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 99876 · New set of questions →

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Section 1: Maths reasoning (15 questions)

Question 1
Maths reasoning · Percentages & rates

A boutique invests in new stock. In January, the stock value increases by 40%. In February, the new value decreases by 25%. In March, that value increases by 20%. A boutique owner claims the stock is now worth more than the original value. By what percentage is the final value above or below the original value?

Question 2
Maths reasoning · Indices

A student writes: 3⁻² + 3⁻² = 3⁻⁴. Which statement is correct?

Question 3
Maths reasoning · Ratios & rates

A bag contains only red, blue and green marbles in the ratio 2 : 3 : 5. Some green marbles are removed so that the new ratio of red to blue to green becomes 2 : 3 : 4. After the removal, the total number of marbles is 45. How many green marbles were removed?

Question 4
Maths reasoning · Fractions, decimals & percentages

After a 25% increase, a pair of shoes costs $90. What was the original price?

Question 5
Maths reasoning · Pythagoras

Three squares are drawn on the sides of a triangle. The two smaller squares have areas of 20 cm² and 45 cm². A student claims the triangle is right-angled because 20 + 45 = 65. Is the student correct, and why?

Question 6
Maths reasoning · Percentages

A store marks up the wholesale price of a skateboard by 40% to set the retail price. During a sale, the retail price is then reduced by 25%. The sale price is $63. What was the original wholesale price of the skateboard?

Question 7
Maths reasoning · Fraction & decimal operations

Calculate: 2/3 × 3/4.

Question 8
Maths reasoning · Equations

A plumber charges a $45 call-out fee plus $60 per hour. An electrician charges a $75 call-out fee plus $50 per hour. For how many hours of work do they charge exactly the same total amount?

Question 9
Maths reasoning · Statistics & probability

A bag contains red, yellow, and purple counters. The probability of randomly selecting a red counter is 2/5 and the probability of selecting a yellow counter is 1/4. A student claims: 'There must be at least 20 counters in the bag for these probabilities to both be possible at the same time.' Is the student correct, and why?

Question 10
Maths reasoning · Algebraic thinking

The expression 4n + 2 gives the total number of tiles in a shape pattern, where n is the pattern number. Which pattern number first gives a total greater than 50 tiles?

Question 11
Maths reasoning · Integers & operations

Freya says: 'If you subtract a negative integer from a positive integer, the result is always positive.' Is she correct?

Question 12
Maths reasoning · Area, volume & angles

A rectangular piece of cardboard is 12 cm by 8 cm. Squares of side length 2 cm are cut from each corner and the sides are folded up to make an open box. What is the volume of the box?

Question 13
Maths reasoning · Indices

Two students simplify 4³ × 2⁵. Student A gets 8⁸ and Student B gets 2¹¹. Who is correct, and why?

Question 14
Maths reasoning · Area & volume

A rectangular swimming pool is 12 m long and 5 m wide. It is filled with water to a depth of 1.5 m. Water costs $2.40 per kilolitre (1 kL = 1 m³). How much does it cost to fill the pool?

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 · Comprehension

Read this passage, then answer the question. "The review of the school play read: 'The set design was inventive and the lighting created a genuinely eerie atmosphere in Act Two. The lead performances were energetic, if occasionally rushed. The script, however, relied too heavily on familiar jokes and offered few surprises. Audiences who enjoy community theatre will find much to appreciate, though those seeking originality may leave wanting more.'" Which sentence from the review best shows that the reviewer is giving a balanced evaluation rather than a purely positive or negative one?

Question 17
Reading & language · Text response & analysis

Read: "The journalist wrote: 'The council's controversial decision was finally overturned after months of community pressure.' A second journalist covered the same event and wrote: 'The council listened to residents and changed course on the planned development.'" Which analysis best identifies how the two reports frame the same event differently?

Question 18
Reading & language · Vocabulary & grammar

Two news headlines report the same event. Headline 1: 'Protesters storm city hall.' Headline 2: 'Activists peacefully occupy civic building.' Which analysis best explains how word choice reveals bias?

Question 19
Reading & language · Text response & analysis

A novel's first-person narrator describes a market as 'vibrant and alive', but every specific detail she gives — wilting flowers, a vendor asleep at his stall, a puddle of rotting fruit — contradicts this. What is the author most likely achieving through this technique?

Question 20
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 21
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 22
Reading & language · Text response & analysis

Read: "The government's plan will create 10 000 new jobs — a historic achievement. Critics, however, claim the plan ignores environmental costs and relies on projections that experts call 'overly optimistic'." A student says the text is balanced because it includes both the government's view and the critics' view. What does the student overlook?

Question 23
Reading & language · Vocabulary & grammar

Read the following: 'The report was, needless to say, absolutely flawless.' A student claims the phrase 'needless to say' is redundant because the word 'absolutely' already emphasises the point. Is the student correct?

Question 24
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 25
Reading & language · Vocabulary & grammar

A student writes: 'Neither the players nor the coach were happy with the result.' A teacher marks this incorrect. What is the error and what is the correct form?

Question 26
Reading & language · Phonics & spelling

Look at the four words below: • 'referred' • 'offered' • 'preferred' • 'suffered' A student claims: 'When you add "-ed" to a verb ending in "-fer", you always double the final r.' Which word is the BEST evidence that this claim is WRONG, and what rule does it actually follow?

Question 27
Reading & language · Comprehension

Read this passage, then answer the question. "Two newspapers reported the same local election result. The Herald wrote: 'Incumbent mayor Sandra Pearce retained her seat, defeating challenger Tom Ruiz by a margin of 4.2 per cent in a largely uneventful contest.' The Tribune wrote: 'In a closer-than-expected race, newcomer Tom Ruiz came within 4.2 per cent of unseating Sandra Pearce, suggesting growing dissatisfaction with her leadership.'" Which statement best explains how the two reports construct different impressions of the same result?

Question 28
Reading & language · Reading & comprehension

Read this passage from a short story: 'The morning of the spelling bee, Callum ate his breakfast standing up. He answered every question Mum asked with one word. At school, he laughed loudly at jokes that weren't that funny, and he signed up to help stack chairs after assembly — something he had never once volunteered for before.' A student says: 'Callum is excited about the spelling bee because he is being helpful and cheerful.' Which response best evaluates the student's claim?

Question 29
Reading & language · Comprehension

Read this passage. "The old lighthouse had stood on the cliff for over a century. Every night, its beam swept the dark water below. When the council announced it would be demolished, the town was divided. Some residents called it a relic of the past, while others argued it was the very soul of their community. The mayor remained silent throughout the debate." What does the mayor's silence most likely suggest to the reader?

Question 30
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?

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 →