When a question invents its own rule, have your child write out the first few steps before hunting for a shortcut.
Practice test 1 is free. No card needed.
An unfamiliar problem explains its own rule, and your child solves it by writing out the first few steps until a repeat appears. Children in Year 5 now meet these in Quantitative Reasoning on 6 March 2027.
Checked by the SelectiveReady team on 12 October 2026 · Updated 27 October 2026 · How we check facts
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It sets up its own rule, such as a number machine, an odd timetable or a calendar puzzle, and your child applies that rule with care. The handbook says the content of Quantitative Reasoning is very different to what is taught in school.
It also says children will need to look at information carefully, find patterns and relationships, solve problems, and spot similarities and differences. So some questions will feel new; that's expected, and it isn't a sign your child has missed a topic at school.
These sit in Quantitative Reasoning, third in the day's order. That test has 35 questions in 35 minutes, so a calm, written start on a strange question beats staring at it.
These three are our own, in the ASET style: a ferry timetable, a number machine and a calendar. Each shows the answer and the working. As you read, write out the first few steps together by hand: the list shows where each wrong option goes off track.
A ferry leaves the wharf every 40 minutes. The first ferry of the day leaves at 6:30 am. Kim arrives at the wharf at 9:00 am. How long does she wait for the next ferry?
Answer: B
Answer: B
List the departure times by adding 40 minutes each time: 6:30, 7:10, 7:50, 8:30, 9:10 am. The next ferry after 9:00 am leaves at 9:10 am, so Kim waits 10 minutes. 30 minutes is tempting if you picture ferries leaving on the half hour, at 9:30 am.
Mia invents a number machine. If the number going in is even, the machine halves it. If the number is odd, the machine adds 5. Each answer goes straight back into the machine for the next go. Mia puts in 12, so after the 1st go the machine shows 6. What will it show after the 20th go?
Answer: C
Answer: C
Write out the first few goes: 6, 3, 8, 4, 2, 1, then 6 again, so the same six numbers repeat. The 18th go finishes the third round of six (it shows 1), so the 19th shows 6 and the 20th shows 3. 1 is tempting if you think the machine stops at 1, but 1 is odd, so it becomes 6.
In one year, 1 March is a Tuesday. March has 31 days, April has 30 days and May has 31 days. Ari's school concert is on the third Saturday in June that year. What is the date of the concert?
Answer: A
Answer: A
First find the day for 1 June: it is 31 + 30 + 31 = 92 days after 1 March, which is 13 weeks and 1 day, so 1 June is a Wednesday. The first Saturday is 4 June, then 11 June, then 18 June. 25 June is tempting if you add three weeks to the first Saturday instead of two.
Read the rule, write the first few steps, then look for a repeat. Writing works because a repeat is easy to spot on paper and hard to hold in your head. Rough working is fine in the question booklet, but markers never see it, so there's no reason to skip it.
These steps are ours, taken from the working above.
Then say it back in your own words. Half-reading the rule is the first slip to rule out.
List the times, the machine's answers or the days by hand. Don't try to hold them in your head.
A new-looking problem may settle into a cycle. Once it repeats, you know every later step.
Use the length of the repeat to reach a far-off step instead of counting every one.
Ask whether the first item counts, and where the last step lands. Off-by-one slips hide here.
The wrong options here come from adding a pattern the question never gave, stopping too early, or counting one step too many. After you read them together, ask which slip might catch your child, then watch for it in the next made-up rule.
Your child can invent these too, so they're easy to practise. The handbook suggests about a minute per question, so a calm, written start matters more than speed.
Three questions show the method. A full test mixes kinds of question, so Practice test 1, free and timed like the real one, shows whether your child stays calm when a strange one appears.
More worked questions: ASET quantitative reasoning sample questions.
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.