Parents often search for selective past papers and are surprised to find so few. This page explains what is publicly available, how independent practice papers fit in and how to mark a paper so it teaches your child something.
We could not find any official release of full past exam papers. What the official bodies publish are practice materials. The NSW Department of Education offers online computer-based practice tests and PDF sample practice tests with answers and explanations for the multiple-choice sections. It describes them as examples of the types of questions you might get, not the actual questions on the day. ACER runs the Victorian selective entry exam and has Exam format and Sample questions pages on its selective entry site.
Treat those official samples as the best guide to question style and format. Because they can change, check the official sites for the current year rather than relying on a copy from another source. Be cautious of sites that advertise "official past papers" without saying where they came from.
Independent practice papers fill the gap by giving students more timed material than the official samples allow. Ours are written in a similar style to selective exams. They are not official papers and are not affiliated with the NSW Department of Education, ACER or any selective school.
A sensible approach is to use the official samples first to learn the format, then use independent papers for volume and timing practice.
Mark the multiple-choice sections first and record a score for each section. Then keep an error log with three columns: the question type, the reason the mark was lost (content gap, careless slip or timing) and the fix.
For Writing, ask whether the piece has a clear idea, a controlled structure, varied but accurate sentences and few errors. Compare it with the marking criteria rather than just reading it for enjoyment.
Our Edutest practice packs are downloadable PDFs with detailed solutions. Edutest covers the same reading, maths and reasoning skills that selective exams test, which makes it a useful source of extra timed practice.
Answer: 13. Five numbers with a mean of 12 add up to 60. The four known numbers add up to 47, so the fifth is 60 − 47 = 13.
We could not find an official release of full past papers. The NSW Department of Education publishes online practice tests and PDF sample practice tests with answers, and ACER publishes exam format information and sample questions for the Victorian exam. These are the closest official equivalents.
No. They are independent practice material written in a similar style. We are not affiliated with the NSW Department of Education, ACER or any selective school.
Yes. Our PDF practice packs include detailed solutions so students can learn the method, not just check the answer.
One full timed paper every one to two weeks in the final two months is usually enough, as long as each paper is carefully reviewed.