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 52261 · New set of questions →

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Section 1: Maths reasoning (15 questions)

Question 1
Maths reasoning · Fraction & decimal operations

Calculate: 2/3 × 3/4.

Question 2
Maths reasoning · Probability

A drawer has 5 black socks and 3 white socks. Two socks are drawn one at a time WITHOUT replacement. What is the probability that both socks are the same colour?

Question 3
Maths reasoning · Equations

Callum is saving money. At the start of January he has $80. Each week he saves the same amount, $d. His sister Zoe starts January with $20 and saves $15 per week. After exactly w weeks they have the same total savings, and this happens when w is a whole number greater than zero. Which equation correctly finds w, and what is the value of w?

Question 4
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 5
Maths reasoning · Area, volume & angles

The angles inside a quadrilateral are (2x)°, (2x)°, (x + 20)°, and (x + 40)°. What is the value of x?

Question 6
Maths reasoning · Equations

A farmer has chickens and sheep. There are 4 more chickens than sheep. The total number of legs (chickens have 2 legs, sheep have 4 legs) is 56. How many sheep are on the farm?

Question 7
Maths reasoning · Probability

A spinner is spun twice. The probability of landing on yellow on any single spin is 0.4. After spinning twice, a student records the result. Which of the following is the correct probability of landing on yellow at least once in the two spins?

Question 8
Maths reasoning · Ratio & rates

A car travels at a constant speed. It covers 78 km in 1 hour and 18 minutes. At the same speed, how far will it travel in 2 hours and 30 minutes?

Question 9
Maths reasoning · Pythagoras

A rectangular paddock is 40 m long and 30 m wide. A farmer wants to fence along the diagonal to divide it into two triangular sections. Fencing costs $12 per metre. What is the total cost of the diagonal fence?

Question 10
Maths reasoning · Algebraic expressions

A rectangular garden has a length that is (2w + 5) metres and a width of w metres. A gardener says: 'The area of the garden is 3w + 5 square metres.' Which statement best explains why the gardener is wrong?

Question 11
Maths reasoning · Percentages & rates

At the start of 2023, Mia's investment was worth $P. By mid-year, its value had fallen by 20%. By the end of 2023, the mid-year value had risen by 35%. At the start of 2024, that end-of-year value then fell by 10%. Which expression correctly gives the investment's value at the start of 2024, and is the overall change a gain or a loss?

Question 12
Maths reasoning · Area, volume & angles

A square tile has a side length of 30 cm. A circular design is painted on the tile so that the circle fits exactly inside the square, touching all four sides. The area of the square that is NOT covered by the circle is closest to which value? (Use π ≈ 3.14)

Question 13
Maths reasoning · Integers

Jake says: 'If I add two negative integers, the answer is always less than if I multiply the same two integers.' Is Jake correct, and why?

Question 14
Maths reasoning · Statistics & probability

A data set has five values: 2, 5, 8, 11, and an unknown value k. The mean of all five values is 8 and the median is 8. A student claims: 'There is only one possible value of k that satisfies both conditions at the same time.' Is the student correct?

Question 15
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?

Section 2: Reading & language (15 questions)

Question 16
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 17
Reading & language · Comprehension

Read this passage, then answer the question. "The council's media release stated: 'The park upgrade project has been completed on schedule and within budget, delivering new seating, lighting and pathways for the community. A small section near the northern entrance remains temporarily closed for finishing works.'" What is the effect of describing the closed section as 'temporarily closed for finishing works'?

Question 18
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 19
Reading & language · Speaking & listening

A student prepares a three-minute persuasive speech. She plans to use: (1) a rhetorical question to open, (2) two statistics, (3) an expert quote, and (4) a personal story to close. Her teacher says, 'Your structure is strong, but you are relying entirely on one kind of appeal.' Which statement best explains the teacher's concern?

Question 20
Reading & language · Writing & grammar

A student wants to write a persuasive sentence that uses a concession to make the argument STRONGER. They write: 'Some people believe social media is harmful, but it can also connect communities and support mental health.' A classmate says the sentence is weak because admitting the other side makes the argument less convincing. Who is correct, and why?

Question 21
Reading & language · Comprehension

Read this passage, then answer the question. "The principal's message to the school newsletter said: 'We are proud of our students for their enthusiastic participation in the clean-up day. With over 200 students involved, it was our biggest event yet. A small number of students chose not to participate, but we hope they will join us next time.'" What is the effect of the phrase 'a small number of students chose not to participate' on the overall tone of the message?

Question 22
Reading & language · Persuasive & creative writing

Read this extract from a student's persuasive speech: 'Every scientist on earth agrees that we must act on climate change now. If you are not doing your part, you are personally responsible for every flood, every wildfire, every species lost.' A classmate says this passage is 'actually really persuasive.' Which response best explains why the passage is logically flawed despite feeling convincing?

Question 23
Reading & language · Speaking & listening

At the end of a debate, the judge says both teams used good evidence but Team A was more persuasive because their speakers 'made the audience feel the issue mattered personally'. Team B's speakers presented the same facts but sounded detached. What speaking technique did Team A use more effectively?

Question 24
Reading & language · Vocabulary & grammar

Read these two sentences from different editorials about the same school policy: Editorial 1: 'Students will be required to wear uniforms.' Editorial 2: 'Students will be forced into uniforms.' Which analysis most precisely explains the difference in effect?

Question 25
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 26
Reading & language · Speaking & listening

During a class fishbowl discussion, four students sit in the inner circle and debate, while the rest observe. After ten minutes, the teacher asks the observers: 'What did you notice about how the inner group managed disagreement?' One observer says, 'They kept talking over each other when they disagreed.' Another says, 'They only built on ideas they already agreed with.' A third says, 'They never summarised what had been decided before moving to a new point.' Which observation identifies the most significant barrier to productive group discussion?

Question 27
Reading & language · Writing & grammar

Read the following two versions of a paragraph opening from a narrative: Version A: 'The old house was silent. A door creaked. Something moved in the hallway. She waited.' Version B: 'The old house was silent, and then a door creaked and something moved in the hallway, so she waited.' A student claims Version B is better because it joins the ideas using connectives, showing their relationship more clearly. Which statement BEST explains why this claim is inaccurate?

Question 28
Reading & language · Vocabulary & grammar

A student reads two descriptions of the same bushfire evacuation: Text 1: 'Residents were urged to leave their homes as a precaution.' Text 2: 'Families were forced to flee, abandoning everything they owned.' Which statement BEST explains how word choice reveals a difference in perspective between the two texts?

Question 29
Reading & language · Comprehension

Read this passage, then answer the question. "The documentary about urban wildlife opened with slow footage of a fox picking its way through rubbish bins at midnight, set to melancholy piano music. The narrator said: 'These animals have adapted — but at what cost?' Later, when showing community volunteers cleaning a local park, the soundtrack switched to bright, upbeat strings." What is the most likely purpose of the contrasting soundtracks in the documentary?

Question 30
Reading & language · Persuasive & creative writing

A student is writing a horror story and wants to build tension in a scene where the main character hears a noise downstairs. She has written: 'There was a noise. Jake went to look. He was scared.' She revises it to: 'Something shifted in the kitchen — a soft drag, then silence. Jake's hand found the banister before he knew he was moving.' What does the revision do to build tension that the original does not?

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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 →