What do the selective test results mean?
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The performance report places your child in one of four bands for each section of the test, compared with everyone who sat it that year; it gives no score and no rank. Outcomes for Year 7 entry in 2027 (the 2026 test) are already out, and the appeal window has closed.
Facts checked Last updated Sources
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When did results come out, and where is the report?
Outcomes for Year 7 entry in 2027 (the 2026 test) are already out, and the report sits in your application dashboard. For Year 7 entry in 2027, placement outcomes were due for release on 19 August 2026. The appeal deadline that followed has also passed.
The performance report is in the application dashboard: open View outcomes, then select Student performance report. Dates for the next cycle, Year 7 entry in 2028, are on selective test dates.
What do the four bands mean?
Each band tells you where your child sat among all the children who did the test that year, one section at a time. For each section, the report places your child in one of four bands: top 10%, next 15%, next 25% or lowest 50% of candidates.
- Top 10%
- Next 15%
- Next 25%
- Lowest 50%
Read your child's report (stays on this device)
The bands do not show the percentage of answers your child got right. They show how your child compares with other students who sat the test that year. So a band is a position, not a mark. A child in the lowest band may still have answered many questions correctly; it means half or more of the other candidates did at least as well in that section.
There is no pass or fail mark for any section of the test. Each band covers one section on its own, and each is a range rather than a mark, so adding the bands up, or turning them into a number, won't give you your child's placement result. Our reader above only repeats the Department's meaning for each band; it doesn't combine them or predict anything.
Why is there no score or rank?
The Department chose not to report scores, and it will not give them out on request. The performance report does not give a test score or placement rank, and the Department will not provide them.
It gives two reasons. The Department says parents, students and schools told it that reporting scores harmed student privacy and wellbeing, for example by encouraging unhealthy competition. The Department also says the test has one purpose: to identify students who will benefit from a selective high school or opportunity class place.
For a parent, that means the bands are all you will see. If a website, tutor or calculator offers to work out your child's "real" score or rank from the bands, it is guessing: the Department has not published the information needed to do it.
What do the results mean for a place?
The bands describe performance; the offer is a separate outcome. Offers are based on placement test performance and the order of your school choices. When outcomes are first released you can get an offer from only one school: the highest of your choices your child qualifies for.
If your child is on a reserve list, more offers can still come. For Year 7 entry in 2027, offers from selective reserve lists continue until the end of Term 1 2027, if vacancies arise. How the reserve bands work is on how the selective reserve list works. Why there is no fixed mark for each school is on selective cut-offs.
The Department's outcomes page puts the number of places in context, in its own words:
“only about one in eight students are successful in gaining a place in an opportunity class and a quarter of students are successful in gaining a selective high school place”
We quote this as the Department said it, without a year attached. It is not our estimate and says nothing about any one child.
Do practice test scores count?
No. Practice scores play no part in the outcome, including the Department's own practice tests. Practice and sample test results do not show how a student will perform, and selection committees do not consider them.
So a strong or weak practice result doesn't change anything after the test, and it can't be used in an appeal either (see below). On preparation more generally: The Department says coaching or tutoring for the placement test is not necessary, and that extra paid coaching will not give a child an advantage.
Can I appeal the result?
You can appeal the outcome, but only within a short window after release, and the test will not be re-marked. For Year 7 entry in 2027, the deadline was Wednesday 26 August 2026, 11:59 pm, so that window has closed.
- Appeals are usually due 5 business days after outcomes are released. Late appeals are not accepted.
- Test questions cannot be re-marked. Multiple-choice questions are computer-marked, with manual reliability checks.
- No appeal will result in your child's test score or placement rank being given.
The Department lists reasons that are not valid grounds for an appeal. These are the ones parents most often ask about:
| Kind of reason | What the Department says |
|---|---|
| Asking for a re-mark | Asking for any part of the test to be re-marked, or the performance report changed, is not a valid ground for appeal. |
| Other test results and reports | Results from the Department's practice tests, IQ tests, NAPLAN, ICAS, school reports, or scholarship or coaching college tests are not valid grounds for appeal. |
| The child's age, situation or preparation | Disappointment, the student's young age, lack of test preparation, educational disadvantage or a feeling the student didn't show their potential are not valid grounds for appeal. |
| Family convenience | Travel convenience, being with friends or siblings (including twins or triplets), or benefits to the family are not valid grounds for appeal. |
| The test format or process | Concern about changes to the selection process or the use of computer-based testing is not a valid ground for appeal. |
You get one chance to make your case on the appeal form, so prepare it fully before you submit.
- An appeal can include up to 3 documents. Nothing can be added once it is submitted.
- Once submitted, an appeal cannot be edited. The Department will not ask for more evidence, and evidence sent outside the appeal form is not considered.
Who decides is described two ways on the Department's outcomes page, so we show both:
- Valid appeals go to an appeals panel of two principals of selective high schools or schools with opportunity classes, and a Director, Educational Leadership.
- Further down the same page, the Department says the appeals panel includes a selective high school or opportunity class principal and a Director, Educational Leadership.
Appeal decisions are final. The full rules, and the appeal form itself, are on the Department's outcomes page.
Why do the Department's pages give different results dates?
Because the Department describes the same release in different words on different pages. The key dates table gives an exact date; the other pages give a month or a term.
| Where | What it says |
|---|---|
| Key dates table | Wednesday 19 August 2026 |
| Application process stage diagram | August |
| Placement timeline PDF | Term 3 2026 |
| Page for students | Late August |
The Department's page for students says parents get a message with the results in late August. The wordings don't contradict each other, but only the key dates table names a day, so it is the one we print. For the OC test, see what the OC results mean, and for the whole selective year, start at the selective test guide.
Sources
Each fact on this page, the page we checked it against and the source's own words. An “Expected” date is our estimate from past years, not the Department's.
- Application process
- Selective outcomes releasedChecked
The source's words
“19 August 2026 | Placement outcomes expected to be released”
- Last day for an outcomes appealChecked
The source's words
“26 August 2026 (11:59 pm) | Last day for parents to submit an outcomes appeal”
- Results timing: stage diagram wordingChecked
The source's words
“Year 6 Outcome August”
- Outcomes
- The report is in the application dashboardChecked
The source's words
“Select the Student performance report button to see how your child performed on the placement test.”
- Four bands per sectionChecked
The source's words
“For each of the test components, the report shows where your child performed in one of four bands: top 10% of candidates next 15% of candidates next 25% of candidates lowest 50% of candidates”
- Bands are not percentage correctChecked
The source's words
“The performance bands do not show the percentage of correct answers that your child achieved. Instead, the report shows how many other students performed within the same range.”
- No pass or fail markChecked
The source's words
“there is no pass or fail mark for any of the test components.”
- No score or rank is givenChecked
The source's words
“The Performance report does not give individual test scores or placement ranks. Test scores or placement ranks are not available and cannot be provided”
- Why scores aren't givenChecked
The source's words
“Parents, students and schools have told us that past reporting of scores was impacting upon student privacy and wellbeing. For example, encouraging unhealthy competition between students.”
- The test has one purposeChecked
The source's words
“Also, the placement tests are designed for one purpose – to identify students who will benefit from placement in a selective high school or opportunity class.”
- One offer, from the highest choice you qualify forChecked
The source's words
“You cannot get more than one offer when outcomes are first released. And you will always be offered the highest choice school for which your child qualified.”
- About a quarter get a selective placeChecked
The source's words
“only about one in eight students are successful in gaining a place in an opportunity class and a quarter of students are successful in gaining a selective high school place”
- Appeals: usually 5 business days, no late appealsChecked
The source's words
“(typically 5 business days after placement outcomes are released). No late appeals will be accepted.”
- No re-markingChecked
The source's words
“It is not possible to have any test questions remarked. All multiple-choice test questions are computer-marked and manual reliability checks are already carried out to ensure their accuracy.”
- An appeal won't reveal the scoreChecked
The source's words
“No appeal will result in your child's test score or placement rank being given.”
- Invalid appeal: asking for a re-markChecked
The source's words
“requests to re-mark any part of the placement test or adjust the performance report”
- Invalid appeal: practice tests, IQ, NAPLAN and other resultsChecked
The source's words
“or other measurements or reports, such as IQ score, NAPLAN results, International Competition and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) testing, school reports or certificates and scholarship or coaching college testing”
- Invalid appeal: age, lack of preparation, disappointmentChecked
The source's words
“parent, carer or student disappointment at not receiving an offer or not being placed on a reserve list young age of the student, lack of test preparation, educational disadvantage and the perceived failure of the student to demonstrate their potential”
- Invalid appeal: travel, friends or siblingsChecked
The source's words
“including but not limited to, travel convenience, attendance with friends or siblings (including twins/triplets), or benefits to the family.”
- Invalid appeal: concerns about computer-based testingChecked
The source's words
“concern about changes to the selection processes or the use of computer-based testing”
- Appeals: up to 3 documents, no editsChecked
The source's words
“A maximum of 3 documents can be provided. Note: no additional documents or information can be added to the appeal after it is submitted.”
- Appeals can't be editedChecked
The source's words
“Once submitted, appeals cannot be edited or updated. The Selective Education Team will not request additional evidence, and any evidence received outside of the appeal form will not be considered.”
- Appeals panel: two principals and a DirectorChecked
The source's words
“All valid appeals will be considered by an appeals panel. The panel will include two principals of a selective high school or school with an opportunity class, and a Director, Educational Leadership.”
- Appeals panel: a principal and a Director (other wording)Checked
The source's words
“The appeals panel includes a selective high school principal or an opportunity class principal and a Director, Educational Leadership.”
- Appeal decisions are finalChecked
The source's words
“Appeal decisions are final.”
- Choosing a school
- Offers depend on the test and the order of choicesChecked
The source's words
“Parents are offered a place based on test performance and the order of their school choices.”
- Selective high school Year 7 reserve list bands
- Selective offers continue to the end of Term 1 2027Checked
The source's words
“Offers will continue to be made from the reserve list up until the end of Term 1 2027, should vacancies arise.”
- Selective high schools and opportunity classes placement procedures (PD-2002-0006-06)
- Practice scores are not consideredChecked
The source's words
“Results of practice and sample tests do not show how a student will perform in the test and selection committees do not consider performance on sample or practice tests.”
- Selective high school practice tests
- The Department says coaching is not necessaryChecked
The source's words
“It is important to know that coaching or tutoring for the placement test is not necessary.”
- Selective high school placement timeline, Year 7 entry in 2027 (PDF)
- Results timing: timeline PDF wordingChecked
The source's words
“Placement outcome released: Term 3 2026”
- Get ready for the Selective High School Placement Test
- Results timing: student page wordingChecked
The source's words
“We will message your parents with the results in late August to tell them if you have a place in a selective high school.”