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

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 49305 · New set of questions →

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Section 1: Maths reasoning (15 questions)

Question 1
Maths reasoning · Fraction & decimal operations

Which fraction is exactly halfway between 1/3 and 5/6 on a number line?

Question 2
Maths reasoning · Geometry

Triangle PQR has angle P = (4x − 10)°, angle Q = (2x + 20)°, and angle R = (3x − 5)°. Which statement about triangle PQR is true?

Question 3
Maths reasoning · Percentages

Ella's savings increased by 25% in January, then decreased by 25% in February. She now has $450. How much did Ella have at the start of January?

Question 4
Maths reasoning · Percentages

A school raised money for a charity. In Week 1 they raised $240. In Week 2 they raised 15% more than Week 1. In Week 3 they raised 10% less than Week 2. How much did they raise in Week 3?

Question 5
Maths reasoning · Algebra & linear equations

Jamie thinks of a number. If you triple the number and subtract 10, you get the same answer as doubling the number and adding 4. Jamie then doubles his original number and adds 3. What is the final result?

Question 6
Maths reasoning · Percentages

Luca says: 'Increasing a price by 10% and then decreasing it by 10% gives you the original price.' Is Luca correct?

Question 7
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 8
Maths reasoning · Algebra & linear equations

A school is planning a trip. A bus costs $240 to hire plus $3 per student. A minivan costs $90 to hire plus $8 per student. For what number of students is the bus the CHEAPER option?

Question 9
Maths reasoning · Algebra & linear equations

The formula C = 5n + 20 gives the cost in dollars of printing n posters at Shop A. Shop B charges C = 8n − 4. A student says: 'Shop A is always cheaper than Shop B for any number of posters.' Is the student correct?

Question 10
Maths reasoning · Fractions, decimals & percentages

Which of these fractions is closest in value to 0.62?

Question 11
Maths reasoning · Integers & operations

A diver is at a depth of −18 m. She swims up at a constant rate and after 3 minutes she is at −6 m. If she continues at exactly the same rate, how many seconds after she started will she first reach a depth of 0 m (the surface)?

Question 12
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 13
Maths reasoning · Percentages & rates

A retailer buys a smartwatch for $250. He marks it up by 40% to set the selling price, then offers a loyalty discount of 15% off the selling price. A customer also has a coupon that gives an extra 5% off the discounted price. What percentage of the original cost price does the customer actually pay? Round to the nearest whole percent.

Question 14
Maths reasoning · Integers

Aisha writes four statements about integers. Which statement is TRUE for every pair of negative integers a and b where a < b (meaning a is further left on the number line than b)?

Question 15
Maths reasoning · Fractions, decimals & percentages

Mia says: 'If I add the same positive number to both the numerator and denominator of the fraction 3/7, the resulting fraction will always be greater than 3/7.' Is Mia correct? Which of the following best justifies the answer?

Section 2: Reading & language (15 questions)

Question 16
Reading & language · Comprehension

Read this passage, then answer the question. "The council's newsletter reported: 'The new library extension opened last Friday, with the mayor cutting the ribbon before a crowd of supporters. Funding for the project was sourced from the state government's community infrastructure grant. The original library building, which some residents had campaigned to preserve, will now be repurposed.'" A student says: 'The newsletter is clearly biased because it supports the council's decision to repurpose the old building.' Is this claim accurate? Choose the best evaluation.

Question 17
Reading & language · Persuasive & creative writing

A student drafts this body paragraph for a persuasive essay arguing against homework: 'Teachers assign homework to help students learn. But students who do homework late at night are too tired to learn in class the next day. So homework actually stops students from learning.' What type of reasoning error, if any, is present in this argument?

Question 18
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 19
Reading & language · Writing & grammar

Read these two versions of the same sentence: Version 1: 'The cyclist was awarded the gold medal by the judges.' Version 2: 'The judges awarded the cyclist the gold medal.' A student claims both versions mean the same thing and have the same effect. Which statement about this claim is MOST accurate?

Question 20
Reading & language · Comprehension

Read this passage, then answer the question. "Declan had told everyone he did not care whether he got the lead role in the play. When the cast list went up, he arrived at the noticeboard last, walking slowly, looking at his phone. He glanced at the list once, nodded, and walked away. At lunch he sat alone and ate nothing." The passage does not directly state how Declan feels about the cast list result. What does the sequence of his actions most strongly imply?

Question 21
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 22
Reading & language · Text response & analysis

Read this paragraph from a persuasive text about school uniforms: "Students who wear uniforms perform better academically, feel a stronger sense of belonging, and face less peer pressure about clothing. Clearly, uniforms benefit everyone." A critic argues the conclusion is not fully supported. Which reason BEST justifies the critic's view?

Question 23
Reading & language · Phonics & spelling

A student reads these four words: 'sign', 'signal', 'signature', 'insignificant'. She notices they all share the same root. She then claims: 'Because "sign" has a silent g, the g must also be silent in all four words.' Which option correctly evaluates her claim using evidence from the word set?

Question 24
Reading & language · Persuasive & creative writing

A student is writing a narrative about a character who is nervous before a speech. She writes: 'Maya checked her notes for the third time. She checked them again. Her mouth was a desert.' How do the first two sentences work together with the third sentence to show Maya's anxiety?

Question 25
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 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 · 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 28
Reading & language · Persuasive & creative writing

A student revises a persuasive essay conclusion. Original: 'In conclusion, schools should teach cooking.' Revision: 'The question is not whether schools can afford to teach cooking — it is whether we can afford not to.' The revision is more effective because it:

Question 29
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 30
Reading & language · Text response & analysis

Read: "We must act on climate change now. Every scientist agrees. The future of our children depends on it." A student argues this paragraph is persuasive because it uses facts. What is wrong with this judgement?

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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 →