Free practice papers for the OC and selective tests
Four papers in the style of the NSW OC and selective placement tests, each with the number of questions and the time of the real section. Your child sits a paper online and you see the marks and what the paper found, or you print it with the answers on the last page.
For the OC test in Year 4
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OC-style thinking skills paper
30 questions in 30 minutes, the same as the real thinking skills section. For Years 3 and 4.
Sit it online: OC-style thinking skills Print it with the answers: OC-style thinking skills
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OC-style mathematical reasoning paper
35 questions in 40 minutes, the same as the real mathematical reasoning section. For Years 3 and 4.
Sit it online: OC-style mathematical reasoning Print it with the answers: OC-style mathematical reasoning
For the selective test in Year 6
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Selective-style thinking skills paper
40 questions in 40 minutes, the same as the real thinking skills section. For Years 5 and 6.
Sit it online: selective-style thinking skills Print it with the answers: selective-style thinking skills
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Selective-style mathematical reasoning paper
35 questions in 40 minutes, the same as the real mathematical reasoning section. For Years 5 and 6.
Sit it online: selective-style mathematical reasoning Print it with the answers: selective-style mathematical reasoning
How to use a paper
- Pick a quiet time when your child is fresh, not straight after school. Have a pencil and spare paper for working, and no calculator.
- Sit it online and press Start the clock, or print it and set a timer. The time is the real section's, so a child who is not finished when it runs out has learnt something about pace.
- Mark it. Online it marks itself; on paper, the answers are on the last page, or you can enter your child's answers online to see every worked answer.
- Read what the paper found, then practise those skills a little each day rather than sitting more papers.
Questions parents ask
Are these past OC or selective test papers?
No. Every question is Learnest's own, written in the style of the tests. The NSW Department of Education publishes its own free practice tests, which run on the same software as the real test.
How long are the real sections?
In the OC test, thinking skills has 30 questions in 30 minutes and mathematical reasoning 35 questions in 40 minutes. In the selective test, thinking skills has 40 questions in 40 minutes and mathematical reasoning 35 questions in 40 minutes. Each paper here has the same number of questions and minutes.
Is there a reading or writing paper?
No. Learnest does not set or mark writing, and it has no OC-style or selective-style reading paper.
Are my child's answers kept?
No. A paper is marked as soon as your child finishes, and nothing is kept: no answers, no score, no time and no cookie. If you ask for the results by email, Learnest keeps your address, which paper it was, the score and the skills to look at, for no more than 45 days.
Can my child sit a paper again?
Yes. Each paper has the same questions every time. Leave a few weeks between tries, so the second one shows what your child can do rather than what they remember.
The department's own practice tests: Opportunity class practice tests and Selective high school practice tests on education.nsw.gov.au.
Fifteen to twenty minutes a day, planned for your child.
Learnest finds the level, teaches the gap and tells you that night which skill is slipping. On maths days the stretch question can be a thinking skills question in the style of the OC or selective test.
Learnest is not affiliated with ACARA, NESA, the NSW Department of Education or the Australian Maths Trust. Every question in these papers is Learnest's own, written for practice. None comes from a past paper.