Edutest exam format: what your child actually sits
This guide explains the test format. For resources to use with your child, see EduTest practice tests and samples.
The Edutest is a five-section entrance and scholarship test made up of two ability tests and three achievement tests. Verbal Reasoning, Numerical Reasoning, Reading Comprehension and Mathematics each run 30 minutes, and Written Expression runs 15 minutes with no planning or reading time.
That last detail catches more families off guard than anything else on this page. A child who has practised planning for five minutes before writing has practised a skill they will not be allowed to use.
What is the Edutest?
Edutest is an independent testing company that writes, delivers and marks entrance and scholarship tests on behalf of schools. The school sets the date, the fee and the selection criteria. Edutest supplies and scores the paper.
In Queensland, the Queensland Academies use Edutest for entry to QASMT, QACI and QAHS. Independent schools across Australia use the same battery for scholarship rounds, and selective entry high schools in New South Wales and Victoria use Edutest for some intakes. If your child is applying to more than one school, the test may look near identical while the closing dates, fees and cut-offs are completely different.
What are the five Edutest sections?
There are two ability sections and three achievement sections. Ability sections measure how your child thinks; achievement sections measure what your child has already learned.
Those are Edutest's own published descriptions, and the Queensland Academies republish the same five rows on their Year 7 enrolments page. The five sections total 135 minutes of timed testing. Schools generally describe the sitting as approximately three hours once instructions and transitions are counted.
How long is the Edutest in total?
Timed testing is 135 minutes. Plan for around three hours on site, because instructions, seating and section changeovers all sit outside the clock.
The Queensland Academies describe their Entrance Test as "a series of tests approximately 3 hours of duration". Treat three hours as the number you build test day around, and 135 minutes as the number you build practice around.
What is actually hard about the Edutest?
Time, not difficulty. Thirty minutes per multiple-choice section means most students will not finish, and Edutest's own guidance to students is not to worry about unfinished questions because the tests are difficult by design.
Two consequences follow, and both change how you practise.
First, every question carries equal value, and no marks are deducted for wrong answers. A student who leaves blanks is giving away marks for nothing. A student who spends four minutes on one hard question is giving away three easy ones.
Second, the answer sheet is the real risk. Edutest warns that if a student loses their place and enters answers out of order, the test cannot be manually rescored or realigned. One skipped bubble can invalidate an entire section. This is a mechanical skill, and it is trainable in an afternoon.
Across nearly two decades of running timed sections, we have found students split into two groups. Some arrive already able to skip a hard question and come back to it. The rest have never been told they are allowed to. That second group only needs to be shown once. Point it out during practice and they remember it from then on.
The gain is not subtle. A student who learns to skip and return typically gets to three to five more questions in a section than they otherwise would have. What those questions are worth depends on how hard they were, and nobody can promise a number there. But three to five extra attempts in a 30-minute section, at no cost, on a paper where no marks are deducted for a wrong answer, is a large amount of ground to be giving away for a habit.
What can my child bring to an Edutest sitting?
Bring nothing beyond what the school tells you to bring. Edutest publishes a list of items that are not permitted, and it is longer than most families expect.
Not permitted:
transmit information
- calculators
- dictionaries
- working out paper
- mobile phones
- rulers
- digital watches
- smart watches and fitness trackers, or any watch that can store, receive or
- erasable pens
The smart watch rule catches families who have never thought of a watch as a device. If your child wears one daily, take it off the night before so it is not a decision on the morning.
How are Edutest results reported?
Results are split into an Ability category and an Achievement category, and each is scored by comparison with thousands of other students in the same year level across Australia. There is no raw mark and no pass score.
Edutest is explicit that more than half of students sitting these tests will land in the average or normal range on any given section, and that roughly a quarter will score above it. That is not a comment on your child. It is what happens when a test is built for a cohort of applicants who are already high achievers.
It also means results reflect one testing occasion. Edutest states that fatigue, limited test-taking experience and anxiety can all pull a score below a student's true ability, and that they are unable to retest on that basis. Which is the strongest argument there is for sitting timed practice papers until the format itself stops costing marks.
Does the school or Edutest give me my child's results?
That depends entirely on the school, and in Queensland the answer is no. The Queensland Academies state plainly that they do not distribute individual test results or parent reports and do not provide diagnostic information about a child's strengths or areas for growth.
So if your child sits the Queensland Academies Entrance Test and is unsuccessful, you will not be told which section let them down. You get an outcome, not a picture. That gap is the single best reason to sit properly marked practice papers before the real thing, because it is the only diagnostic you will ever get.
Can my child sit the Edutest remotely?
Only if you live and study a significant distance from the school, and only with at least three weeks' notice. Remote testing is arranged through Edutest directly, not through the school, and it carries an additional fee.
The Queensland Academies instruct applicants to contact both the admissions office and Edutest Remote immediately on completing an application, and note that arrangements can take several weeks. Remote testing is explicitly not available to applicants who simply cannot attend because of travel on the day.
Where to next
Academies version of this paper, with the current cycle dates
- QASMT entrance test format: the Queensland
- Edutest practice tests: timed papers by section
- Edutest or HAST: which test does my child's school use?
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FAQ block for schema
How long is the Edutest? 135 minutes of timed testing across five sections. Allow approximately three hours on site.
How many sections does the Edutest have? Five: Verbal Reasoning, Numerical Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, Mathematics and Written Expression.
Can you use a calculator in the Edutest? No. Calculators, dictionaries, rulers, working out paper, mobile phones and smart watches are all prohibited.
Is there a pass mark for the Edutest? No. Results are reported as comparisons against other students in the same year level nationally, and each school sets its own selection process.
How long does Written Expression go for? Fifteen minutes, with no separate planning or reading time.
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Written by the teaching team at Practice Tests and Exams. We have taught Year 3 to 12 English and Year 3 to 6 maths in small group classes to our own syllabus since 2008, and prepare Queensland students for selective entry and scholarship exams.
Format details verified against edutest.com.au and the Queensland Academies Year 7 enrolments page on 10 September 2026. Schools change packages and dates every cycle, so confirm the specifics with the school your child is applying to.