What we cover
Every section of every test we prepare students for, with what the question bank actually holds for each. These figures are read from the bank when this page loads, so they are what is really there today — not a claim written once and left behind.
Questions are mapped to a specific Australian Curriculum v9 content descriptor — the same codes your child's school works from. You can see the code on any skill page, so nothing here has to be taken on trust. Where we are not confident which descriptor a question belongs to, we leave it unmapped rather than guess: it is still practised and still marked, it just does not claim to be teaching a named skill.
NSW Selective High School Placement Test
Sat in Year 6, for Year 7 entry. The one centralised NSW selective test.
NSW Department of Education — Placement test →Reading
45 minutes in the real test1,262 questions across 32 curriculum skills
Our categorisation — not an official exam breakdown
Mathematical Reasoning
40 minutes in the real test2,041 questions across 110 curriculum skills
Our categorisation — not an official exam breakdown
Thinking Skills
40 minutes in the real test1,512 questions across 51 curriculum skills
Our categorisation — not an official exam breakdown
Writing
30 minutes in the real test35 prompts, each marked against the assessment criteria with written feedback. Marked by our AI, not by a person — we say so plainly rather than implying a teacher reads it.
NSW Opportunity Class Placement Test
Sat in Year 4, for Year 5 entry. No writing task and no calculator.
NSW Department of Education — The test →Reading
40 minutes in the real test315 questions across 15 curriculum skills
Our categorisation — not an official exam breakdown
Mathematical Reasoning
40 minutes in the real test507 questions across 39 curriculum skills
Our categorisation — not an official exam breakdown
Thinking Skills
30 minutes in the real test492 questions across 32 curriculum skills
Our categorisation — not an official exam breakdown
NAPLAN
Sat in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. Four domains: Reading, Writing, Conventions of Language and Numeracy. ACARA — The tests →
| Year | Reading | Conventions | Numeracy | Writing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 3 | 136 | 261 | 249 | 10 prompts |
| Year 5 | 216 | 342 | 358 | 10 prompts |
| Year 7 | 229 | 284 | 331 | 10 prompts |
| Year 9 | 193 | 239 | 299 | 10 prompts |
Writing prompts cover both text types NAPLAN sets — narrative and persuasive. From Year 7, Numeracy is sat in two parts, one without a calculator and one with; practice follows the same rule.
What we cannot tell you
The section names and timings above are published by the exam authorities and linked so you can check them. The breakdown inside each section is our own categorisation.
NSW does not publish an item specification for the Selective or Opportunity Class tests — there is no official list of how many inference or ratio questions appear on a paper, and anyone who tells you otherwise is guessing. We categorise by the Australian Curriculum instead, because that is published, and because it is what your child is actually taught.
Covering every section is not the same as guaranteeing a result. No preparation can promise a place, and we will not imply one.