Free · Timed · 25 minutes · Years 6–8

Free Selective Entry Practice Test — 30 Questions, 25 Minutes, Instant Results

A free, timed sample of the kind of multiple-choice questions the Victorian Selective Entry exam asks: 30 questions across maths reasoning 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.

Start the practice test ↓   Or take the free 15-minute Skills Check →

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

Free practice quizzes › Selective Entry practice test · Scholarship 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 12574 · New set of questions →

Time remaining 25:00Not started

Section 1: Maths reasoning (15 questions)

Question 1
Maths reasoning · Fractions, decimals & percentages

Three friends share a pizza. Tom eats 1/3, Erin eats 30%, and Sam eats 0.25 of the pizza. What fraction of the pizza is left over? Give your answer as a fraction in simplest form.

Question 2
Maths reasoning · Fractions, decimals & percentages

In a class, 60% of students play sport and 3/4 of those who play sport also play a musical instrument. What fraction of the whole class plays both sport and a musical instrument?

Question 3
Maths reasoning · Fractions, decimals & percentages

A school canteen buys muffins at a wholesale price. It sells them at a 40% mark-up. At the end of the day, unsold muffins are discounted by 40% off the selling price. A muffin that was not sold at full price is finally sold at the discounted price. Compared to the wholesale price, the final discounted selling price is:

Question 4
Maths reasoning · Area & volume

Two cylinders, P and Q, have the same volume. Cylinder P has radius 6 cm and height 4 cm. Cylinder Q has radius 3 cm. Using π ≈ 3.14, what is the height of cylinder Q?

Question 5
Maths reasoning · Percentages

Three friends each start with a different amount of pocket money. Ava's amount increases by 20%. Ben's amount increases by 50% and then decreases by 20%. Charlie's amount decreases by 10% and then increases by 30%. Which statement about their overall percentage change is correct?

Question 6
Maths reasoning · Integers

Maya writes this rule: 'Start with any negative integer. Add it to its opposite. Then multiply the result by any negative integer. The final answer is always zero.' Which explanation BEST describes why Maya's rule always works?

Question 7
Maths reasoning · Ratio & rates

Tom and Ava share some money in the ratio 3 : 5. Ava receives $64 more than Tom. How much money is shared in total?

Question 8
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 9
Maths reasoning · Probability

A bag contains only red, blue, and green marbles. The probability of drawing a red marble is 1/3 and the probability of drawing a blue marble is 1/4. A marble is drawn at random. What is the probability it is NOT green?

Question 10
Maths reasoning · Area & volume

A rectangular prism has a length of 10 cm, width of 5 cm, and height of 8 cm. Its length and width are each increased by 20%, but its height stays the same. By what percentage does the volume increase?

Question 11
Maths reasoning · Equations

Two friends each choose a different value of x and substitute it into the expression 6x − 1. Alex gets a result that is exactly 15 more than Billie's result. How much greater is Alex's value of x than Billie's?

Question 12
Maths reasoning · Area, volume & angles

An L-shaped solid is made by starting with a rectangular prism 10 cm long, 6 cm wide, and 5 cm tall, then removing a rectangular prism 4 cm long, 3 cm wide, and 5 cm tall from one corner. What is the volume of the remaining solid?

Question 13
Maths reasoning · Ratios & rates

Share $60 in the ratio 1 : 2 : 3. The largest share is:

Question 14
Maths reasoning · Pythagoras

A 10 m ladder rests 6 m from a wall. It reaches how high?

Question 15
Maths reasoning · Percentages & rates

A jacket is discounted by 30%, then the sale price is increased by 30%. Compared to the original price, the final price is:

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 this passage. "In the 1850s, thousands of people travelled to Victoria to search for gold. Many came from China, walking hundreds of kilometres from ports in South Australia to avoid a tax imposed at Victorian ports. The routes they walked became known as the Chinese immigration trails. Some communities along these routes grew rapidly; others were left behind as the gold rush moved on." Which inference is best supported by the passage?

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 · 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 20
Reading & language · Vocabulary & grammar

Read these two versions of the same sentence: Version 1: 'The factory released toxic chemicals into the river.' Version 2: 'Toxic chemicals were released into the river.' A student says Version 2 is weaker because passive voice is always a grammatical mistake. Which response BEST evaluates the student's claim using grammatical and rhetorical reasoning?

Question 21
Reading & language · Text response & analysis

Read: "The Prime Minister's office released a statement saying the new policy would 'benefit all Australians.' Community groups called the policy 'a disaster for ordinary families.' A small survey of 50 people found 60% opposed it." Which technique most strongly reveals potential bias in how this report is written, and what does it suggest?

Question 22
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 23
Reading & language · Persuasive & creative writing

A student writes a short story about a girl named Priya who has just been told she did not get the part in the school play. The student writes this final scene: 'Priya stood outside the noticeboard for a long time. When she finally walked away, she chose the long way home — past the oval, through the park, along the river.' Her teacher calls this ending 'quietly devastating'. A classmate suggests the student add: 'She was heartbroken.' Why would adding 'She was heartbroken' MOST likely weaken the ending?

Question 24
Reading & language · Phonics & spelling

Which sentence contains a word where the suffix has been added INCORRECTLY, changing the meaning from what was intended?

Question 25
Reading & language · Speaking & listening

During a class presentation, Olivia says: 'Some people think solar panels are too expensive, and that's a fair point — but new data shows the cost has dropped by sixty per cent in ten years.' Which strategy is Olivia using, and why is it more effective than simply ignoring the opposing view?

Question 26
Reading & language · Vocabulary & grammar

Which sentence uses an apostrophe correctly?

Question 27
Reading & language · Text response & analysis

A student writes this topic sentence for a paragraph in a text response essay: 'In the novel, there are many examples of courage.' Why is this topic sentence weak for a text analysis essay?

Question 28
Reading & language · Comprehension

Read this passage. "Every morning, Lena walked past the empty block on Marsh Street. The council sign said 'Future Community Garden.' Weeds pressed through the chain-link fence. By June, the sign had faded. By August, someone had spray-painted 'STILL WAITING' across it. Lena took a photo and posted it without a caption." What does Lena's decision to post the photo without a caption most likely suggest?

Question 29
Reading & language · Phonics & spelling

How many syllables in 'responsibility'?

Question 30
Reading & language · Text response & analysis

Read these two paragraphs written by different students about the same scene: a boy named Eli who gives his lunch to a homeless man. Student A: 'Eli gives his lunch away, which shows he is generous and kind.' Student B: 'When Eli silently slides his lunch bag across without making eye contact, the author suggests that true generosity seeks no recognition — Eli's averted gaze becomes the text's quiet argument against performative kindness.' A student says both responses make the same basic point, so they are equally valid for a text analysis essay. What is wrong with this judgement?

Your result

0 / 30
Maths reasoning0 / 15
Reading & language0 / 15
Time used

Take the free full Skills Check →   Try another set

What this Selective Entry 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 7 or 8 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 Selective Entry 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 Selective Entry exam runs for several hours with reasoning sections and two writing tasks. 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 →