Students who were scheduled to sit the tests at Randwick, Canterbury and Olympic Park and had their test postponed have been rescheduled to sit the test at allocated public high schools.
Parents of students who sat a test on Friday 2 May at Canterbury, Randwick and Sydney Olympic Park were provided the opportunity to have their child re-sit the test.
An email was sent to parents and carers with instructions on how to access and download the Test Admission Ticket for these students to sit the rescheduled tests.
The rescheduled Opportunity Class and Selective High School Placement Tests will be held on two consecutive weekends.
Selective high school tests will be held on Saturday 17 and Sunday 25 May. Opportunity Class tests will be held on Sunday 18 May and Saturday 24 May.
Students have been allocated to new testing locations based on their proximity to local schools being used as test centres.
To ensure fairness for all students, the rescheduled tests are new tests.
Refer to the following Frequently Asked Questions for more information about the rescheduled tests and test re-sit opportunity.
What happens to the students from Randwick, Canterbury and Sydney Olympic Park who had their tests postponed?
Students scheduled to sit the test at Randwick, Canterbury or Sydney Olympic Park have been rescheduled to sit the test at allocated public high schools.
All students will be issued with a new Test Admission Ticket. This will include a new test date and test location. This will be available in the application dashboard.
Which students can re-sit the test?
Parents of students from Canterbury, Randwick and Sydney Olympic Park who sat a test on Friday 2 May can opt to have their child re-sit the test. These students will sit a new test to ensure fairness for all students.
These students will sit the test in public schools alongside those students whose test date was postponed.
Does my child need to re-sit the test?
No. If your child sat a placement test on Friday 2 May then they do not need to re-sit the test to be considered for placement. Their test attempt on Friday 2 May is valid and they will be considered for placement based on their performance. You should advise the department by 9 am Monday 12 May if you do not wish for your child to re-sit the test.
However, you may opt for them to re-sit the test if you feel that the issues experienced at a test centre on Friday 2 May impacted their performance in the test.
If you decide you do not want your child to re-sit the test, then you cannot appeal the placement decision based on the test centre environment before and after the test.
If you do not want to re-sit the test, but your child did experience an illness or misadventure on the test day you may submit an Illness or Misadventure request by 11:59 pm Sunday 11 May (refer to the department website to follow our usual process to submit an Illness and Misadventure request).
Where will the rescheduled tests be held?
The tests will be held at 39 public high schools throughout the Sydney metropolitan area.
All students will receive a new Test Admission Ticket with the date, location and time of the rescheduled test.
When will the tests be held?
The rescheduled Opportunity Class and the Selective High School Placement Tests will be held on two consecutive weekends, May 17 and 18, and May 24 and 25.
There will be one test session held per day at all 39 schools, starting at 10 am.
| Day/Date/Time | Test |
|---|---|
Saturday May 17 at 10 am |
Selective High School Placement Test |
Sunday May 18 at 10 am |
Opportunity Class Placement Test |
Saturday 24 May at 10 am |
Opportunity Class Placement Test |
Sunday 25 May at 10 am |
Selective High School Placement Test |
How will I know my child’s rescheduled test day and location?
Students will be issued with a new Test Admission Ticket (TAT) that will include their test date, test start time and the location. The TAT will also include any reasonable adjustments granted. This can be found in the application dashboard.
Will the test experience be different?
The test will be conducted with the same technology and will have the same degree of difficulty as all tests run on other days and at other test locations.
The experience for students and parents on the day moving into and out of the test venue will be different to the larger testing venues.
Smaller venues will make drop-off and pick-up procedures faster with less crowding. The presence of senior staff from the high school and additional education staff on site will ensure procedures are used that have proven to work with similar sized groups of students. Staff from the test provider Janison and additional marshals will also be on site to ensure the process runs efficiently.
For the vast majority of students, the test will also take place closer to home and, in most cases, with groups of familiar students from their primary school.
There is no advantage from sitting the test on a particular day and performance can be compared across multiple test versions.
How have students been allocated to a new testing location?
Students have been allocated based on the proximity of their primary school to the new test centres.
Where there are a high number of students, allocation to a test centre will be to the next nearest available venue that can accommodate students to sit the test.
How many students will sit the test at each school?
There will be between 60 - 200 students per day sitting the test at each school.
The schools hosting the tests have hosted placement tests in prior years with this number of students.
Can I change the location/time I have been allocated to?
Yes, if there are exceptional circumstances that prevents your child from attending their allocated test date or location, please contact the department by 9 am Monday 12 May via a message in the application dashboard. Note: tests will be only available on the scheduled dates for each test.
What if a student can’t make any of the new dates? Will there still be a make-up test?
There will not be a further opportunity to sit the Opportunity Class test after the 24 May or Selective High School test after the 25 May.
The department has regular procedures for considering placement of students who are unable to sit the tests. You should contact the department by 9 am Monday 12 May via a message in the application dashboard if your child is unable to sit any of the test dates.
Will the tests be different to the ones that students have already sat?
Yes, there will be new tests each day to ensure fairness for all students. The tests used are provided by international external experts. Students and families can be confident that these are new test versions.
The coaching college my child attends is asking my child for information about the test content after they have sat the test? Is this practice of sharing content after the test allowed?
No, test content should not be shared in this way. Students should be aware that the sharing of test content, even after the test, is considered malpractice and can result in a student’s placement being cancelled.
Coaching colleges who solicit information about the test, from students after they have sat the test, may effectively be encouraging these students to engage in malpractice and jeopardising the consideration of placement of these students.
Additionally, test content should not be shared on social media.
Any incidents of coaching colleges soliciting information about the test from students should be reported to the department's Selective Education Team at set@det.nsw.edu.au
For more information about Malpractice refer to the Selective high schools and opportunity class placement procedures.
How will the department ensure fairness in the testing process?
There will be new tests to ensure fairness for all students. There are measures in place to ensure there is no advantage from sitting the test on a particular day and performance can be compared across multiple test versions.
If a student is sitting a different test, what if they get a test that is harder or easier?
The department had already planned for multiple versions of the computer-based test to allow the tests to be conducted on different days. All versions of the test are carefully calibrated to have the same degree of difficulty.
There is no advantage from sitting the test on a particular day and performance can be compared across multiple test versions.
My child’s test was postponed and they will only get one chance to sit the test. Why do some other students get two chances. How is this fair?
Students who sat the test at the large test centres on 2 May have been offered the opportunity to re-sit due to the unacceptable crowding issues. We want all children sitting the placement tests to have the opportunity to do their best in an environment that allows them to do so.
Children who had their test proceed in our usual test conditions have had the same the opportunity to perform at their best
Students who are sitting the test for a second time have had additional study time. How is this fair?
No student will sit the same test twice.
The selective high school and opportunity class placement tests are tests of potential and there is no credible evidence that coaching for the tests makes any significant difference.
Students who took the original tests were given a writing task and now some coaching colleges are giving students templates for writing. How is this fair?
No student will sit the same test twice. There will be new tests to ensure fairness for all students.
Students practise a wide range of text types at school. The writing component of the test is assessed based on the creativity and originality of the answer, as well as the ability of the students to communicate their ideas in written form. Our markers are highly trained and can easily identify memorised or template responses. Additionally, the move to computer-based testing means that the department’s ability to locate malpractice in the test has greatly improved.
Can I wait on site while my child does the test?
Parents are advised to leave the test centre when their child sits the test. Each school will have well-planned drop off and pick up arrangements in place.
What time do the tests start and finish?
The OC test will commence at 10 am and will be scheduled to finish at 12.30 pm
The SHS test will commence at 10 am and will be scheduled to finish at 2 pm. A short break is scheduled during the test.
What should my child do/bring to the test?
On test day your child should:
I had already arranged to do a test on the ‘make-up’ date of 19 May, what do I do now?
FOR STUDENTS OUTSIDE OF METRO SYDNEY:
The make-up test on Monday 19 May will be available for students outside of Sydney metropolitan areas. Parents will receive communications about the make-up test, including a Test Admission Ticket.
FOR STUDENTS IN METRO SYDNEY AREAS:
A make-up test on Monday 19 May will NOT BE AVAILABLE for students in Sydney metropolitan areas.
These students will be allocated to one of the new public school testing sites on either 17 or 25 May for the Selective High School Placement Test, or 18 or 24 May for the Opportunity Class Placement Test.
Who will be running the new tests? Is it the department or Janison?
Senior department staff will have overall charge of the testing site. As with all other tests, the tests will be administered and managed by Janison.
What happens if my child re-sat the test, and they did better in their first attempt?
The department will compare the scores of students who took the test twice and the student’s final score will be the higher of the two scores used for placement.
How is it fair that students re-sitting the test get to use their highest test performance?
This decision was very carefully considered by the department as the fairest way to provide all students with the opportunity to do their best on the placement test.
No student will sit the same test twice. There will be new tests to ensure fairness for all students.
The re-sitting of the tests and the use of the higher score for placement consideration is designed to provide students with an environment in which to demonstrate their academic potential.
Only students who had their test postponed or who sat the test on Friday 2 May at Canterbury Racecourse, Randwick Racecourse or Quaycentre (Olympic Park) are eligible to sit a rescheduled test.
| Day/date/time | Test |
|---|---|
| Saturday May 17 at 10am | Selective High School Placement Test |
| Sunday May 18 at 10am | Opportunity Class Placement Test |
| Saturday 24 May at 10am | Opportunity Class Placement Test |
| Sunday 25 May at 10am | Selective High School Placement Test |
There will be one test session (either Opportunity Class or Selective High School test) held per day per school starting at 10 am.
The rescheduled Opportunity Class and Selective High School placement tests will be held in public secondary schools across Sydney.
There will be over 30 schools spread throughout the metropolitan area where the rescheduled tests will be held.
The make up test will be held in external test centres outside of the Sydney metropolitan area.
The Test Admission Ticket will include the test date, location and time of the test.
The Opportunity Class test will commence at 10 am and it is scheduled to finish at 12:30 pm
The Selective High School test will commence at 10 am and it is scheduled to finish at 2 pm.
| Time | Activity | Actual test duration |
|---|---|---|
| 9:15 am | Students arrive | – |
| 10:05 am | Reading Test | 30 minutes |
| 10:35 am | Short break (students remain seated or use the bathroom) | – |
| 10:50 am | Mathematical Reasoning Test | 40 minutes |
| 11:30 am | Short break (students remain seated or use the bathroom) | – |
| 11:50 am | Thinking Skills Test | 30 minutes |
| 12:20 pm | End of Thinking Skills Test | – |
| 12:30 pm | Parent pick-up time | – |
| Time | Activity | Actual test duration |
|---|---|---|
| 9:15 am | Students arrive | – |
| 10:05 am | Reading Test | 40 minutes |
| 10:45 am | Short break (students remain seated or use bathroom) | – |
| 11:05 am | Mathematical Reasoning Test | 40 minutes |
| 11:45 pm | Longer Break (students can leave the room, eat their snack or use bathroom) | – |
| 12:30 pm | Thinking Skills Test | 40 minutes |
| 1:10 pm | Short break (students remain seated or use bathroom) | – |
| 1:25 pm | Writing Test | 30 minutes |
| 1:55 pm | End of the Writing Test | – |
| 2:00 pm | Parent pick-up time | – |
Students who miss the make-up placement test can no longer be considered for placement in a selective high school or opportunity class.
Students who were absent from their resit or rescheduled test day on the test weekends, 17-18 May or 24-25May, will not be able to sit a make-up test. Parents and carers should submit an Illness and Misadventure request by 31 May.
The illness/misadventure process detailed above also applies to applicants sitting the placement test interstate or overseas.
An independent review into the administration of this year’s opportunity class and selective high school testing is underway. Respected education academic Dr Michele Bruniges AM is heading the review.
Dr Michele Bruniges AM, an expert education academic, will examine the challenges and issues that led to the selective tests at three Sydney venues being postponed, the department’s delivery of the rescheduled and re-sit tests and provide recommendations on how the testing should be implemented in future years.
Dr Bruniges AM will deliver her report to the NSW Government for its consideration by mid-July 2025.
