Victorian selective entry high schools: a calm, official-first guide for parents
Four Victorian government schools admit Year 9 students through one centralised exam run by ACER. This guide explains dates, fees, the exam, how places are offered and what the authorities say about preparation.
Last checked against the official sources.
Victoria has four selective entry high schools. Families apply once, in the year their child is in Year 8, and sit one centralised entrance exam for Year 9 entry. ACER (the Australian Council for Educational Research) runs the application and exam for the Department of Education.
This section is written for parents and carers. It sticks to what the Department of Education and ACER publish, and says plainly when something is not published.
Apply in Year 8, sit one exam run by ACER, list up to three school preferences, and offers come in rounds (in 2026, Round 1 offers came out on 3 August). Start with the dates and process page, then read how selection works.
Where to start
- Understand selective entry: who can apply, how selection works and the four schools.
- Apply: dates and process, fees and equity, the exam format and sample questions.
- Results and offers: what you receive after the exam, in how selection works and the FAQ.
A note on honesty: ExamExplained is run alongside a tutoring business. Nothing here is a promise of a place, and ACER says children do not need to practise or revise. We do not collect or publish anything about what appeared in the exam, and ACER treats discussing exam content with tutoring companies as misconduct. Official pages are linked throughout.
Checked against the official pages on 7 October 2026.
© Copyright State Government of Victoria. Summarised and adapted from vic.gov.au, Selective entry high schools (https://www.vic.gov.au/selective-entry-high-schools), accessed 7 October 2026, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Changes were made. The Victorian Government does not endorse ExamExplained.
Understand selective entry
- Who can apply for Victorian selective entry: year level and citizenshipA child must be in Year 8 (or equivalent), must not have sat the exam before for Year 9 entry, and must meet citizenship or visa rules. ACER publishes no birth-date rule, so year level is what counts.
- How Victorian selective entry places are offered: rank, equity and rounds85 percent of places go by exam rank, up to 10 percent consider equity, and up to 5 percent are at the principal's discretion. Offers are made in rounds, and an offer to one school cannot be transferred to another.
- The four Victorian selective entry high schools comparedNossal in Berwick, Suzanne Cory in Werribee, Mac.Robertson Girls' in Melbourne and Melbourne High in South Yarra. Official facts only: location, type and how entry works.
Apply
- Victorian selective entry dates and how the process runsThe 2026 cycle (for Year 9 entry in 2027) ran from applications in March to Round 1 offers on 3 August, and Principal Discretion results are due on 15 October. Dates for the next cycle (Year 9 entry in 2028) are not published; we show month windows only.
- Victorian selective entry fee, concessions and equityThe 2026 application fee was \$175, with free applications for families holding a health care or pensioner concession card, and for First Nations families. Check ACER's apply page for the current cycle.
- Victorian selective entry exam format: sections, timing and breaksIn 2026 the exam had three parts: Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning (60 minutes), Reading and Verbal Reasoning (55 minutes) and Writing (40 minutes), 155 minutes of task time in a day of about four hours.
- Victorian selective entry sample questions from ACERACER publishes sample questions for familiarity. We link to them and do not host them. ACER says they may not reflect the difficulty of the exam and that there is no need to practise.
Results and offers
- Victorian selective entry FAQ: scores, preparation and NSW differencesPlain answers to common parent questions: how this differs from NSW selective, whether you will see scores, what ACER says about practice, and how to prepare without coaching.