Reading the Selective Student Performance Report

When outcomes are released, you can also view a Student Performance Report in the application dashboard. It can be hard to interpret because it does not look like a school report. This page explains what it shows and what it does not, and offers some thoughts on how to talk with your child.

The four bands

For each section of the test, the report places your child in one of four bands, compared with all students who sat the test:

• Top 10%.
• Next 15%.
• Next 25%.
• Lowest 50%.

There are four sections in the Selective test: Reading, Mathematical reasoning, Thinking skills and Writing. So you will see four bands. See the test format.

No scores, no ranks

The Department says the report "does not give individual test scores or placement ranks". Its reason is student privacy and wellbeing. This can be frustrating, because it feels like information is being held back. The Department's choice is deliberate, and it applies to every family.

What top 10% does not mean

The Department says a top 10% band does not mean the student scored 90%. It is not a percentage of questions answered correctly. It says where your child's performance sits among the students who sat the test. The other bands work the same way.

No cut-offs

The Department says there are no set minimum entry scores. Whether a student receives an offer depends on how many students apply, how they perform relative to each other, the number of places at each school and how many offers are declined. That is why you cannot use the report to work out whether your child "nearly" got in. Our page on how placement works explains the offers process.

Talking with your child

You know your child best, so this is advice about tone, not a script.

• Decide first how to share. You might read the report yourself first. The Department invites parents to think about if and how to share results.
• Start with effort. Thank your child for sitting a long and unfamiliar test. That took persistence.
• Describe the test honestly. There is no pass or fail mark, and places are limited.
• Keep it about the test, not the child. "This test did not go the way we hoped" is kinder than anything that sounds like a verdict on ability.
• Avoid comparisons with friends, siblings or classmates.
• Let feelings come out. Sit with disappointment before you move to the next plan.
• Watch your own reactions. Children read their parents' faces closely.

What to do next

• Read your outcome in the application dashboard and the Department's outcomes page carefully.
• If there is a reserve position, see the reserve bands, A to F, and the reserve decision date. For 2027 entry, that is 3 December 2026, at 3 pm, which has not passed yet. After it, students holding an accepted offer are removed from higher-choice reserve lists unless the family declines that offer first. A declined offer cannot be got back, so read the Department's outcomes page before you decide. We expect a similar pattern for 2028 entry, but the date has not been published.
• If you think there has been an error, check the appeal rules. The appeal due date is set in the Department's key dates (typically 5 business days after outcomes), and no late appeals are accepted.
• If your child did not receive an offer, read what if we miss out and Years 8 to 11 entry.

One last thought

A band describes one day of testing. It does not describe a child's curiosity, character or future. The Department says many high potential and gifted students choose to remain in their local comprehensive schools, and that every NSW public school supports them.

Source: NSW Department of Education, outcomes and fair access pages, checked 7 October 2026.

Department of Education wording on this page is quoted or adapted briefly under CC BY 4.0. © State of New South Wales (Department of Education), 2023. Licence: CC BY 4.0. ExamExplained has changed and summarised the text and is not endorsed by the Department.