Test Comparison Guide

Scholarship vs Selective Writing: Which Test Should Your NSW Child Take?

Most ambitious NSW Year 6 students prepare for both. The skills overlap, the timing is staggered (ACER scholarship sittings cluster in February, the NSW Selective Placement Test is in early-to-mid May), and missing one closes a backup option that costs you nothing extra to keep open.

Most NSW parents are only thinking about one test. They should be thinking about both.

Each year more than 15,000 NSW Year 6 students sit the Selective High School Placement Test in early-to-mid May, with applications opening the previous October. Several months earlier, in February, thousands of NSW students sit ACER scholarship papers for independent schools. The same kids are usually on both lists.

If you're in the parent group chats — WeChat, KakaoTalk, the Year 5 mums' WhatsApp — you've heard both names already. What nobody really explains is how the two tests overlap, and whether prepping for both is doable without breaking your kid.

The honest version: most kids serious about Year 7 entry sit both. The underlying writing skills overlap heavily — paragraphing, vocabulary range, sentence control, time management. Where families get caught out is the genre balance, the endurance demands, and the timing of the run-up.

This guide works through the scholarship vs selective writing question across three angles: what each test actually demands, how preparation transfers, and how to decide whether your child should sit one, the other, or both.

What's the difference between Selective and ACER scholarship tests?

Quick comparison:

Aspect	NSW Selective	ACER Scholarship
Who runs it	NSW Department of Education	ACER (Cooperative Scholarship Testing Program)
What you win	Free place at an academically selective public high school	Partial fee remission at an independent school (typically 10–50%)
Year levels	Year 6 sitting for Year 7 entry	Level 1: Year 6 → Year 7 entry; Level 2: Year 8 → Year 9 entry; Level 3: Year 10 → Year 11 entry
Test date	Early-to-mid May; applications open the previous October	February main sitting; some schools run additional sittings between August and October
Cost to take	Free	Around $110–$140 per sitting
Number of writing tasks	1 (30 minutes)	2 back-to-back (~25–30 minutes each)
Result format	Overall placement bands across all four papers	Percentile plus raw score, sent to schools you nominate

Two scholarship pathways the table doesn't cover but most NSW families should know about. Edutest is used by several independents (often as an alternative to ACER) and runs a similar two-essay format. CSSA runs scholarship testing for many Catholic schools, and a number of Catholic and Diocesan schools run their own internal entry exams. If your shortlist includes any of these, check the school's website directly — don't assume "scholarship test" means ACER.

Worth knowing too: many Year 6 candidates first encountered timed writing through the Opportunity Class (OC) test in Year 4 for Year 5 entry. OC isn't a prerequisite for Selective, but it's the on-ramp a lot of NSW students take.

NSW Selective writing test: what's actually on the paper

Your child opens the booklet on the day and finds out the genre. Recent papers have leaned reflective-narrative — for instance, prompts asking students to write about an experience that changed how they saw something — which punishes kids who've only practised plotty fiction. You can't predict the prompt, so genre flexibility matters.

Marking is split across two sets:

• Set A (out of 15): Content & Detail, Structure & Cohesion, Style & Vocabulary
• Set B (out of 10): Sentence Variety & Control, Punctuation, Spelling

NSW publishes overall placement bands, not per-paper writing bands. As a working guide, EurekaWrite maps writing scores onto an internal Band 1–6 scale where Band 6 sits around 22–25 and Band 5 around 18–21 — useful for tracking progress, not the official NSW marker. Highly competitive selective schools (think James Ruse, North Sydney Boys, Baulkham Hills) tend to need strong writing across the board, not just maths and reasoning.

The thing that wrecks most Year 6 kids is the clock. Specific sensory detail and a real arc are what move a script from middle to upper bands, but kids who've never practised under a timer write half a story and stop mid-paragraph. If you want a deeper breakdown of where the marks live, see our guide on what counts as a good score in Selective writing.

For a fuller breakdown of the writing paper itself, see our NSW Selective writing guide.

ACER scholarship writing test: what ACER actually marks

ACER administers the Cooperative Scholarship Testing Program for around 150 independent schools nationally. In NSW the typical CSTP-using schools include SCEGGS Darlinghurst, Pymble Ladies' College, Knox, Newington, Ravenswood, MLC and many more. A few well-known schools — Sydney Grammar in particular — run their own entrance and scholarship exams rather than using ACER. A handful of NSW independents use Edutest. Always check the school's website before booking.

ACER scores on four broader dimensions: Ideas & Content, Structure, Vocabulary, and Grammar & Spelling. There's no public band system. Each school sets its own cut-off, and you receive a percentile plus a raw score sent to the schools you've nominated.

Worth it because top Sydney private school fees now run roughly $38k–$48k per year for Years 7–12. Most scholarships are partial — typical awards run 10% to 50% remission. Full scholarships exist but are rare and fiercely contested. Even at 50%, over the six years of high school you're looking at roughly $120k–$150k. The thing parents often don't realise: schools usually communicate the offer as "X% remission for Year 7" with annual academic and behaviour reviews, not a guaranteed ride for six years.

For the full breakdown, see our ACER scholarship writing guide.

ACER vs Selective: where the writing diverges

Three differences actually change how you prep.

Selective leans narrative-heavy. ACER demands both narrative and persuasive. Looking back over recent Selective papers, narrative shows up more often than the other two genres combined, but it's not guaranteed. ACER doesn't give you that luxury — your child writes one of each, so persuasive can't be the weak side.

Selective is one essay in 30 minutes. ACER is two essays back-to-back. That second one is what trips kids up. They've spent everything on the first piece, and now they have to plan, write, and edit a second one with a tired hand. You only learn to write that second essay by actually doing it.

Selective marking is transparent. ACER's isn't. With Selective, the 6-dimension rubric is published, so families can score their own essays free and see where the marks went. ACER results land as a percentile, with no breakdown of which dimension dragged you down. That makes Selective writing easier to coach toward, even if you're aiming primarily at ACER.

How preparation transfers between the two

This is where the scholarship vs selective writing question gets practical. Most of what your child needs to learn is the same skill set worn two ways.

What's fully shared:

• Paragraph structure, opening hooks, satisfying endings
• Vocabulary upgrades — replacing very, good, bad, big, nice
• Sentence variety: short punchy lines mixed with longer complex ones
• Punctuation control and spelling accuracy
• Time management basics — a quick plan, body, short proofread

What Selective needs more of:

• Genre flexibility across narrative, persuasive and informative — you don't know until the day
• Specific sensory description. NSW markers respond to "the burnt toast smell from the kitchen", not "the food smelt nice"

What ACER needs more of:

• Endurance for two essays in one sitting
• A complete persuasive structure: claim, evidence, counter-argument, rebuttal. Selective doesn't always demand the rebuttal; ACER often does

If you want to see where your child stands today, score one of their essays free and you'll get a Set A / Set B breakdown with the specific lines that lost marks quoted back.

The practical implication: a 12-week core program built around Selective fundamentals, then a 4-week block adding two persuasive essays per week with timed double sittings. It's not twice the work — closer to 20% extra, in our experience.

Should my child do selective and scholarship?

Do both if:

• Your child sits in roughly the top quarter of their cohort academically
• Your family could afford private school fees if a scholarship covered, say, half
• Your nearest selective is genuinely within reach (not a 90-minute commute)
• Your child can handle two distinct test windows three months apart

Selective only if:

• You're committed to the public selective pathway
• Private school fees aren't workable even with a partial scholarship
• Your child's strengths skew toward English and reading, where Selective's heavier writing component plays well

ACER (or Edutest, or a school's own exam) only if:

• You'd only consider private if a scholarship covers most of the fees
• Your nearest selective is geographically impractical (one of the most common reasons North Shore and Eastern Suburbs families pivot to scholarships)
• Your child is a strong all-rounder — ACER's broader scoring across maths, reading, and writing tends to suit balanced students better than the Selective's writing weight

If you're not sure, run two months of foundation work and re-decide in July. Your child's actual writing samples will tell you more than any decision tree.

Twin-track timeline: scholarship vs selective writing prep

A 12-month plan that works for most families with a Year 5 going into Year 6:

1. May–July: Foundation. One essay per week, any genre. Score with a real rubric so progress is measurable.
2. August–October: Genre rotation across narrative, persuasive and informative. Some schools run early ACER sittings — this is the optional window if you want a low-stakes practice run.
3. November–December: Two essays per week, alternating genres. Start introducing the back-to-back sitting once a fortnight.
4. January: Timing drills under exam conditions. Full mock papers. Pull back on volume, push on quality.
5. February: ACER main sitting.
6. March–April: Cool down, then sharpen Selective-specific work — vivid description, narrative arc, and the 30-minute single-essay rhythm.
7. Early-to-mid May: NSW Selective Placement Test.

A note for families looking longer: ACER's scholarship tests don't include a Year 5 → Year 6 level. The Year 5-to-private-Year 6 pathway exists at some schools, but it usually runs through the school's own entrance test (sometimes Edutest), not the CSTP scholarship. Don't get those two pathways confused.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can my child prepare for both tests at the same time?

Yes, and most ambitious NSW students do. The underlying writing skills overlap heavily, so a single core program covers most of both. The 12-month timeline above is built around twin-tracking, with a short ACER-specific block before February.

Which is harder, Selective or ACER?

Different rather than easier. Selective demands sharper genre flexibility because three genres are possible and you don't know which until the day. ACER demands more endurance because you write two essays back-to-back. Most kids find one harder than the other depending on whether they fade or freeze under pressure.

When do results come out?

Selective results typically arrive in June or July. ACER results usually land 4–6 weeks after the test sitting, sent to the family and to the schools you nominated.

Are scholarships usually full or partial?

Almost always partial. Typical awards run 10% to 50% remission, reviewed annually. Full scholarships exist at most top schools but are rare and highly competitive. Phrase your family's plan around what a 25% or 50% award would mean, not a full ride.

What about Sydney Grammar, Catholic schools, and Edutest?

Sydney Grammar runs its own entrance and scholarship exams, not ACER. Many Catholic and Diocesan schools use CSSA or in-house exams. Several independents use Edutest. The same writing prep transfers across all of them — only the test format and dimensions shift slightly.

Can I use EurekaWrite to prep for both?

Yes. The 6-dimension rubric covers everything ACER's 4 dimensions look at, plus the granularity NSW markers want. Same rubric, both tests covered.

Score your child's next essay

If you want to know where your child actually sits, the quickest way is to get a real essay scored. Paste the essay, get a Set A / Set B breakdown in 30 seconds, with the specific lines that lost marks quoted back. Free first essay, no card needed.