Selective entry in Victoria, prepared properly.

Year 7 entry: which exams, when, and what the English asks

Year 7 entry is not one exam but several. Independent schools run their own scholarship assessments, sat in Year 6 — most in February or March of the year before entry, with applications typically closing the preceding spring. Government schools offering SEAL (Select Entry Accelerated Learning) programs run their own entrance testing on their own timetable. Dates and closing dates are set by each school and move year to year; check the school directly rather than a tutoring site, this one included.

The English components are consistent across them. Reading comprehension puts an unseen passage under a clock and asks about argument, tone, inference and vocabulary in context. Verbal reasoning tests how precisely a student holds word meanings — synonyms and antonyms, odd-one-out, analogies and short logic chains. Writing asks for a persuasive or narrative piece in a fixed window. At Year 7 the passages are shorter and the vocabulary gentler than at Year 9, but the question types are the same ones.

Year 9 entry: which exam, when, and what the English asks

Year 9 entry to Victoria’s four selective entry high schools runs through a single common exam, sat in Year 8, with one application covering all four schools. Around a thousand places are offered across them each year (TST-05). Applications and exam dates are set by the Victorian Department of Education and move year to year; the official source is the one to check for the current cycle.

The English half of that exam runs reading comprehension and writing, with verbal reasoning threaded through. The passages are longer than at Year 7 and the vocabulary harder, and the writing task rewards a position stated early and held rather than a memorised opening. Because the question types are shared with the Year 7 assessments, one set of preparation serves both paths — which is why the guide and the practice papers below are not split by year.

When should preparation start?

Earlier than the cram courses suggest, and calmer. Reading and writing habits built over two or three terms outlast any question-spotting, and they keep paying after the exam — whichever way the result goes. A student who prepares this way arrives at the assessment with skills rather than scripts; the term-by-term shape of that preparation is set out below.

Which schools, and what the day involves

Separate from these four, individual independent schools run their own scholarship assessments, and many government schools offer SEAL (Select Entry Accelerated Learning) programs with their own entrance testing on their own timetables.

The English demands overlap almost entirely across all three routes, which is why the same preparation serves them. Applications and exam dates are set by the Victorian Department of Education and move year to year; check the official source for the current cycle rather than a tutoring site, this one included.

What a well-prepared student can actually do

They read a passage once, under time, and come away with its argument rather than a vague impression — then find the line that proves it without rereading the whole thing. They treat an unfamiliar word as solvable from its parts and its sentence rather than a dead end. They notice when two answer options are near-identical, because that is usually where the real question is hiding.

And in the writing task they can plan in two minutes and commit — the single most common failure in a timed composition is a student who spends fifteen minutes deciding what to write and then has no time to write it well.

A realistic preparation timeline

Two or three terms out, the work is reading volume and vocabulary — the slowest-moving parts, and the ones that reward starting early. Around a term out, sit one full practice assessment cold as a diagnostic, then work the guide against whichever question types it exposed. In the final weeks, sit the remaining papers under proper timed conditions to convert technique into pace.

What this deliberately leaves out is a year of question-drilling. A student who has practised questions and little else arrives with scripts; a student who has read widely and written often arrives with skills that hold up whichever way the day goes. That matters, because these assessments are genuinely competitive and no honest preparation guarantees a place.

The free materials, and what each is for

Everything below is free. Two need nothing from you at all; the other three arrive by email.

• Sample questions, with the reasoningEight questions and one writing prompt, each with a worked explanation.Nothing required
• The twenty-question practice assessmentTen verbal reasoning and ten comprehension questions, marked as you go.Nothing required
• The assessment guideTwenty chapters, one per question type, each with a worked example.Arrives by email
• The three-pack of practice assessmentsThree complete papers with fully worked solutions.Arrives by email
• The scholarship vocabulary list617 words these assessments draw on, each with a plain definition.Arrives by email

Sample questions, with the reasoning

Eight Edutest-style and ACER-style questions across verbal reasoning and reading comprehension, plus one timed writing prompt, each with a worked explanation. Nothing to fill in — start here if you want to see the shape before anything else.

The twenty-question practice assessment

Ten verbal reasoning and ten reading comprehension questions in the same house style, marked as you go, with a score at the end and an explanation behind every answer. Also ungated.

The Scholarship & Entrance English Assessment Guide

Twenty chapters, one per question type, each with the method that reliably answers it and a worked example. Read it chapter by chapter on the site, or take the whole thing as one PDF.

The Three-Pack of Full Practice Assessments

Three complete papers with fully worked solutions — the question-pack half of the pair. Sit one cold as a diagnostic, work the guide against what it exposes, then sit the rest under proper timed conditions. What comes with the download.

The Scholarship Assessment Vocab List

617 words these assessments actually draw on, each with a plain definition, built from six years of coaching. Vocabulary carries more of the verbal reasoning sections than parents expect, and it is the slowest part to build — which makes it the first thing worth starting. Browse it on the site, or work it with the self-marked retrieval drill.

Where tutoring fits

The free materials stand on their own. Where one-to-one help earns its place is the writing — timed composition is the hardest component to self-assess, because a student cannot easily see what their own paragraph does. Lessons are taught personally by Callum Hay, weekly and online, at $120 an hour; for families in Melbourne’s inner suburbs, occasional in-person lessons can be arranged by request with a two-hour minimum. Fit, fees and scheduling are answered plainly in the FAQ.