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.

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

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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 23607 · New set of questions →

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Section 1: Maths reasoning (15 questions)

Question 1
Maths reasoning · Area & volume

Two cubes, A and B, have side lengths in the ratio 1 : 3. What is the ratio of their volumes?

Question 2
Maths reasoning · Fraction & decimal operations

Mia has completed 5/8 of a 4.8 km bush walk. How many kilometres does she still have left to walk?

Question 3
Maths reasoning · Algebraic expressions

Which of the following expressions has the same value as 4(3x − 2) − 2(x − 5) for every value of x?

Question 4
Maths reasoning · Ratios & rates

A school has students and teachers in the ratio 18 : 1. There are 540 students. The school then enrols 90 more students with no new teachers hired. What is the new student-to-teacher ratio, expressed in simplest form?

Question 5
Maths reasoning · Equations

Solve: 3x + 10 = 1.

Question 6
Maths reasoning · Indices

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

Question 7
Maths reasoning · Integers

Which pair of integers has a sum of −3 and a product of −28?

Question 8
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?

Question 9
Maths reasoning · Area & volume

A garden bed is shaped like a trapezium with parallel sides of 9 m and 15 m and a perpendicular height of 8 m. A gardener claims the area is greater than 100 m². A second gardener claims it is less than 100 m². Which statement is correct, and what is the actual area?

Question 10
Maths reasoning · Percentages

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

Question 11
Maths reasoning · Integers

Which expression has the greatest value?

Question 12
Maths reasoning · Indices

A student claims: 2³ × 3³ = 6⁶. Is the student correct? Choose the best explanation.

Question 13
Maths reasoning · Statistics & probability

A data set has five whole numbers listed in order: 3, 6, k, 14, 19. The mean of all five values is 11 and the median is k. A student says: 'There is exactly one whole number value of k that satisfies both conditions.' Is the student correct, and why?

Question 14
Maths reasoning · Percentages & rates

A gym membership costs $600 per year. The gym increases the price by 10% at the start of Year 2, then increases the Year 2 price by a further 10% at the start of Year 3. A member claims the total increase over the two years is exactly 20% of the original price. A second member claims the Year 3 price equals the Year 1 price multiplied by 1.21. Which statement is correct?

Question 15
Maths reasoning · Fractions, decimals & percentages

A tank is 3/8 full and holds 240 litres when full. Water is added until the tank is 5/6 full. How many litres of water are added?

Section 2: Reading & language (15 questions)

Question 16
Reading & language · Text response & analysis

A narrator in a short story repeatedly describes a character called Mr Holt as 'generous' and 'kind', but every scene shows him demanding favours in return for help and ignoring people who cannot benefit him. What technique is the author using, and what is its most likely purpose?

Question 17
Reading & language · Speaking & listening

A student is preparing a speech to persuade her class that the school canteen should sell healthier food. She decides to open with a short story about a student who felt sick after eating a greasy meal, then follow with two statistics about student concentration. Which statement best explains why this structure is effective?

Question 18
Reading & language · Persuasive & creative writing

Two students write about the same issue — plastic pollution — for a school newspaper. Student A writes: 'Plastic waste is a growing environmental problem that scientists and governments must address urgently.' Student B writes: 'Our oceans are drowning in plastic while governments fiddle and scientists debate. Who will speak for the fish?' Which statement BEST explains how the second text reveals a stronger bias?

Question 19
Reading & language · Reading & comprehension

A story narrator says: 'I told Jess it was a great idea.' Later the narrator thinks: 'I had said what she needed to hear.' What does the second sentence reveal about the narrator that the first sentence hides?

Question 20
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 21
Reading & language · Persuasive & creative writing

A student reads this sentence from a persuasive article about animal testing: 'Surely no compassionate person could look into the eyes of a beagle and approve of what happens to it in a laboratory.' She wants to use it as evidence in her own essay. Her teacher warns her that the sentence is 'rhetorically powerful but evidentially weak.' Which explanation best justifies the teacher's comment?

Question 22
Reading & language · Text response & analysis

Two newspaper articles report the same house fire. Article 1 headline: 'Family loses everything in tragic blaze'. Article 2 headline: 'Negligent homeowners cause street evacuation'. Which technique most clearly reveals Article 2 writer's bias, and why?

Question 23
Reading & language · Reading & comprehension

Read this passage: 'Maya pressed her lips together and stared at the floor when her name was called to receive the trophy. Her hands were perfectly still.' Which statement best explains what Maya is feeling, and how you know?

Question 24
Reading & language · Text response & analysis

Read these two short texts about the same school funding policy: Text 1 (newspaper editorial): 'The government's decision to redirect school funding to regional areas is a courageous act of fairness, finally addressing decades of neglect.' Text 2 (parent group newsletter): 'The government's sudden funding cuts have left metropolitan schools scrambling, with programs axed and class sizes ballooning.' A student says: 'Text 2 is more biased than Text 1 because it uses emotional words like scrambling and axed.' What is the most significant flaw in this student's analysis?

Question 25
Reading & language · Text response & analysis

Read this passage: "Jake slammed his locker shut and walked to class without looking at anyone. 'Fine,' he muttered when his friend asked if he was okay. At lunch he sat alone, staring at his untouched food." Which statement best explains what the word 'Fine' reveals about Jake?

Question 26
Reading & language · Writing & grammar

A student writes the following two sentences in a persuasive essay about school uniforms: Sentence A: 'Although uniforms can feel restrictive, they remove the pressure of choosing what to wear each day, which research suggests reduces morning anxiety in students.' Sentence B: 'Uniforms are restrictive but they remove pressure and research says anxiety is reduced.' A classmate says both sentences make the same argument, so they are equally effective. Which statement BEST explains why this claim is inaccurate?

Question 27
Reading & language · Speaking & listening

A Year 6 student is giving a speech about saving local wetlands. She says: 'You might think this is someone else's problem — but this wetland is two kilometres from our school. Some of you have ridden your bikes past it. Last spring it flooded the oval where you play footy.' Her classmates who had been distracted start paying attention. Which explanation best accounts for why this moment in her speech was effective?

Question 28
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 29
Reading & language · Comprehension

Read this passage, then answer the question. "The two candidates for school captain gave speeches on the same day. Priya said: 'I want to make our school a place where every student feels heard — not just the ones who already have a voice.' Marcus said: 'We have a strong school community. I will work to keep what we have built and push us even further.'" A student claims: 'Priya's speech shows she thinks the school already treats students fairly.' Is this claim accurate? Choose the best evaluation.

Question 30
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?

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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 →