How Victorian selective entry places are offered: rank, equity and rounds
85 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.
Last checked against the official sources.
Most places (85 percent) are offered by rank on the exam. Up to 10 percent consider equity and up to 5 percent are at the principal's discretion. Families list up to three schools in order, and offers are made in rounds.
About 1,000 places are available each year for Year 9 entry across the four schools, according to the Department. Its page gives only that total. Some schools state their own Year 9 intake on their enrolment pages, so check each school's website.
The three categories of place
The Department states:
- 85 percent of places are offered based on rank from exam performance.
- Up to 10 percent are offered based on exam performance and ability to meet the conditions for equity.
- Up to 5 percent are offered at the discretion of the principal.
After the formal offers process (complete on 24 August in 2026), ACER says any late offers are filled using a combination of factors including school preferences, ranking and the gender balance of the school. The Department adds that places at the two co-educational schools (Nossal and Suzanne Cory) may be subject to a special measure used by the principal to keep a gender balance.
The source school cap
The Department says no more than 4 percent of students from a single source school are offered standard and principal discretion places. Prep to Year 9 schools are excluded from that rule and have a 10 percent cap instead. The equity consideration category is not subject to the cap. Home-schooled, interstate and overseas students are treated as separate cohorts, each with a cap on the places on offer.
Your three preferences
Families can list up to three schools. ACER says the order matters: put the most preferred school first. If your child qualifies for more than one school, they are offered only the highest preference they qualify for. Preferences can be changed until the published deadline (26 June in 2026).
Offers in rounds
Offers are made in rounds, based on places available. For the 2026 cycle:
- Round 1 offers: Monday 3 August, closing Monday 10 August.
- Round 2 offers: Thursday 13 August, closing Monday 17 August.
- Round 3 offers: Thursday 20 August, closing Monday 24 August.
ACER says around 90 percent of places are secured through the first round, and offers may continue until the end of Term 4. Offers are viewed in the application portal, and the email tells you how long you have to accept or decline. A child offered a second or third preference may be offered a higher preference in a later round, and ACER says you can accept a lower preference offer and still be eligible for a higher one. If you do not respond by the offer deadline, or you decline, the offer goes to the next candidate, and ACER cannot extend the deadline.
The Principal Discretion process
The up to 5 percent of places at the principal's discretion go through a separate Principal Discretion process. ACER published these dates for the 2026 cycle:
- Invitations published: Thursday 3 September 2026, 10:00 am.
- Applications close: Tuesday 8 September 2026, 4:00 pm.
- Interview invitations sent: Friday 18 September 2026.
- Interviews: 5 to 14 October 2026 (under way now).
- Successful candidates are notified: Thursday 15 October 2026, 10:00 am (still ahead).
The Department says principals may invite selected students with strong exam results to apply, and an invitation is not an offer of a place. Shortlisted candidates are interviewed. ACER has not published Principal Discretion dates for the next cycle (Year 9 entry in 2028). Check ACER's results and selection page for the current process.
What you receive after the exam
ACER provides an exam outcome report to parents and carers through the portal, available from 10:00 am on Monday 3 August in 2026. It says access to the tests or individual scores after the exam is not permitted, and that results are not necessarily directly comparable to any other test. Its public pages do not describe what the report shows. See the FAQ.
An offer for one selective entry high school is not transferable to another.
These are the 2026 cycle dates. Dates for the next cycle (Year 9 entry in 2028) are not published. See dates and process.
Checked against the Department and ACER 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.