Turn every amount into the same form before comparing, and ask what each part is a part of.
Practice test 1 is free. No card needed.
Fraction and percentage questions are solved by putting every amount in one form, then asking what each part is of. Children in Year 7 now sit the exam in Year 8 , expected in June 2027.
Checked by the SelectiveReady team on 12 October 2026 · Updated 27 October 2026 · How we check facts
Independent. Not affiliated with the Victorian Department of Education or ACER.
These questions mix fractions, decimals and percentages in one story and ask your child to compare them or follow them through a few steps. They sit in the Mathematics part, which shares a 60-minute sitting with Quantitative Reasoning.
ACER says the Maths part covers year-level maths knowledge and reasoning, and using maths in real-world contexts. Here that means parts of a training run, savings spent in steps, and percentages of a group of seedlings.
These three are our own, from easier to harder. Each one shows the answer and the working, so read them with your child.
As you read, ask your child what each fraction or percentage is a part of. A wrong whole is behind two of the traps below.
Four friends each ran part of the same training course. Nadia ran 62% of it, Sione ran 3/5 of it, Grace ran 0.58 of it and Kai ran 5/8 of it. Who ran the greatest part of the course?
Answer: D
Answer: D
Change each amount to a decimal: 62% = 0.62, 3/5 = 0.6, 0.58 stays the same, and 5/8 = 0.625. The largest is 0.625, so Kai ran the most. Nadia is the tempting choice because 62 looks biggest, but 62% is 0.62, a little less than 0.625.
Ava spent 1/3 of her savings on a book. She then spent 1/4 of the money she had left on a concert ticket. She now has $27 left. How much were her savings at the start?
Answer: A
Answer: A
Work with what is left at each step. After the book, 2/3 of her savings remain; after the ticket, 3/4 of that 2/3 remains, which is 1/2. Half her savings is $27, so she started with $54. $64.80 comes from taking both fractions from the starting amount (1/3 + 1/4 = 7/12), but the 1/4 is taken from what was left.
A plant nursery grows only tomato and capsicum seedlings. 40% of its seedlings are tomatoes. So far, 25% of the tomato seedlings have flowered, and 31% of all the seedlings have flowered. What percentage of the capsicum seedlings have flowered?
Answer: B
Answer: B
Imagine 100 seedlings: 40 are tomatoes, and 25% of them, 10, have flowered. 31 have flowered in all, so 21 of the 60 capsicums have flowered, which is 35%. 21% forgets to compare with the 60 capsicums, and 37% treats 31% as the plain average of 25% and the answer, but there are more capsicums than tomatoes, so they count for more.
Have your child change everything into one form first, because a decimal beside a decimal is easy to compare and a fraction beside a percentage isn't. These steps are ours, not ACER's, and each one comes from the working above.
To compare, change each amount to a decimal. Then 5/8 becomes 0.625, easy to set beside 0.62.
Every fraction or percentage is a part of something. After a first spend, check whether the next fraction is of the start or of what is left.
Multiply the parts left at each step. Keeping 2/3, then 3/4 of that, leaves 1/2 of the start.
For percentages of groups, imagine 100 things. Turn every percentage into a count, then work with counts.
Start from the answer and work forwards. If the story ends where the question says, the answer fits.
Each wrong option is an answer reached by one slip, and each slip has a quick check. Name the slip with your child, then use its check on the next few questions.
Use everyday prices and sharing: they give plenty of free practice.
These three questions show the method. A full sitting shows whether your child still asks "a part of what?" when the clock is running. Practice test 1 in our selective entry practice tests is free, with results by skill afterwards.
For more worked questions, see maths sample questions. For the whole part, read about VIC selective entry mathematics.
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.