Selective School Entry in Australia: NSW, VIC, WA and Queensland Compared

Australia does not have one national “selective school exam”. NSW, Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland use different selective or gifted-entry systems, different entry years and different tests.

That matters for families searching online because advice that is correct for one state can be completely wrong for another. A Year 6 student in NSW, a Year 8 student in Victoria, a Year 6 ASET applicant in WA and a Queensland Academies applicant are not preparing for the same pathway.

At a glance: four different public selective-entry pathways

NSW: a large statewide Year 7 selective-school system

NSW’s main selective pathway is Year 7 entry. Students apply across Years 5–6 and sit the computer-based Selective High School Placement Test in Year 6.

The current test includes Reading, Mathematical Reasoning, Thinking Skills and Writing, each weighted at 25%. NSW also has fully selective, partially selective and agricultural high schools, plus Aurora College for eligible rural and remote students.

For details, use the NSW Selective High Schools: Year 7 Entry Guide.

Victoria: four selective entry high schools with Year 9 as the main intake

Victoria has four Selective Entry High Schools: Melbourne High School, The Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School, Nossal High School and Suzanne Cory High School.

The main centralised intake is Year 9. Students sit the examination while they are in Year 8. For Year 9 entry in 2027, Victoria advised that around 1,000 places were available across the four schools.

Small numbers of Year 10 and Year 11 places can become available, but these later-entry pathways are managed directly by the schools and should not be confused with the main Year 9 process.

The existing Victoria Selective Entry Exam guide for Year 8 students covers that pathway in detail.

Western Australia: Gifted and Talented programs and the ASET

WA uses the Gifted and Talented Secondary Selective Entrance system. The main pathway begins in Year 5, students sit the ASET in Year 6, and placement begins in Year 7.

The ASET includes Reading Comprehension, Communicating Ideas in Writing, Quantitative Reasoning and Abstract Reasoning. The writing test is 25 minutes and is completed by hand.

Families focusing on that component can use WA ASET Writing Preparation.

Queensland: Queensland Academies use a different Year 10 model

Queensland Academies are selective-entry schools for high-achieving students. Their senior program has a main entry point at the start of Year 10, and the three Academies offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma as their senior curriculum.

For Year 10 entry, applicants apply to one Academy, sit an entrance test currently conducted by EduTest, and the selection process also considers other evidence such as academic reports and, depending on the Academy, interviews.

This is not the same system as NSW Year 7 selective entry or Victoria Year 9 selective entry. If WriteLeap later builds a Queensland content cluster, it should use “Queensland Academies” and the actual Year 10 admissions terminology rather than generic “Queensland selective school exam” wording.

Why state-specific preparation matters for writing

The writing component is a good example of why generic selective-test advice can become misleading.

• NSW: one 30-minute typed open response, worth 25% of the placement-test weighting.
• WA: a 25-minute handwritten “Communicating Ideas in Writing” test.
• Victoria: writing sits within the ACER Year 9 selective-entry examination, with current conditions tied to that Victorian intake.
• Queensland Academies: families should use the current Academy and EduTest admissions information rather than importing another state’s writing format.

The underlying writing skills overlap—ideas, structure, task fit, sentence control and vocabulary—but the assessment conditions are not interchangeable.

What about South Australia, Tasmania, ACT and the Northern Territory?

Those jurisdictions do not all operate a public selective-high-school pathway that maps neatly onto the NSW, Victorian or WA models described above. Families may instead encounter school-specific gifted programs, specialist programs, accelerated pathways or independent-school scholarship selection.

That means WriteLeap should not manufacture a state-by-state “selective exam” page simply for geographic coverage. New state pages should be created only when there is a real, current pathway and a meaningful search intent.

How to choose the correct WriteLeap content

Use the state and entry year first:

• NSW Year 7 → start with the NSW selective guide and NSW writing preparation.
• Victoria Year 9 → use the Victoria Year 8-to-Year 9 guide.
• WA Gifted and Talented → use ASET-specific information.
• Queensland Academies → use Academy-specific admissions information.

For general writing development that applies across states, What Good Writing Looks Like from Year 3 to Year 10 and AI Writing Feedback for Students are more appropriate than a state-specific exam page.

Where WriteLeap fits

WriteLeap is an Australian writing-practice platform. It can support writing development and state/goal-aligned writing practice where the assessment includes writing, but it does not prepare every component of every selective or gifted-entry test.

The Selective & Scholarship Writing program should be used as a writing component alongside the official admissions information and any separate preparation required for mathematics, reading and reasoning.

Frequently asked questions

Is there one selective school test for Australia?

No. Selective and gifted-entry systems are state-specific and differ in entry year, school type, test provider and test structure.

Which state tests students in Year 6 for selective entry?

NSW’s main selective-high-school pathway and WA’s main Gifted and Talented pathway both test students in Year 6 for Year 7 placement, but they use different examinations.

When is Victoria’s main selective entry?

Victoria’s centralised selective-entry pathway is Year 8 students applying and testing for Year 9 entry.

What is the main Queensland Academies entry year?

Queensland Academies’ main senior-program entry point is the start of Year 10.

Sources

• NSW Department of Education — Selective High School Placement Test
• Victorian Department of Education — Selective Entry High Schools
• WA Department of Education — Academic Selective Entrance Test
• Queensland Academies — Year 10 enrolments

About WriteLeap

WriteLeap supports Australian Years 3–10 students with writing practice, structured feedback, targeted skill exercises and revision. State-specific selective content is designed around the relevant official pathway rather than treating Australian systems as interchangeable.