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 65615 · New set of questions →

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Section 1: Maths reasoning (15 questions)

Question 1
Maths reasoning · Pythagoras

A square has side length 7 cm. A smaller square is drawn inside it so that each vertex of the smaller square lies on a side of the outer square, exactly 3 cm from one corner. What is the side length of the inner square?

Question 2
Maths reasoning · Ratio & rates

A school buys red and blue pens in the ratio 4 : 3. After the teacher gives away 12 red pens, the ratio of red pens to blue pens becomes 1 : 1. How many blue pens did the school buy?

Question 3
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 4
Maths reasoning · Percentages & rates

After 20% off, an item costs $48. Original price?

Question 5
Maths reasoning · Ratios & rates

A factory produces defective and non-defective items in the ratio 1 : 19. After a machine upgrade, the number of defective items is halved while the number of non-defective items stays the same. Before the upgrade, 400 items were produced in total. What is the new ratio of defective to non-defective items, in simplest form?

Question 6
Maths reasoning · Probability

A bag contains only red and blue marbles. The probability of drawing a red marble is 2/5. Three marbles are drawn one at a time WITH replacement. What is the probability of getting exactly 2 blue marbles?

Question 7
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 8
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 9
Maths reasoning · Area, volume & angles

Two angles at a straight line are marked as (3x)° and (x + 40)°. What is the value of x?

Question 10
Maths reasoning · Statistics & probability

Adding the value 0 to the set 4, 6, 8 changes the mean to:

Question 11
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 12
Maths reasoning · Indices

Simplify: (2⁴ × 8) ÷ 4³, giving your answer as a power of 2.

Question 13
Maths reasoning · Equations

The solution to the equation 4(x + 3) = 2x + 18 is worked out below. Which step contains the FIRST error? Step 1: 4x + 12 = 2x + 18 Step 2: 4x − 2x = 18 − 12 Step 3: 2x = 6 Step 4: x = 4

Question 14
Maths reasoning · Fraction & decimal operations

A ribbon is 7.2 metres long. It is cut into pieces that are each 0.8 metres long. The pieces are shared equally among 3 friends. How many pieces does each friend get?

Question 15
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?

Section 2: Reading & language (15 questions)

Question 16
Reading & language · Reading & comprehension

A persuasive article about renewable energy uses these two sentences close together: 'Some critics argue solar panels are too expensive. These critics have never seen an electricity bill rise by forty per cent in a single year.' What persuasive strategy does the second sentence use?

Question 17
Reading & language · Vocabulary & grammar

In the sentence 'The principal announced that the students, exhausted after the long camp, were to be given a free period', what is the grammatical function of 'exhausted after the long camp'?

Question 18
Reading & language · Vocabulary & grammar

Read this passage: 'The principal announced the new rule. Students would no longer be allowed to use their phones during lunch. Many students felt this was unfair. Even so, they handed them in without complaint.' If a student is asked to identify the text's cohesive device that signals contrast in the final sentence, which is the correct answer, and why?

Question 19
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 20
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 21
Reading & language · Comprehension

Read this passage. "The journalist's report began: 'Hundreds of concerned locals flooded the council chambers last Tuesday.' A second journalist covering the same meeting wrote: 'Approximately two hundred residents attended the council session on Tuesday.'" Which statement best explains how the two reports differ in their portrayal of the event?

Question 22
Reading & language · Vocabulary & grammar

Read this sentence: 'The council's decision to close the park was met with fierce opposition from residents, who argued it was their only green space.' Which grammatical feature most contributes to the persuasive force of the residents' argument?

Question 23
Reading & language · Persuasive & creative writing

A student is writing a persuasive essay arguing that teenagers should be allowed to vote at 16. She writes this body paragraph: 'Sixteen-year-olds can drive, pay taxes, and leave school — yet they cannot vote on the laws that govern all these choices. This is not a privilege we are asking for. It is a right that logic demands.' She then begins her next paragraph with a new argument. What is the most significant structural weakness in this paragraph?

Question 24
Reading & language · Speaking & listening

A student listens to two speakers give opposing arguments on whether homework should be abolished. Speaker A uses emotional stories. Speaker B uses research statistics. Afterwards, the student says, 'Both speakers made me think differently about the issue.' Which listening behaviour best explains this response?

Question 25
Reading & language · Text response & analysis

Read this passage: 'The trophy sat on the shelf for twenty years, gathering dust. Marcus never spoke about the race. Visitors sometimes pointed to it and he would change the subject, offer tea, move to another room.' A student interprets this passage as follows: 'The author uses repetition of Marcus's avoidance to suggest the trophy represents guilt rather than pride.' Another student says: 'This interpretation is wrong because the text never uses the word guilt, so you cannot say that.' Which response best evaluates whether the first student's interpretation is valid?

Question 26
Reading & language · Speaking & listening

During a school assembly rehearsal, Tom delivers his speech perfectly at home but freezes mid-sentence in front of 200 students. He then rushes through the second half much faster than planned. Which explanation best describes what has happened to Tom's communication, and what should he have practised to prevent it?

Question 27
Reading & language · Writing & grammar

A student writes: 'The reason the experiment failed was because the temperature was not controlled.' A teacher underlines the phrase 'The reason…was because' and asks the student to correct it. The student changes it to: 'The reason the experiment failed was due to the temperature not being controlled.' Has the student fixed the problem? Why or why not?

Question 28
Reading & language · Text response & analysis

Read this student essay extract: 'Shakespeare makes Romeo seem impulsive through his actions. For example, Romeo quickly falls in love with Juliet even though he was in love with Rosaline only the day before. This shows he is impulsive.' Which is the MOST accurate analysis of why this response is weak?

Question 29
Reading & language · Vocabulary & grammar

Read this sentence: 'Having studied all night, the exam felt surprisingly manageable to Aiden.' A teacher marks this as containing a dangling modifier. Which version correctly repairs the error AND keeps the intended meaning that Aiden did the studying?

Question 30
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?

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Reading & language0 / 15
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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 →