Free · Timed · 25 minutes · Years 6–8

Free Scholarship Practice Test — 30 Questions, 25 Minutes, Instant Results

A free, timed sample in the style of the ACER and Edutest scholarship papers: 30 multiple-choice questions across mathematics and reading and language, drawn from our Year 6, 7 and 8 banks at the stretch and challenge tiers, 25 minutes on the clock, marked instantly with a section breakdown. Part of RHZ Tutoring's 3,261 free practice questions. No sign-up.

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⏱ 25-minute countdown, auto-marked📊 Section breakdown: maths reasoning · reading & language📚 3,261 free practice questions

Free practice quizzes › Scholarship practice test · Selective Entry practice test

The practice test: 30 questions in 25 minutes

Two sections. Press Start the timer, answer every question you can, and press Mark my test before the clock runs out, or it will be marked automatically. Set 29093 · New set of questions →

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Section 1: Maths reasoning (15 questions)

Question 1
Maths reasoning · Algebra & linear equations

A tank contains 200 litres of water. Pipe A drains water out at 8 litres per minute. Pipe B fills water in at 3 litres per minute. Both pipes are opened at the same time. A second tank starts empty and is filled by Pipe C at 5 litres per minute. After how many minutes will both tanks contain the same amount of water?

Question 2
Maths reasoning · Indices

Which of the following statements about negative indices is correct?

Question 3
Maths reasoning · Percentages

After a 20% increase, a plant is 96 cm tall. How tall was the plant before the increase?

Question 4
Maths reasoning · Ratios & rates

Aiden and Bella share prize money in the ratio 3 : 5. Aiden receives $120. If $40 more is added to the total prize and split in the same ratio, how much does Bella receive in total across both splits?

Question 5
Maths reasoning · Ratio & rates

Three friends share a prize in the ratio 2 : 3 : 5. The person with the largest share receives $80 more than the person with the smallest share. How much does the person with the middle share receive?

Question 6
Maths reasoning · Percentages

15 is 10% of what number?

Question 7
Maths reasoning · Statistics & probability

A data set has five values: 4, 7, 9, 12, and one unknown value k. The median of the five values is 9 and the mean is 10. What is the value of k?

Question 8
Maths reasoning · Integers & operations

An integer k satisfies all three conditions: • k is negative • k² − k is less than 20 • k is not equal to −1 How many integer values of k are possible?

Question 9
Maths reasoning · Indices

Which expression is equal to 4⁻³ ÷ 2⁻⁴?

Question 10
Maths reasoning · Algebra & linear equations

Mia has a bag of marbles. If she triples the number of marbles and adds 6, she gets the same result as if she doubled the number and added the number itself divided by 2, then added 10. How many marbles does Mia have?

Question 11
Maths reasoning · Fractions, decimals & percentages

Olivia scores 13 out of 20 on a geography quiz and 19 out of 30 on a history quiz. She says her geography result is better. Which of the following correctly compares her two results as percentages and confirms whether she is right?

Question 12
Maths reasoning · Algebraic thinking

A shop sells pens for $3 each and notebooks for $5 each. Maya spends exactly $29 buying at least one of each item. How many pens does Maya buy?

Question 13
Maths reasoning · Geometry

In triangle ABC, angle A = 2x°, angle B = 3x°, and angle C = (x + 30)°. A student says: 'Angle B is exactly twice the size of angle A.' Is the student correct?

Question 14
Maths reasoning · Area & volume

A right-angled triangle has legs of 8 cm and 15 cm. A square is drawn with its side length equal to the hypotenuse of the triangle. What is the area of the square?

Question 15
Maths reasoning · Ratio & rates

A recipe uses flour and sugar in the ratio 5 : 2. Maya has 350 g of flour. She wants to use ALL the flour. How much sugar does she need?

Section 2: Reading & language (15 questions)

Question 16
Reading & language · Writing & grammar

Which correctly completes: 'Between you and ___, it's a secret.'?

Question 17
Reading & language · Comprehension

Read these two passages. Passage A: "The annual school athletics carnival is a highlight of the year. Students compete in track and field events, cheered on by their peers. Teachers say participation builds resilience and school spirit." Passage B: "Each year, students who excel at sport receive recognition, while those who do not are left to watch from the sidelines. The carnival reinforces existing hierarchies rather than celebrating every student's contribution." A student argues that Passage B is more convincing because it uses facts. Which response best evaluates this argument?

Question 18
Reading & language · Persuasive & creative writing

A student wants to persuade readers that school uniforms should be abolished. She writes: 'Uniforms crush creativity and make students miserable.' Which revision would make this argument MOST persuasive, and why?

Question 19
Reading & language · Comprehension

Read this passage, then answer the question. "In one report about the town's new wind farm, a journalist wrote: 'The turbines, gleaming against the sky, promise clean energy for generations.' In a letter to the same newspaper, a resident wrote: 'Those monstrous towers now loom over our valley, ruining the view we have loved for decades.'" A student claims: 'The journalist's report is more reliable because it uses facts, while the resident's letter uses only opinion.' Is this claim accurate? Choose the best evaluation.

Question 20
Reading & language · Text response & analysis

Read: "The bell rang. Chairs scraped. Feet pounded down the hall. Freedom." Why does the author use short sentences here?

Question 21
Reading & language · Reading & comprehension

Read this paragraph from a feature article about an Australian mountain rescue: 'The searchers fanned out across the ridge as the temperature dropped another two degrees. By nightfall, twelve volunteers had covered fourteen kilometres of rocky ground, their torches blinking like hesitant stars. The mountain, as always, gave nothing away.' The writer ends the paragraph with 'The mountain, as always, gave nothing away.' What is the most likely reason for this sentence, and how does it work?

Question 22
Reading & language · Persuasive & creative writing

A student writes a short story with this final paragraph: 'She handed the trophy to her little sister without a word, then walked back out into the rain.' Her teacher says this ending is effective because it 'trusts the reader'. A classmate suggests adding: 'She felt a warm glow inside, knowing she had done the right thing.' Why would adding the classmate's sentence WEAKEN the ending?

Question 23
Reading & language · Vocabulary & grammar

Read this passage from a school news article: 'The canteen upgrade was completed on time. The new equipment is said to be state of the art. A spokesperson noted that students will benefit enormously. The school community is excited for the future.' A critical reader notices that the article never includes a student voice. Which statement best explains what this omission reveals about the article's perspective?

Question 24
Reading & language · Text response & analysis

A student writes: "The old lighthouse stood alone on the cliff, its light long dead, its windows like hollow eyes watching the empty sea." Which two techniques are working together in this sentence, and what combined effect do they create?

Question 25
Reading & language · Speaking & listening

A Year 6 student is asked to chair a class discussion about whether social media should be banned for under-13s. Three students keep interrupting each other, two students have said nothing, and the discussion has moved away from the topic. What should the chair do first, and why?

Question 26
Reading & language · Text response & analysis

Two reviews are written about the same film. Review 1 says: 'The film bravely tackles difficult questions about identity.' Review 2 says: 'The film recklessly sensationalises issues of identity for box-office gain.' Both reviewers describe the same creative choice by the director. Which statement BEST explains how the two reviews differ in their use of language?

Question 27
Reading & language · Persuasive & creative writing

A student writes this opening for a persuasive speech about homework: 'Every night, across Australia, millions of students sit down to homework that teaches them one thing: to be exhausted.' Which combination of techniques is used here, and why is it effective as a speech opening?

Question 28
Reading & language · Vocabulary & grammar

Which sentence uses the word 'disinterested' correctly according to its precise meaning?

Question 29
Reading & language · Phonics & spelling

A student wants to add the suffix '-ous' to the word 'courage' to make an adjective. Which option shows the CORRECT spelling AND gives the correct reason?

Question 30
Reading & language · Reading & comprehension

Text A is a scientist's report on ocean warming. Text B is a diary written by a sailor watching coral bleach in front of him. A student says: 'Text A is more reliable because it has facts.' Which response best evaluates the student's claim?

Your result

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Maths reasoning0 / 15
Reading & language0 / 15
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What this scholarship practice test contains

Thirty multiple-choice questions in two timed sections. Section 1, Maths reasoning, has fifteen questions drawn from our Year 6, Year 7 and Year 8 maths banks: number and algebra, ratio and rates, measurement, geometry, statistics and probability, with the stretch and challenge tiers preferred so most items sit above the year level a Year 6 student is used to. Section 2, Reading & language, has fifteen questions from the same three years of our English banks: comprehension of short literary and informative passages, inference, vocabulary in context, spelling, grammar and punctuation. Every set is seeded, so the link you are on shows the same questions each time and a new seed gives a fresh set. The clock is 25 minutes for the lot, which is deliberately tight: roughly fifty seconds a question, which is close to the pace of the real scholarship papers.

The answer key is not in the page. When you press Mark my test, or when the timer reaches zero, the browser asks our server for the key for this exact set, marks every question, shows the correct answer and an explanation with the year level of each item, and breaks the score down by section and by topic. Unanswered questions count as wrong, as they do in the real exam, so it is worth answering everything before the time runs out.

About the Victorian Selective Entry exam

Victoria has four selective-entry high schools: Melbourne High School (boys), Mac.Robertson Girls' High School (girls), Nossal High School in Berwick (co-educational) and Suzanne Cory High School in Werribee (co-educational). Entry is by a single competitive examination sat in Year 8 for Year 9 entry, usually in June, with a smaller number of places sometimes offered for later year levels. Students nominate their preferred schools on one application, and places are offered on the basis of exam results, with a proportion of places set aside under equity provisions. Suzanne Cory, in Werribee, draws heavily from Melbourne's west and is the school most families we work with are aiming for.

For students in Year 8 in 2027, school communications give the exam date as 20 June 2027, with applications typically opening early in the year and closing well before the exam. Dates, fees, eligibility rules and the exact test format are set by the Department of Education and can change from year to year, so confirm every detail on the VSEHS website before you plan around it. What has been consistent is the shape of the test: reading comprehension, mathematics, verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning and two short writing tasks (one creative, one persuasive or analytical), all under strict time limits and pitched above the Year 8 curriculum. The reasoning sections are the ones school programs rarely teach, and the writing tasks are marked for ideas, structure and control of language in a very short time, which is why students who are strong in class can still struggle on the day.

The multiple-choice sections of the real exam reward three things: secure knowledge a year or so ahead of the classroom, the habit of reading a question exactly, and pace. This practice test checks the first and the third. It does not check writing, and it does not include the pattern-based verbal and numerical reasoning puzzles, both of which need their own practice.

ACER and Edutest scholarship tests

Independent and Catholic schools in Melbourne offer academic scholarships through external testing agencies rather than their own papers. The two you will meet most often are ACER and Edutest, and they feel quite different. ACER's Cooperative Scholarship Testing Program (CSTP) is run at set levels: Level 1 for Year 7 entry (sat in Year 6), Level 2 for Year 9 entry and Level 3 for Year 11 entry. The papers are long and demanding: two written expression tasks, a humanities paper of reading comprehension and interpretation that includes poems, cartoons, tables and extracts, and a mathematics paper that leans on reasoning rather than recall. ACER tests are usually held on a single day in February or March, and one sitting can be used for several participating schools.

Edutest papers are shorter and broken into five sections, typically of about thirty minutes each: verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning, reading comprehension, mathematics and written expression. Most sections are multiple choice and the pace is brisk. Schools using Edutest often run the test on their own campus at their own date, so a family may sit two or three across a season. Because the sections are short, a student who loses a minute panicking on a hard question pays for it immediately, which is why timed practice matters so much for Edutest in particular.

This practice test is closer to the multiple-choice mathematics and reading sections of both formats than to the reasoning puzzles or the writing. If your child is preparing for a Year 7 scholarship, treat the Year 7 and Year 8 items here as the stretch they are; a Year 6 student who handles them comfortably is well placed.

A preparation timeline

  1. Twelve to nine months out (for Selective Entry 2027: Term 3 and 4 of Year 7). Diagnose first. Sit this test and the free Skills Check, and find out whether the gaps are knowledge (Year 8 maths not yet met), technique (never seen a reasoning question) or speed. Close the maths gaps with the Year 7 and Year 8 topic quizzes and start reading widely: non-fiction, opinion pieces and short fiction, not just novels.
  2. Nine to six months out (Term 1 of Year 8). Learn the question types. Work through each section of the exam separately with short timed sets, and begin a weekly timed writing task with feedback. Confirm the application window on the VSEHS website and lodge the application early.
  3. Six to three months out (Term 1 to 2). Full-length practice papers under exam conditions every fortnight, marked and reviewed by section. The review is where the marks come from: every error goes into a list and gets re-attempted a week later.
  4. The last eight weeks. Taper. One full paper a week, timed sets on the weakest section between them, and writing practice to a fixed plan. In the final week, sleep, a light set each day and nothing new.

For a Year 6 scholarship, compress the same sequence into the second half of Year 5 and the first term of Year 6, because ACER and most Edutest sittings fall between February and May of Year 6.

How to read your result

We do not report percentiles, because a thirty-question free sample cannot be normed against the real candidate pool and any percentile we invented would mislead you. What we can say is this. Selective-entry and scholarship tests are competitive, and the students who win places are typically answering above-level questions quickly and accurately. A score of 80% or more here, inside the time limit, suggests your child is ready for full-length timed practice papers and should move to those. A score between 50% and 80% usually means the content is mostly there and the work is in the hardest third of the questions and the clock; look at which section is weaker and drill it with timed sets. A score of 50% or less means the Year 6 and Year 7 foundations need attention before exam-style practice will pay off, which is common and fixable: start with the Year 6 and Year 7 topic quizzes, secure the weakest topics and come back to this test in a term.

Watch the time as well as the score. A high score with the clock expired is a pace problem; a low score with minutes to spare is a content problem. They need different fixes, and the results panel shows both.

What to do next

1. Free Skills Check

Fifteen minutes, every Year 7 topic at every tier including stretch and challenge, with a same-day topic-by-topic report and a tutor call to walk through it. It is the diagnostic we use to start every selective and scholarship program.

Start the free Skills Check →

2. Selective Entry 2027 program

Two sessions a week, maths and English with reasoning drills, a full timed practice test every fortnight, at our Truganina centre or online. First session free.

Selective Entry 2027 → Selective entry and scholarship tutoring →

3. Printable practice packs

Full-length selective and scholarship practice papers with worked answers, so a student can practise on paper under the clock the way the real test is sat.

Browse selective and scholarship packs →

Questions? Call 03 9509 3293 or book a free consultation. RHZ Tutoring, 17/47 Apex Drive, Truganina VIC 3029.

Frequently asked questions

When is the 2027 Victorian Selective Entry exam?

School communications give the date as 20 June 2027 for Year 8 students seeking Year 9 entry in 2028. Dates and application windows can move, so confirm on the Victorian Selective Entry High Schools (VSEHS) website before planning around it.

Which schools does the Selective Entry exam cover?

Melbourne High School (boys, South Yarra), Mac.Robertson Girls' High School (girls, Melbourne), Nossal High School (co-educational, Berwick) and Suzanne Cory High School (co-educational, Werribee). Students sit one exam and list the schools in order of preference.

Is this practice test the same as the real exam?

No. It is a 30-question, 25-minute multiple-choice sample drawn from our Year 6, 7 and 8 maths and English banks at the stretch and challenge tiers. The real ACER and Edutest scholarship tests include writing tasks and, for Edutest, separate verbal and numerical reasoning sections. Use this page to check readiness and pace, not to predict a result.

What score should my child be getting?

There is no official pass mark and we do not publish percentiles for a free sample. As a rule of thumb, 80% or more here suggests a student is ready for full-length timed practice; 50% or less suggests starting with the Year 6 and Year 7 topic quizzes to secure the foundations first.

Does the timer matter?

Yes. Both selective-entry and scholarship tests are speed tests as much as knowledge tests, and most students lose more marks to the clock than to the content. If the score is good but the time ran out, practise timed sets; if there was time to spare but the score was low, work on the content.

What is the difference between ACER and Edutest scholarship tests?

Both are used by independent schools for Year 7 entry (sat in Year 6) and some for Year 9 or Year 11 entry. ACER's Cooperative Scholarship Testing Program has longer papers in written expression, humanities (reading and interpretation) and mathematics. Edutest papers are shorter and include five sections: verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning, reading comprehension, mathematics and written expression. Check which test each school uses.

Is this free, and is anything collected?

It is free and there is no sign-up. Marking happens on our server and only an anonymous score event is recorded. The free Skills Check, which produces a full report, asks for a parent email so we can send it.

Build the foundations first

If the result points to a content gap, these free topic quizzes cover the ground the test draws on:

All 3,261 free practice questions, Prep to Year 12 →