EduTest scholarship and entrance tests: what they test and how to prepare

EduTest is one of the three main scholarship test publishers in Australia. Independent schools use its battery for scholarship and entrance testing, and some government selective processes use it too: the Queensland Academies set it as their entrance test, a group of NSW selective high schools use a variant for Years 8–11 entry, and EduTest runs the Year 10 and 11 entrance exam for Victoria's four selective entry high schools. Students sit EduTest scholarship tests anywhere from Year 4 to Year 10, for entry the following year.

The standard battery is five short papers in one morning. Two are ability tests: Verbal Reasoning (vocabulary, word relationships, classification and deduction) and Numerical Reasoning (series, matrices, arithmetical reasoning and deduction). Two are achievement tests tied to the year level: Reading Comprehension (interpreting passages, plus sentence mechanics) and Mathematics (number, measurement, algebra, space and data). Each of the four runs for 30 minutes. The fifth paper is Written Expression: 15 minutes in the standard scholarship battery, with no planning or reading time. EduTest does not publish how many questions each paper has. Calculators, dictionaries, rulers and electronic devices are not allowed.

Two things make EduTest different from other tests. The ability papers measure reasoning rather than taught content, so a student who is strong at school maths can still be thrown by a number matrix or a word-relationship item. And registration is school by school: you register through the school offering the scholarship or place, each school sets its own dates and fees, and one sitting does not automatically travel to other schools the way an ACER cooperative scholarship sitting does. The battery is not identical everywhere either — the NSW selective Years 8–11 variant and Victoria's Year 10–11 entrance exam are described as five 30-minute papers, writing included — so confirm the format with each school.

Prepare in proportion to the paper. Build vocabulary and practise word relationships for Verbal Reasoning; practise number patterns and multi-step arithmetic without a calculator for Numerical Reasoning and Mathematics; and read widely for comprehension. For Written Expression, practise starting to write almost at once: in the standard battery, 15 minutes with no planning time rewards a student who can settle on an idea and a shape in the first minute. Finish with a few timed runs of all five papers in one sitting, so the pace of a full morning feels normal.