What the test is

The Selective High School Placement Test is sat in Year 6 for entry into Year 7 at NSW selective high schools — public schools that group high-achieving students into an accelerated academic environment. Applications run through the NSW Department of Education, demand far exceeds places, and placement is determined by test performance combined with school assessment. The test is administered in a computer-based format; confirm current-year arrangements on the department's website, as details are updated periodically.

What the test assesses

Component	What it demands
Reading	Dense, varied texts — including poetry and extracts — testing inference, main ideas, comparison, cloze (gap) questions and increasingly, precise grammar knowledge.
Mathematical Reasoning	Multi-step word problems. The maths itself needs only the four operations applied well — the real skill is reading, organising and showing working at speed.
Thinking Skills	Logical reasoning across the full range of question types — arguments, assumptions, logic, ordering and spatial reasoning. More in our Thinking Skills guide.
Writing	A timed writing task marked for structure, language sophistication and control — where a rehearsed framework and genuine vocabulary range separate the top band.

What results look like

Families receive a placement outcome with a score. Stephanie Coaching holds a strong reputation among families, with students consistently achieving high academic standards — earning offers from selective high schools as well as scholarship offers from private schools. Around 99% of our families enrol through word of mouth. You can read what parents say in their own words on our testimonials page.

What genuinely moves a Year 6 score

Vocabulary, treated as a daily habit. Strong vocabulary underpins every section of the English paper — it is the top study priority we set.
Writing rehearsed to automaticity. Our students walk in having been taught, and having rehearsed, a structure for every text type the exam can ask for — so whatever the prompt, the structure is already decided and every minute goes into quality.
Reading above Year 7 level before the test. Our Year 6 benchmarks go beyond Year 7 — as far as Year 9 level — so the real test reads as familiar difficulty, not a jump.
A system for the trap questions. Gap questions (with their domino effect), multi-extract comparisons and Thinking Skills logic all have reliable methods — taught explicitly, not left to instinct.
Full dress rehearsals. Year 6 students sit our in-person Selective trial tests at our Centre (March–May) across Reading, Mathematical Reasoning, Thinking Skills and Writing — including official NSW sample tests.
Wellbeing, protected. We are explicit with families: physical and mental wellbeing alongside academic preparation, consistent effort across the year rather than last-minute cramming.

When to start: the students who find the test manageable are almost never the ones who started in the term before it. Stage 3 builds across Years 5 and 6 — and many of our Selective offers belong to students who began in Stage 2. If your child is in Year 3 or 4, now is the right time to plan.

How our program maps to the Selective test

Stage 3 — Extension (Years 5 & 6) is an advanced English and Thinking Skills course aimed squarely at this test, with a strong focus on writing. More about the Stage 3 course, our assessment system and our teaching approach.

The Selective test, explained for parents.