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 88170 · New set of questions →

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Section 1: Maths reasoning (15 questions)

Question 1
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 2
Maths reasoning · Ratios & rates

A runner completes 400 m in 64 seconds. A cyclist travels at a rate that is exactly 5 times faster. How long, in seconds, does the cyclist take to travel 1.5 km?

Question 3
Maths reasoning · Equations

A bag contains only red and blue counters. There are 5 more red counters than blue counters. If you triple the number of blue counters, you get the total number of counters in the bag. How many red counters are in the bag?

Question 4
Maths reasoning · Indices

Which value of n makes this equation true? 4^n × 2^(n+1) = 2^13

Question 5
Maths reasoning · Area, volume & angles

A rectangular piece of cardboard is 12 cm by 8 cm. Squares of side length 2 cm are cut from each corner and the sides are folded up to make an open box. What is the volume of the box?

Question 6
Maths reasoning · Percentages & rates

A phone plan charges a flat rate of $0.35 per minute for calls and $0.12 per SMS. In one month, Lachlan makes 45 minutes of calls and sends 80 SMS messages. What percentage of his total bill is made up by SMS charges? Round to the nearest whole percent.

Question 7
Maths reasoning · Area, volume & angles

A composite solid is made by placing a cube of side 4 cm on top of a rectangular prism that is 8 cm long, 6 cm wide, and 3 cm tall. What is the total volume of the solid?

Question 8
Maths reasoning · Probability

A spinner is spun twice. The probability of landing on yellow on any single spin is 0.4. After spinning twice, a student records the result. Which of the following is the correct probability of landing on yellow at least once in the two spins?

Question 9
Maths reasoning · Fractions, decimals & percentages

Petra invests $2 000. In the first year her investment grows by 15%. In the second year it falls by 10%. What is the value of her investment at the end of the second year, and is it more or less than her original $2 000?

Question 10
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 11
Maths reasoning · Integers & operations

Which of the following statements about integer multiplication is TRUE for ALL integer values of a and b?

Question 12
Maths reasoning · Algebraic thinking

A number machine uses two steps in order: STEP 1 — subtract 3, STEP 2 — multiply by 4. The output is 28. What was the input?

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 · Pythagoras

A rectangle has a diagonal of 20 cm. Its width is 12 cm. What is the area of the rectangle?

Question 15
Maths reasoning · Percentages

15 is 10% of what number?

Section 2: Reading & language (15 questions)

Question 16
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 17
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 18
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 19
Reading & language · Speaking & listening

A Year 6 student is asked to chair a class discussion about whether social media should be banned for under-13s. Three students keep interrupting each other, two students have said nothing, and the discussion has moved away from the topic. What should the chair do first, and why?

Question 20
Reading & language · Comprehension

Read this passage, then answer the question. "Two journalists covered the same factory fire. The first wrote: 'Firefighters battled through the night to contain the blaze, saving dozens of jobs and preventing further damage.' The second wrote: 'A fire last night destroyed a portion of the Millvale factory, raising questions about whether safety standards were adequate.'" Which statement best explains how the two reports reveal different perspectives?

Question 21
Reading & language · Writing & grammar

Read this sentence: 'It was the team's performance, not the referee's decisions, that ultimately decided the outcome.' A student says the verb should be 'were' because there are two nouns (performance and decisions). Is the student correct, and why?

Question 22
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 23
Reading & language · Persuasive & creative writing

A student revises the conclusion of her persuasive essay on compulsory sport in schools. Original: 'In conclusion, compulsory sport is good for students and schools should keep it.' Revision: 'The choice is simple: we either invest in students' physical and mental wellbeing now, or we pay a far greater price later. Compulsory sport is not a burden — it is a foundation.' Her teacher says the revision is 'significantly more persuasive'. Which analysis BEST explains why the revision is stronger, and identifies a potential weakness?

Question 24
Reading & language · Vocabulary & grammar

Two news headlines report the same event. Headline 1: 'Protesters storm city hall.' Headline 2: 'Activists peacefully occupy civic building.' Which analysis best explains how word choice reveals bias?

Question 25
Reading & language · Persuasive & creative writing

Two students write about the same topic — whether Australia should ban single-use plastics — for a school debate. Student A writes: 'Single-use plastics contribute significantly to marine pollution and landfill waste, according to a 2022 CSIRO report.' Student B writes: 'Every straw you use stabs at the future of our oceans.' Which statement BEST explains how Student B's technique creates a STRONGER emotional impact than Student A's, and what trade-off this involves?

Question 26
Reading & language · Reading & comprehension

Read these two sentences from a short story: 'The hospital corridor smelled of disinfectant and cold meals. Somewhere behind a curtain, a television murmured about cricket.' What is the most likely purpose of these two sentences?

Question 27
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 28
Reading & language · Persuasive & creative writing

A student writes this body paragraph for a persuasive essay: 'Teenagers need more sleep. Research shows most get less than eight hours. This is a problem.' Her teacher says the paragraph 'makes a claim and offers evidence but is still not persuasive'. What is MISSING that would make the paragraph persuasive?

Question 29
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 30
Reading & language · Vocabulary & grammar

Which sentence uses an apostrophe correctly?

Your result

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Maths reasoning0 / 15
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 →