When to start Preparation for the Victorian Selective School Test?
By Post Author | 29th Nov, 2024
The best possible education for your child is a common dream shared by all parents globally. To fulfill this little dream they surely go to the extent of moving mountains. And if you are in Victoria, Australia then nothing can surpass the prestigious Selective High Schools as a harbinger of your child’s academic success.
Unquestionably the exceptionally high academic standards, excellent extracurricular programs and the much sought-after higher education/university preparation makes these Victorian Selective High Schools a top tier choice among both parents and students. But the road to these prestigious academic institutions isn’t easy. The competition here is cut-throat and ruthless, with an average of 1000 applicants competing for each seat available.
The gateway to getting selected into one of these Victorian Selective Schools is by clearing the Victorian Selective School Test.
What is the Victorian Selective School Test?
Being able to get through the Victorian Selective School Test gives a student entry to one of these four participating government schools, collectively known as the Victorian Selective High Schools.
The four prestigious schools are:
➤The Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School
➤Melbourne High School (Boys)
➤Nossal High School
➤Suzzane Cory High School
The Victorian Selective School Test is a judiciously designed entrance test for Year 8 applicants seeking Year 9 entry to one of the four Selective High Schools. This test assesses the academic abilities of the potential students on the verge of entering the rigorous and academically challenging four year curriculum (Year 9 to Year 12) of the Selective High Schools.
Victorian Selective School Test- Format & Structure
The Victorian Selective School Test is essentially a written competitive test. This 5-part test is administered by ACER (Australian Council for Educational Research) with an estimated duration of the test is 3 hours which excludes the two short breaks of 20 mins & 5 mins each.
The 5-part test structure is as noted below:
| Test Type | Section | Minutes | No. of Questions | Type |
| Reasoning | Reading | 35 | 50 | Multiple Choice |
| Reasoning | Mathematics | 30 | 50 | Multiple Choice |
| General Ability | Verbal | 30 | 50 | Multiple Choice |
| General Ability | Quantitative | 30 | 50 | Multiple Choice |
| General Ability | Writing | 40 | 2 | Open response |
When to start preparing for the Victorian Selective School test?
To answer this evidently hovering question for the future applicants, it is necessary to have an understanding of how high the stakes are for this test. Though it is emphasized that nothing beyond the understanding of Year 8 curriculum would be tested. But reading in between the lines it actually assesses a student’s critical cognition and understanding abilities.
To be precise a student should be able to:
- Critically think, analyse, comprehend, and apply their knowledge range of things tested during the course of the test.
- Demonstrate deeper understanding and creative problem solving skills for complex problems.
- Be able to logically reason across all disciplines of study.
Hence, the ideal time to initiate the Victorian Selective School test preparations for a prospective applicant would ideally be a year ahead or even slightly more.
How will preparing ahead be beneficial for Victorian Selective School test candidates?
The Victorian Selective School Test is primarily about the quality of knowledge and understanding not just quantity. Hence starting the preparation a year ahead or even more would give the student plenty of time to do the following:
a. Strengthen foundational knowledge & skills
Students ought to give their undivided focus and attention on the core academic skills- reading comprehension, verbal and numerical reasoning, and written expression.
b. Identify Strengths and Weaknesses
All have their own areas of expertise and concerns. Consistent focus on all test segments and assessments can pinpoint areas that need more time and effort.
c. Follow the Revise, Practice & Repeat routine
As they say practice perfects, in this case too regular practice with readily available timed practice tests will leave less room for errors, build confidence and ensure good speed for solving the questions asked.
d. Learn and implement effective exam-taking strategies
Last but not the least, a long and tedious preparation journey will help the students develop and implement their own exam-taking gameplan. Which will include strategies like- effective time management, question selection, and approach to different question types.
The preparation for the highly competitive Victorian Selective School Test is indeed a long, tedious and challenging preparation journey. But with the right kind of resources and personalised guidance by exam preparation expert platforms like Selectivetrial, it can surely turn out to be an enriching and successful learning experience.
Ensure your child’s success at the Victorian Selective School Test with us at Selectivetrial. For further insight and in-depth information visit us at https://selectivetrial.com.au/
