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 66504 · New set of questions →

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Section 1: Maths reasoning (15 questions)

Question 1
Maths reasoning · Indices

Which expression is NOT equal to 36?

Question 2
Maths reasoning · Ratio & rates

Two taps together fill a tank in 12 minutes. Tap A alone fills it in 20 minutes. How long does Tap B alone take to fill the tank?

Question 3
Maths reasoning · Geometry

Four lines meet at a single point, creating 8 angles. Two of the angles are each 40° and are vertically opposite. Another pair of vertically opposite angles are each 70°. If all 8 angles together must add to 360°, what is the size of each of the remaining two equal angles?

Question 4
Maths reasoning · Integers & operations

The product of three consecutive integers is −60. Which set of three consecutive integers satisfies this condition?

Question 5
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 6
Maths reasoning · Integers & operations

The mean of four integers is −3. Three of the integers are −7, 2, and −5. What is the fourth integer?

Question 7
Maths reasoning · Pythagoras

An isosceles triangle has two equal sides of 10 cm and a base of 12 cm. What is the perpendicular height of the triangle, correct to one decimal place?

Question 8
Maths reasoning · Area & volume

A cylinder has a volume of 502.4 cm³ and a height of 10 cm. Using π ≈ 3.14, what is the radius of the cylinder?

Question 9
Maths reasoning · Fractions, decimals & percentages

Lena saves 3/8 of her weekly pocket money. Her friend Joel saves 37.5% of his weekly pocket money. Joel receives $56 per week and Lena receives $48 per week. Who saves more money each week, and by how much?

Question 10
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 11
Maths reasoning · Algebra & linear equations

When 4 is subtracted from three times a number, the result is the same as adding 8 to the number. Which equation correctly models this, and what is the number?

Question 12
Maths reasoning · Statistics & probability

Mia has a set of 5 different whole numbers. The mean is 8, the median is 7, and the range is 10. The smallest number in the set is 3. What is the largest number?

Question 13
Maths reasoning · Fraction & decimal operations

Calculate: 3/4 ÷ 1/2.

Question 14
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 15
Maths reasoning · Algebra & linear equations

A tank contains 200 litres of water. Pipe A drains water out at 8 litres per minute. Pipe B fills water in at 3 litres per minute. Both pipes are opened at the same time. A second tank starts empty and is filled by Pipe C at 5 litres per minute. After how many minutes will both tanks contain the same amount of water?

Section 2: Reading & language (15 questions)

Question 16
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 17
Reading & language · Comprehension

Read this passage. "The government's new transport plan was welcomed by business leaders, who said it would create jobs and reduce freight costs. Environmental groups, however, warned that the new motorway would cut through a protected wetland. The minister said the plan had undergone 'rigorous environmental assessment.' No independent review has been published." A student claims: 'This passage is balanced because it includes both positive and negative views.' Which response best evaluates that claim?

Question 18
Reading & language · Persuasive & creative writing

A student writes this persuasive letter opening: 'You probably think teenagers are lazy. You're wrong.' What is the PRIMARY strategic purpose of directly addressing the reader's assumed belief in this way?

Question 19
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 20
Reading & language · Vocabulary & grammar

Which sentence is grammatically correct?

Question 21
Reading & language · Vocabulary & grammar

Which sentence uses the word 'disinterested' correctly according to its precise meaning?

Question 22
Reading & language · Phonics & spelling

Four students each add the suffix '-ance' or '-ence' to a base word. Which student has made an error that changes the word to a non-standard spelling? Sam: 'persevere' → 'perseverance' Ava: 'exist' → 'existance' Leo: 'obey' → 'obeyance' Mia: 'correspond' → 'correspondence'

Question 23
Reading & language · Comprehension

Read this passage, then answer the question. "The coastal town of Harley Bay had resisted development for years. When a resort company announced plans to build a hotel on the beachfront, the local paper ran the headline: 'Progress Finally Arrives for Harley Bay.' A community group's flyer read: 'Harley Bay Is Not for Sale.'" A student says: 'The newspaper headline is more trustworthy than the flyer because it comes from a professional source.' Is this claim accurate? Choose the best evaluation.

Question 24
Reading & language · Text response & analysis

Read this passage: "The city gleamed in the brochure photos — wide boulevards, smiling faces, fountains. Amara arrived to find cracked footpaths, shuttered shops, and a fountain filled with leaves." A student says the author uses contrast to criticise tourism advertising. Which explanation best supports this interpretation?

Question 25
Reading & language · Comprehension

Read this passage, then answer the question. "Thomas had always been the fastest swimmer on the team. At last year's carnival he had broken two records. But this season, a new student — quiet, barely noticeable in the corridors — had been edging closer at every training session. Thomas watched her from the corner of his eye and trained an extra hour each evening. He told everyone he was not worried." A student reading this passage claims: 'The text tells us directly that Thomas is worried about the new swimmer.' Is this claim accurate?

Question 26
Reading & language · Phonics & spelling

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

Question 27
Reading & language · Comprehension

Read these two passages. Passage A: "The new stadium will bring thousands of jobs and inject millions of dollars into our local economy. It is exactly what this city needs." Passage B: "Construction of the proposed stadium is projected to create approximately 1,200 permanent positions and generate an estimated $40 million annually in economic activity, according to an independent economic report." Which statement best explains how the two passages differ in the way they present information?

Question 28
Reading & language · Writing & grammar

A student writes: 'The committee have made their decision, and everyone on it are pleased.' Which part of the sentence breaks subject-verb agreement, and why?

Question 29
Reading & language · Vocabulary & grammar

A student writes the following sentence in a persuasive essay: 'Every person in this country, whether young or old, rich or poor, urban or rural, deserves clean water.' Her teacher says the series of paired contrasts does more than add detail — it performs a specific rhetorical and grammatical function. Which explanation BEST identifies both the grammatical feature and its persuasive effect?

Question 30
Reading & language · Persuasive & creative writing

A student writes this paragraph in a persuasive essay about fast fashion: 'Fast fashion is destroying the planet. Young people especially need to stop buying cheap clothes. We all know this is true, and anyone who shops at fast fashion stores is just being selfish.' A teacher comments: 'Your evidence is missing and your appeal to your audience is likely to backfire.' Which revision strategy best addresses BOTH problems the teacher has identified?

Your result

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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 →