NSW Selective Test Guide — Format, Dates & How to Prepare (2027)

The NSW Selective High School Placement Test is sat by Year 6 students for entry to Year 7 at a selective high school. It is a computer-based test with four parts: Reading (45 minutes), Mathematical Reasoning (35 questions, 40 minutes), Thinking Skills (40 questions, 40 minutes) and Writing (one task, 30 minutes). Each part is worth 25% of the result. The test is held in May; the 2026 test was on 1–2 May, and the 2027 date has not been announced yet.

This guide covers the schools, each part of the test, how results work and how to prepare. For an overview of our NSW practice papers, see the NSW selective test hub.

Which schools use the test?

According to the NSW Department of Education, there are 17 fully selective high schools, 4 fully selective agricultural high schools and 27 partially selective high schools (a selective stream inside a comprehensive school), plus Aurora College, a virtual selective school for rural and remote students. Well-known fully selective schools include:

• James Ruse Agricultural High School
• North Sydney Boys High School and North Sydney Girls High School
• Sydney Boys High School and Sydney Girls High School
• Baulkham Hills High School
• Hornsby Girls, Fort Street, Girraween and Penrith High Schools

Families choose between one and three schools, in order of preference. An offer comes from only one school: the highest choice your child’s result qualifies for.

The four parts of the test

Reading (45 minutes)

Questions are grouped around different kinds of text, including a fiction extract, a poem, an article with sentences removed (students choose which sentence fits each gap), and a set of short texts on one theme. Questions test understanding, inference, vocabulary in context, and how a writer creates effects.

Mathematical Reasoning (35 questions, 40 minutes)

Multiple choice with five options. Questions are mostly word problems, many with a diagram, graph or table. They use primary-school maths but need more reasoning than everyday classwork: several steps, working backwards, or reading information carefully. No calculators.

Thinking Skills (40 questions, 40 minutes)

Multiple choice with four options, and no subject knowledge needed. About half the questions are critical thinking: which statement strengthens or weakens an argument, whose reasoning is correct, or where someone’s reasoning goes wrong. The rest are problem solving: logic puzzles, working out schedules or positions, and spatial questions with diagrams. More detail: Thinking Skills question types and strategies.

Writing (one task, 30 minutes)

Students respond to one prompt. The Department says it is marked on the creativity of ideas and how well the student writes for a purpose and an audience. See our selective writing tips.

How results work

• The four parts are weighted equally, at 25% each (NSW DoE). There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so students should answer every question.
• There is no set minimum entry score. Offers depend on how your child ranks against other applicants for each school.
• Families receive a performance report showing which band their child fell into (top 10%, next 15%, next 25%, or lowest 50%), not a mark or rank.
• Some places at each school are held for students in equity groups, such as students from low socio-educational advantage backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, rural and remote students, and students with disability.

Key dates

For Year 7 entry in 2027, applications ran from 6 November 2025 to 20 February 2026, the test was held on 1–2 May 2026 (make-up test 22 May), and outcomes were released on 19 August 2026. The next cycle, for Year 7 entry in 2028, should follow a similar pattern, with the test in May 2027. Late applications are not accepted, so check the Department’s placement test page for confirmed dates.

How to prepare

1. Learn the format

Start with the Department’s free practice tests, including the online version that works like the real test software. Knowing the layout means fewer surprises on the day.

2. Build pace under time

Maths and Thinking Skills allow about a minute per question. Timed practice teaches students to move on from a hard question and come back to it, rather than losing five minutes on one item.

3. Review every mistake

After each paper, go through every wrong answer and work out why it was wrong. That review is worth more than simply doing more papers.

4. Practise writing

Writing is a quarter of the result. Regular 30-minute timed pieces, read back by a parent or teacher, help more than leaving writing to the last few weeks.

Common mistakes

• Focusing only on maths. All four parts carry the same weight.
• Skipping review. Papers without review teach very little.
• Practising untimed only. It does not build the pace the real test needs.
• Using old-format material. The test is now developed by Cambridge University Press & Assessment and taken on computer; older books may not match it.

Practising with EduSpark

Our NSW papers follow this format: Maths 35 questions in 40 minutes, Thinking Skills 40 in 40, and Reading 30 in 40, each marked instantly with an explanation for every answer. You can try the NSW selective sample questions without signing up, and Paper 1 in each subject is free with an account. We do not mark writing.