See what the Maths part asks, how long your child has, and which skill to practise first.
Practice test 1 is free. No card needed.
ACER says Mathematics tests year-level maths knowledge and reasoning, and using maths in real-world contexts, with no calculator. Children in Year 7 now sit it in Year 8, expected in June 2027.
Checked by the SelectiveReady team on 12 October 2026 · Updated 3 November 2026 · How we check facts
Independent. Not affiliated with the Victorian Department of Education or ACER.
It tests school maths used quickly and accurately, often inside a short real-life setting. ACER, which runs the exam, says Mathematics tests year-level maths knowledge and reasoning, and using maths in real-world contexts. The knowledge needed is no more than the Year 8 curriculum, so nothing beyond school maths.
That means fluency matters more than new topics. A child who knows the methods but rushes the words can still lose marks, so practise reading the last line of each question before working.
The exam is on paper: answers shaded in a supplied answer booklet. Calculators are not allowed in the room, so every sum is worked by hand.
Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning come first, sharing one sitting of 60 minutes. Then comes a 20-minute break.
ACER doesn't publish how many questions each part has, so nobody can give an exact time per question. Aim for steady progress across both parts rather than a fixed pace.
If a question stalls, ACER suggests your child make an informed guess and come back to it at the end if there is time. It also says half the questions correct is not unusual, so an unfinished sitting is normal: tell your child that before the day.
Our questions cover four groups of school maths, mostly as short word problems. The groups are ours, not ACER's list, and they're written around the maths a Year 8 child already uses.
Each question has four options. The wrong ones are answers a child reaches by a common slip, so go over them together: they teach as much as the right one.
These are our own questions, written in ACER's published style, not taken from ACER. Each one shows the answer and the working, so read them with your child.
Ask which option looked right at first, then find it in the working: it shows which slip leads there.
A bag holds 4 red, 5 blue and 3 green counters. Oscar takes out one counter without looking. What is the probability that the counter is not blue?
Answer: C
Answer: C
Count the counters that are not blue and compare with the total. There are 4 + 3 = 7 red or green counters out of 12, so the probability is 7/12. 5/12 is the chance of blue, the opposite of what was asked. 2/3 comes from counting colours (two of the three) instead of counters.
The table shows the rainfall at a weather station over five days. Friday's figure is missing. The mean (average) daily rainfall for the five days was 6 mm. What was the median daily rainfall for the five days?
| Day | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainfall (mm) | 4 | 0 | 9 | 3 | ? |
Answer: A
Answer: A
First find Friday: a mean of 6 mm over 5 days is 30 mm in total, and the other days add to 16 mm, so Friday had 14 mm. In order the values are 0, 3, 4, 9, 14, and the middle one (the median) is 4 mm. 9 mm is Wednesday, the middle day of the week, not the middle value.
Around a single point, a tiler fits one equilateral triangle and two identical regular polygons, with no gaps and no overlaps. How many sides does each of the two identical polygons have?
Answer: C
Answer: C
The angles around a point add to 360°. The triangle uses 60°, leaving 300° for the two polygons, so each has an interior angle of 150°. Its exterior angle is 180° − 150° = 30°, and exterior angles add to 360°, so it has 360 ÷ 30 = 12 sides. 30 is the exterior angle in degrees, not the number of sides.
They cover chance, data and angles. For more, with the working and the usual traps, see selective entry maths sample questions.
Pick the skill that cost the most marks in a practice test, and work on that one first. Each skill page explains one skill, with three worked questions from easier to harder.
The maths is similar, but the format isn't. Victoria joins school maths and reasoning in one paper sitting, while NSW sets a separate maths test on a computer; neither allows a calculator.
If you're weighing both, practise on paper for Victoria. See the NSW Selective maths test for the other side.
| Victoria | NSW Selective | |
|---|---|---|
| Time and questions | 60 minutes with QR; counts not published | 35 questions in 40 minutes |
| Content level | no more than the Year 8 curriculum | concepts your child already learns at school |
| Calculator | Not allowed | No calculator |
| How it's sat | On paper | On computers provided by the Department |
No. Calculators are on ACER's list of items not allowed in the exam room.
No. The Department says the knowledge needed is no more than the Year 8 curriculum. Fluency with known maths matters more than new topics.
No. Mathematics checks school maths in context, while VIC selective entry quantitative reasoning checks thinking and reasoning with numbers, patterns and shapes. They share one sitting and one clock.
No, they are ours. On its Prepare page, ACER offers a set of sample questions to download, for the style and format of the exam questions.
For a full run under the real times, try our selective entry practice tests. Afterwards you'll see results by skill, so you know which skill page to start with.
Practice test 1 marks every answer and shows results by skill: what your child already does well and the three skills to work on next.
Practise for the real test
Practice test 1 is free. Then packs from A$109 for 12 months, or A$9 a week, per exam.