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 86206 · New set of questions →

Time remaining 25:00Not started

Section 1: Maths reasoning (15 questions)

Question 1
Maths reasoning · Pythagoras

On a coordinate grid, point P is at (1, 2) and point Q is at (7, 10). Point R is at (7, 2). Which statement about triangle PQR is correct?

Question 2
Maths reasoning · Algebraic thinking

A rule connects the values in this table: | n | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |---|---|---|---|---| | T | 7 | 11 | 15 | 19 | Kai says the rule is T = 4n + 3. Maya says the rule is T = 4n + 2. Who is correct, and what is the value of T when n = 8?

Question 3
Maths reasoning · Geometry

An L-shape is a 6×4 rectangle with a 2×2 square removed. Its area is:

Question 4
Maths reasoning · Ratios & rates

A tap leaks at a rate of 3 litres every 4 hours. A plumber says the leak wastes more than 500 litres over 4 weeks (28 days). Is the plumber correct, and how many litres are wasted in 28 days?

Question 5
Maths reasoning · Area, volume & angles

A triangular prism has a right-angled triangular face with legs 6 cm and 8 cm. The prism is 12 cm long. A rectangular prism 4 cm × 3 cm × 12 cm is cut away from inside the solid. What is the volume of the remaining solid?

Question 6
Maths reasoning · Equations

Three consecutive even integers have a sum of 78. A student writes the equation n + (n + 2) + (n + 4) = 78 and solves it to find n = 24, then states the three integers are 24, 26, and 28. Another student says: 'If you instead call the middle integer m, your equation becomes (m − 2) + m + (m + 2) = 78, which gives 3m = 78, so m = 26.' Which statement is correct?

Question 7
Maths reasoning · Integers & operations

Freya says: 'If you subtract a negative integer from a positive integer, the result is always positive.' Is she correct?

Question 8
Maths reasoning · Fraction & decimal operations

A tank holds 12.6 litres of water. Each day, 1.4 litres evaporates. After how many days will the tank have less than 5 litres remaining?

Question 9
Maths reasoning · Percentages & rates

A shopkeeper increases an item's price by 20%, then decreases the new price by 10%, then increases that price by 15%. What is the overall percentage change from the original price? Round to the nearest whole percent.

Question 10
Maths reasoning · Fraction & decimal operations

Lena is filling small bottles from a large container. Each bottle holds 3/8 of a litre. The container holds 4 1/2 litres. How many full bottles can Lena fill?

Question 11
Maths reasoning · Probability

Events A and B are mutually exclusive. P(A) = 0.35 and P(B) = 0.4. A student claims P(A and B) = 0.35 × 0.4 = 0.14. Which statement correctly explains the error?

Question 12
Maths reasoning · Algebraic expressions

The cost of hiring a bicycle is $8 plus $3 per hour. Lena hires a bicycle and pays $29. Jake hires a bicycle for twice as many hours as Lena. Which expression gives Jake's total cost in dollars?

Question 13
Maths reasoning · Algebraic thinking

A number machine applies two steps in order: STEP 1 — multiply by 2, STEP 2 — add 10. A second machine reverses the steps: STEP 1 — add 10, STEP 2 — multiply by 2. Which statement correctly explains when, if ever, the two machines give the same output?

Question 14
Maths reasoning · Indices

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

Question 15
Maths reasoning · Percentages & rates

A boutique invests in new stock. In January, the stock value increases by 40%. In February, the new value decreases by 25%. In March, that value increases by 20%. A boutique owner claims the stock is now worth more than the original value. By what percentage is the final value above or below the original value?

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 · 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 18
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 19
Reading & language · Persuasive & creative writing

A student is writing a persuasive speech and includes this passage: 'Imagine waking up to find your local park has become a car park. Imagine your children asking where the trees went. Imagine a city where every patch of green has been paved over.' A classmate says, 'You should cut two of those sentences — they're repetitive.' The student disagrees. Who is correct, and why?

Question 20
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 21
Reading & language · Writing & grammar

Which correctly completes: 'Between you and ___, it's a secret.'?

Question 22
Reading & language · Vocabulary & grammar

A student writes: 'Having finished her homework, the television was turned on by Maya.' A teacher marks this as containing two errors. Which pair of errors is correct?

Question 23
Reading & language · Text response & analysis

Read this extract from a student's argument essay: "Teenagers are clearly the most responsible group in society. They manage social media, schoolwork, and part-time jobs simultaneously. If they can handle all of this, they should definitely be allowed to vote at 16." Which is the most significant weakness in this argument?

Question 24
Reading & language · Comprehension

Read this passage. "The journalist's article opened: 'A brave group of protesters stood their ground outside parliament.' A second journalist covering the same event wrote: 'A group of demonstrators gathered outside parliament.'" Which technique most clearly reveals bias in the first journalist's report, and how does it shape the reader's interpretation?

Question 25
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 26
Reading & language · Writing & grammar

A student wants to write a persuasive sentence that uses a concession to make the argument STRONGER. They write: 'Some people believe social media is harmful, but it can also connect communities and support mental health.' A classmate says the sentence is weak because admitting the other side makes the argument less convincing. Who is correct, and why?

Question 27
Reading & language · Text response & analysis

Two students write a topic sentence for a text response paragraph about the same novel. Both are arguing that the author uses weather to reflect the protagonist's mental state. Student A: 'Throughout the novel, storm imagery mirrors the protagonist's growing despair, signalling that the external world has become an extension of her internal collapse.' Student B: 'The weather in the novel is used to show how the protagonist is feeling sad.' A teacher awards Student A a significantly higher mark. Which statement MOST accurately explains the difference in quality between the two sentences, and why it matters for a text response?

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 · Speaking & listening

A panel discussion has four speakers. After each person speaks, the next speaker begins with 'Building on what [name] said...' and then adds a new idea. By the end of the discussion, the group has developed a position that no single speaker had at the start. Which speaking and listening skill does this best demonstrate?

Question 30
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?

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 →