How OC and Selective scores work
Placement is decided by the test alone, every section carries equal weight, and there is no penalty for a wrong answer. Those three facts change how a child should prepare — and they are the ones parents most often get wrong.
1. The test is the only thing that counts
The Department's procedures are unambiguous: "Student placements are determined by academic merit, based on their performance in the relevant placement test. No other forms of academic merit will be considered."
School reports, teacher recommendations, NAPLAN results, awards — none of it is part of the placement decision. In practice this means a child who is top of the class but has never sat a timed multiple-choice test on a screen is at a disadvantage against a child who has. Familiarity with the format is not "gaming" the test; it is the only preparation the system rewards.
2. Every section is weighted equally
| Test | Sections | Weight of each |
|---|---|---|
| Opportunity Class (Year 5 entry) | Reading · Mathematical Reasoning · Thinking Skills | 33.3% |
| Selective High School (Year 7 entry) | Reading · Mathematical Reasoning · Thinking Skills · Writing | 25% |
Because the sections are equal, a strong maths result cannot carry a weak Thinking Skills result — and Thinking Skills is the section school does not teach. The child who gains most from preparation is the one who is good at maths and reading and has simply never met a logical-deduction or "which must be true" question. See what's on the OC test and the Selective test, section by section.
3. No penalty for wrong answers — so answer everything
The Department's test information states: "There are no penalties for incorrect answers." A blank scores nothing; a guess can score. Children should be taught to eliminate the options that cannot be right and always choose one. If time is running out with five questions left, five quick answers are better than two careful ones and three blanks.
4. How the marking is done
- Multiple choice (Reading, Mathematical Reasoning, Thinking Skills): "computer-marked and manual reliability checks are carried out to ensure accuracy."
- Writing (Selective only): "independently marked by 2 markers. Where the score differs between the markers, it is re-marked by a third marker." Each marker scores out of 25, giving a total out of 50, against two published sets of criteria.
The Department does not publish the exact formula by which section results are combined into the final placement score, and the minimum score needed for a particular school changes every year with the applicant pool. Any tutoring company quoting a fixed "cut-off" is quoting last year's outcome, not a rule.
5. The equity placement model
Since the current model was introduced, up to 20% of places in each opportunity class and selective school are held for high-potential students from groups that have been under-represented:
| Group | Share of places held |
|---|---|
| Students from low socio-educational advantage backgrounds | up to 10% |
| Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students | up to 5% |
| Students from rural and remote locations | up to 2.5% |
| Students with disability | up to 2.5% |
These students still sit the same test. To be offered an equity place, their result must be "within 10% of the minimum first round offer score of general applicants" (or as the selection committee determines). If an eligible student's score is high enough for a general place, they take a general place and the equity place stays available. You nominate the relevant category when you apply — see how to apply.
6. Outcomes, reserve lists and bands
When outcomes are released (August for Selective, September for OC), each school choice on the application comes back as an offer, a reserve-list place, or unsuccessful. A reserve-list place is a queue: as families decline offers, places are offered down the list.
Reserve places come with a band — A, B or C — which the Department describes as "a general, estimated, idea of how long it took for students in a similar position to receive an offer during the previous year's placement process." Band A is the most likely to convert; band C the least. Reserve lists are closed "before the beginning of the school year of entry for opportunity class placement and end of the year before entry for selective high school placement."
What this means for preparation
- Prepare all three (or four) sections, starting with the one your child has never been taught.
- Practise in the real format — multiple choice, on a screen, against the clock — because format familiarity is the only kind of preparation the placement rules reward.
- Teach elimination and "always answer" from the first week.
- Ignore cut-off folklore. Work on the child's weakest section, not on a number from last year.
See where your child stands — free
Our 30-minute OC sample paper covers all three sections at the real pace, with an explanation for every answer. Or book a demo class: live, one-to-one, in Australian time.