Match each question to Extract A, B, C or D. An extract can be used more than once.
Extract A
We lived eight floors up, in a flat so small that the balcony counted as another room. When I was very little the drop terrified me — I would not go within arm's reach of the railing, and Mum had to prise my fingers off the doorframe just to peg out the washing.
Somehow, over the years, that narrow ledge became the one place I truly loved. I could sit out there alone for a whole afternoon, watching the traffic crawl and the lights blink on across the city, wanting no company but my own. It taught me, I think, how to be still. We moved to a house with a proper garden the year I turned eleven, and I know I ought to have been pleased. But the block still stands, and once, from the top of a passing bus, I caught sight of a stranger's shirts pegged along my old railing, and something in me tightened.
Extract B
Every summer of my childhood belonged to my grandparents' farm, a good two hours past the last set of traffic lights. The house was always full — cousins underfoot, the kettle never off the boil. Pop had me up before the sun, and by the time the others stirred we had milked and walked half the fences.
I grumbled plenty, but he never once let me give up on a job partway through, and that has stayed with me longer than anything I picked up in a classroom. I was a jumpy kid, scared stiff of the walk to the shed after dark, until the night Pop simply put the torch in my hand and went back to bed. When he died, the farm was sold to people we had never met, and I have not driven out that way since — I couldn't stand to see another family's dog asleep in the yard. That place made me, and now it belongs to strangers.
Extract C
I was not, by any measure, a bookish child. I fidgeted, I interrupted, I could not sit still through a single chapter. What changed me was the reading room of our town library — the tall windows, the green-shaded lamps, the particular hush that made even my fidgeting go quiet.
Mrs Aldous, who ran the reference desk, worked out what I liked long before I did, and would slide a book across to me without a word. Our own house was small and loud, and here at last was somewhere I could hear myself think. I read my way along whole shelves. I am the first in my family with any wish to make up stories and set them down myself, and I trace that entirely to those quiet afternoons. Best of all, it is every bit still there — the lamps, the hush, Mrs Aldous herself — and I go back most Saturdays, older now, and no less thankful.
Extract D
The rockpools at the bottom of our street were my entire world. I ought to admit that I could not always swim — the sea scared the life out of me, all that cold green heave and drag, and for one whole summer I paddled no deeper than my knees.
It was my cousin Tam, three years older and frightened of nothing on earth, who dared me out past the first line of rocks and would not let go of my hand until I stopped thrashing about. After that there was no stopping me. We moved north for Mum's work the year I turned ten, hours from the nearest coast, and I cried the entire drive. But every single holiday since, I have gone straight back to those pools — the same rocks, the same freezing water — and the instant I duck under, I am home again. The sea taught me to be brave, and I do not mean to let it go.
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Selective test practice papers by subject
Choose a subject to practise the full question count and timing, with a countdown clock, flag-for-review button and worked explanations after submission. Each subject has one free full paper; every other paper is included in a pass.
The free full paper: Free for 24 hours, 3 attempts · Needs your email and your child’s first name · No card. You can unsubscribe from the practice tips anytime. The ten free questions above need nothing at all.
35 questions · 40 minutes
Mathematical Reasoning
Number, patterns, ratio, measurement, geometry and data — with reasoning woven into each question. Practise working without a calculator and deciding when to move on.
Fiction, vocabulary cloze, poetry, gapped text and multiple matching. Practise finding evidence in a passage and moving between the text and the questions.
Fully sittable; still being refined. Feedback is welcome.
What about Writing? The official test also includes a 30-minute typed Writing task. We offer the three multiple-choice subjects, not a marked Writing paper or a combined four-section mock exam. Our selective Writing guide has prompts and ways to practise at home.
Official selective practice tests and free PDFs
Start with the official practice tests
The NSW Department of Education provides free practice tests on the official Janison platform. Use these to learn the test-day controls and question formats. Our papers are additional, original practice, independently produced.
Our past-papers guide brings together official sample resources and free Maths and Reading practice PDFs with matching answer keys and worked explanations. Download without signing up, or sit the matching paper online.
Try a few questions first. Use the ten free questions to see how the questions and explanations work. Ten untimed questions are a starting point, not a prediction of a placement result.
Sit one full subject paper. Use a quiet space and the paper’s timer. Practise moving on from a difficult question and flagging it for review.
Review more than the score. Read the explanations for wrong answers and correct guesses. Separate a question your child didn’t understand from one they rushed or never reached.
Choose one thing to practise next. Use the subject guides to work on that question type before another timed paper. Leave room for breaks.
When you want more than the free full papers, a pass unlocks the paper catalogue and unlimited online attempts, with worked explanations. Choose a day, a week or access until the test. Passes start at $12.
Can I try a free NSW selective practice test without signing up?+
Yes. The ten questions in each of the three subject tabs on this page need no email, account or card. Answer as many as you like, then mark them to see the correct answers and worked explanations. This is an untimed excerpt, not a full selective test.
Are the full selective practice papers free too?+
Each subject has one free full paper: the whole timed paper in the online player, free for 24 hours with three attempts. To claim one, enter a parent’s email and your child’s first name, and agree to receive the paper and practice tips by email. You can unsubscribe anytime. No card or password is needed. Every other paper is included in a pass, from $12.
Do the practice papers include answers and explanations?+
Yes. After you submit an online attempt, the review screen shows the correct answers and worked explanations. The ten free questions in each subject also show explanations after marking. Our free Maths and Reading PDFs have separate downloadable answer keys with worked explanations.
Are these official selective test past papers?+
No. These are original practice papers from Selective Papers NSW, an independent provider. They are designed around the published NSW selective test format and sample question types. Use the Department of Education’s free official practice tests as well, especially to become familiar with the official Janison interface.
Can we use these papers for a selective mock test at home?+
Yes, for a timed rehearsal of an individual subject: Maths is 40 minutes, Thinking Skills 40 minutes and Reading 45 minutes. Sit a full paper in the online player, then review mistakes afterwards. We do not provide a combined four-section mock exam or a marked Writing paper.
Are these papers for Year 6 students taking the 2027 test?+
They are for the NSW Selective High School Placement Test, usually taken in Year 6 for entry to Year 7 the following year. Here, 2027 means the test sitting, for 2028 entry. Check our dates guide for the application and test timetable. These are not Victorian selective-entry or NSW Opportunity Class papers.
