closely, reasoning under time, knowing when to move on) are worth having at any high school they end up at.

Test dates, withdrawal and the official reports are ACARA’s to publish — see nap.edu.au for those.

Common questions

When is the selective high school test sat?

In Year 6, for entry into Year 7. The test is computer-based and held in May, with the exact timetable and the application process set by the education authority each year and published on their site.

What is in the selective high school test?

Four sections: reading (17 questions, 45 minutes), mathematical reasoning (35 questions, 40 minutes), thinking skills (40 questions, 40 minutes) and one writing task (30 minutes). Each section is worth 25% of the result.

How much is the writing section worth?

A quarter — the same as each of the other three sections, from a single task in thirty minutes. It is the section most often under-prepared relative to what it is worth.

Does it test content above Year 6?

No. Questions draw on the NSW curriculum up to Year 6 and are reviewed so that no extra knowledge is needed. The difficulty is in the reasoning, not in advanced material.

How much preparation is reasonable?

Enough to know the format and to have practised working under time. Beyond that the returns fall away quickly, and a child who has been drilled for a year often performs worse than one who arrives fresh and familiar.

Is there a pass mark?

No. Placement is by rank against everyone who sat, so the cut-off is simply where the last place falls. It differs by school and by year and cannot be known in advance.

What if my child does not get a place?

The test measures performance on one morning against a very large field. It is not a measure of ability, and the preparation itself — reading carefully, reasoning under time — is worth having regardless of the outcome.