Selective Trial

Selective Trial (written Selectivetrial on most of its pages) is an Australian online practice platform for children sitting selective school, scholarship and national tests, run by Selectivetrial Pty Ltd from Castlehill in Sydney. It sells timed practice test packages for eight exams: the NSW Selective High School Placement Test, the NSW Opportunity Class (OC) test, the ACER Higher Ability Selection Test (HAST), NAPLAN, ACER-style scholarship tests, Edutest, the Victorian Selective Entry High Schools (SEHS) test and Western Australia's ASET. The audience is parents of primary and early secondary students. The homepage claims more than 35,000 practice questions, more than 3,000 families served, a 4.9 out of 5 parent rating from verified reviews and 365 days of course access.

Which exams, for which year

The site organizes its packages by state and year level because, as it puts it, every state has different exams. NSW families get six exams (Selective, OC, NAPLAN, ACER, HAST and Edutest), Victoria and Western Australia five each, and Queensland, South Australia and the ACT four each. The year labels on the exam menu run as follows:

• NSW Selective for Year 6 students sitting for Year 7 entry. The FAQ describes four equally weighted sections, Reading, Mathematical Reasoning, Thinking Skills and Writing, now taken on computers at test centers.
• NSW OC for Year 4 students seeking a Year 5 place, with Reading, Mathematical Reasoning and Thinking Skills.
• VIC Selective (SEHS) for Year 8 students seeking Year 9 entry, covering Reading, Mathematics, General Ability (Verbal and Quantitative) and Writing.
• ASET-WA for Year 7 entry to Gifted and Talented secondary programs, covering Reading Comprehension, Mathematics, Abstract Reasoning and Writing.
• HAST for entry from Year 7 to 11, with Reading, Mathematics, Writing and Abstract Reasoning.
• NAPLAN for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9, covering Numeracy, Reading, Writing and Language Conventions.
• ACER-style scholarship tests for Year 5 to Year 10 entry, covering Mathematics, Writing and Humanities and Interpretations.
• Edutest for entry into Years 7 to 10, covering Reading, Mathematics, Numerical Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning and Writing.

A banner tracks the next sittings: NSW Selective and OC in May 2027, VIC Selective in June 2027, NAPLAN from 10 to 22 March 2027, HAST at multiple sittings through the year and Edutest scholarships year-round.

How the practice works

Students log in to the company's learning portal and sit full mock tests under real exam timing, built to match the official test interface. The FAQ makes the point that because the NSW Selective test is now fully computer-based, practicing on a computer-based platform like this one closely mirrors the real thing. Every complete test can be attempted an unlimited number of times, and every question has a worked solution afterwards. Beside the timed papers there is a revision question bank organized by chapter, and the company recommends starting with revision questions before moving to the timed bank; if a child gets a question wrong, they can practice similar ones.

Parents get progress reports with graphs showing performance by topic and question type, and the ASET page says parents can see how a child performs relative to peers. The HAST page puts it simply: in the portal the number to watch is the pattern of which question types keep costing marks and where the clock runs out, not the score.

Writing is the part a computer cannot mark, and the company has tutors mark it. Students submit writing tests through the portal, and experienced Australian tutors return them with structured feedback on theme, structure and creativity, and grammar, punctuation, spelling and vocabulary, within three to four working days. Writing review comes with the Last Minute Selective Practice Tests, Plus, Pro and Premium packages. The About page also lists weekly one-to-one online tutoring with experienced Australian tutors.

The HAST package as an example

The HAST page shows what a full package contains. It offers 21 full ACER-format papers, worked solutions on every question, and writing marked by tutors the company says sat these tests themselves. Every package includes 7 Abstract Reasoning sets, because some schools add an Abstract Reasoning test. The page sets out the paper's timing (Reading 45 minutes, Mathematical Reasoning 40, Abstract Reasoning 30, and two Written Expression tasks of 25 minutes each), explains how the multiple-choice sections and the human-marked writing are assessed, and lays out an eight-week preparation plan. Writing practice covers discursive and creative tasks and, for HAST Primary, statement-based and picture-based prompts. HAST packages start with AUD 99, and marked writing packs of 4 tasks cost $79 each for Year 5/6, Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9/10/11; the Premium packages include marked writing. Free sample papers can be downloaded as PDFs.

Free trial and free tests

New users can try the platform free for 3 days with no credit card. The trial covers all 8 major exams with timed questions, detailed solutions and a performance report on weak areas, on the same interface as the paid plans, and the homepage values it at $120. Individual trials exist for ACER style tests at three levels, OC, NSW Selective, Selective Victoria, Edutest for Year 7, 9 and 10 entry, NAPLAN for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9, and ASET-WA. The ASET-WA trial, for example, includes a 17-question reading test and a 10-question mathematics test, each timed at 10 minutes, plus an abstract reasoning section. The About page separately offers more than 60 free questions with solutions and reports, no payment details needed, which can be retaken without limit.

Who is behind it

The About page says the company was founded by a group of academics and began as an online coaching institute. It says its teachers scored above 99% in the ATAR and hold PhD degrees in their fields, and that teachers, subject experts and recent test takers built the question bank together using government sample papers. The homepage lists schools where it says its students have won places, including James Ruse Agricultural, Melbourne High, Fort Street High, Suzanne Cory High and Hornsby Girls, and reprints parent reviews from Sydney and Melbourne. Support runs through a contact page, phone and email, and the blog covers exam strategy, HAST versus Edutest, and ASET preparation.

Who it suits

Selective Trial suits Australian parents who want their child to practice the exact format of a selective or scholarship exam at home, on a computer, with as many attempts as they need. Its strength is breadth across states and year levels, so a family can use one account from NAPLAN in Year 3 through OC, Selective or a scholarship test later on. The tutor-marked writing fills the gap that self-marked practice leaves.

It is a practice platform first. Children who need concepts taught from scratch will get more from adding the weekly tutoring the company offers.