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 96014 · New set of questions →

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Section 1: Maths reasoning (15 questions)

Question 1
Maths reasoning · Equations

A farmer has chickens and sheep. There are 4 more chickens than sheep. The total number of legs (chickens have 2 legs, sheep have 4 legs) is 56. How many sheep are on the farm?

Question 2
Maths reasoning · Area & volume

A triangle has base 12 cm and height h cm. A rectangle has the same area as the triangle. The rectangle's length is 9 cm and its width is 4 cm. What is the height h of the triangle?

Question 3
Maths reasoning · Pythagoras

A square has a diagonal of 10 cm. What is the side length of the square, correct to one decimal place?

Question 4
Maths reasoning · Geometry

A rectangle has a perimeter of 56 cm. Its length is 4 cm more than three times its width. What is the length of the rectangle?

Question 5
Maths reasoning · Percentages

15 is 10% of what number?

Question 6
Maths reasoning · Percentages & rates

A gym membership costs $600 per year. The gym increases the price by 10% at the start of Year 2, then increases the Year 2 price by a further 10% at the start of Year 3. A member claims the total increase over the two years is exactly 20% of the original price. A second member claims the Year 3 price equals the Year 1 price multiplied by 1.21. Which statement is correct?

Question 7
Maths reasoning · Ratio & rates

Tom and Ava share some money in the ratio 3 : 5. Ava receives $64 more than Tom. How much money is shared in total?

Question 8
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?

Question 9
Maths reasoning · Algebraic expressions

A student writes: '6a² + 4a simplifies to 10a³.' Identify which two errors the student made.

Question 10
Maths reasoning · Area, volume & angles

A square has an area of 81 cm². A rectangle has the same area as the square. The rectangle is 3 cm wide. What is the perimeter of the rectangle?

Question 11
Maths reasoning · Pythagoras

A right-angled triangle has legs of length x cm and (x + 7) cm. Its hypotenuse is 13 cm. What is the value of x?

Question 12
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 13
Maths reasoning · Algebraic expressions

Which of the following expressions has the same value as 4(3x − 2) − 2(x − 5) for every value of x?

Question 14
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 15
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)?

Section 2: Reading & language (15 questions)

Question 16
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 17
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 18
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 19
Reading & language · Vocabulary & grammar

A writer uses the word 'fine' in these two consecutive sentences: 'Mum said everything was fine. She stacked the dishes, scrubbed the bench, and wiped down every surface twice.' What does the repetition of 'fine' and the detail that follows most likely suggest?

Question 20
Reading & language · Reading & comprehension

A writer describes a bushfire using short, sharp sentences throughout a paragraph, then finishes with one long sentence that lists every animal that escaped into the creek. What effect does this structural choice most likely create?

Question 21
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?

Question 22
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 23
Reading & language · Vocabulary & grammar

Read the following two sentences: Sentence A: 'The coach told the players that they needed to improve.' Sentence B: 'The coach told the players, "You need to improve."' A student says both sentences mean exactly the same thing and have no grammatical differences. Which statement best explains why the student is wrong?

Question 24
Reading & language · Text response & analysis

Read this extract: 'The city hummed with possibility in the daytime. At night, though, the same streets held their breath.' What effect is created by the contrast between 'hummed with possibility' and 'held their breath'?

Question 25
Reading & language · Speaking & listening

A student gives a speech opposing homework. She uses only personal anecdotes and no facts or statistics. Her classmate gives a rebuttal using three published studies. Which explanation best describes why the rebuttal is more persuasive in a formal speaking context?

Question 26
Reading & language · Writing & grammar

A writer wants to show that a character feels nervous but is trying to hide it. Which sentence does this BEST?

Question 27
Reading & language · Comprehension

Read this passage, then answer the question. "The two candidates for school captain gave speeches on the same day. Priya said: 'I want to make our school a place where every student feels heard — not just the ones who already have a voice.' Marcus said: 'We have a strong school community. I will work to keep what we have built and push us even further.'" A student claims: 'Priya's speech shows she thinks the school already treats students fairly.' Is this claim accurate? Choose the best evaluation.

Question 28
Reading & language · Reading & comprehension

A student reading a novel writes: 'The theme of this book is loyalty because a character called Loyalty appears.' What is wrong with the student's reasoning?

Question 29
Reading & language · Speaking & listening

Two students are debating whether plastic water bottles should be banned. Speaker A says: 'Imagine finding a sea turtle tangled in plastic — that's what's happening right now.' Speaker B says: 'According to the 2023 CSIRO report, 130,000 tonnes of plastic enter Australian waterways each year.' The audience votes Speaker B more persuasive. Which explanation best accounts for this outcome in a formal debate context?

Question 30
Reading & language · Vocabulary & grammar

Read these two sentences from different editorials about the same school policy: Editorial 1: 'Students will be required to wear uniforms.' Editorial 2: 'Students will be forced into uniforms.' Which analysis most precisely explains the difference in effect?

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 →