VIC-SEL 1.3 – About the VIC Selective Exam

📖 About the VIC Selective Entry Exam

Everything parents and students need to know

What is the VIC Selective Entry Exam?

The Victorian Selective Entry High School exam is a competitive entrance examination sat by Year 8 students applying for Year 9 entry at one of Victoria’s four selective entry high schools. It is administered by ACER (Australian Council for Educational Research) on behalf of the Victorian Department of Education.

The Four Selective Entry High Schools

🏫 Melbourne High School – boys only, South Yarra
🏫 The Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School – girls only, Melbourne CBD
🏫 Nossal High School – co-educational, Berwick
🏫 Suzanne Cory High School – co-educational, Werribee

Exam Structure

Section	Focus	Time
Reasoning: Reading	Comprehension, inference, vocabulary	35 min
Reasoning: Mathematics	Problem solving, Year 8 maths	30 min
General Ability: Verbal	Word reasoning, verbal logic	30 min
General Ability: Quantitative	Number reasoning, abstract patterns	30 min
Writing	Two written tasks	30 min

🏆 4 Schools

Melbourne High, Mac.Rob, Nossal, Suzanne Cory

⭐ ~1000 Places

Offered each year across all four schools

📅 June

Exam held annually in June for next-year Year 9 entry

🎯 ~20% Rate

Overall acceptance rate – top schools closer to 10%

📋 ACER does not release official past papers or disclose exact question counts. Our mock exams are designed to mirror the style, difficulty and format of the real exam based on ACER sample materials and student reports.