If you’re planning on getting in to a selective entry school, you know how competitive the exam is. Did you know that due to the selective entry cap, you’re not only graded by your performance on the exam, but also on how you compete against other entrants from your school? It’s true! This is the selective entry cap. Only 4% of students from a single school can be offered places at selective entry schools, no matter how they performed on the exam.
How does the selection and offers process work?
The first step in the process is sitting the competitive examination. This is the only way a candidate can become eligible for selection.
There are three categories of offers: standard, equity consideration, and principal discretion. The majority of offers, at least 85%, fall into the standard category. These are based solely on the candidate’s examination score and rank.
Up to 10% of offers come under the equity consideration category. This category includes candidates who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander or who hold a health care or pensioner card.
The principal discretion category allows up to 5% of enrolments to be made based on the principal’s discretion.
What is the selective entry cap?
The selective entry cap limits the number of offers that can be made to candidates from a single source school. For example, no more than 4% of students can be offered ‘standard’ or ‘principal discretion’ places from a single source school, with a cap of 10% for schools that are Prep to Year 9 only.
To ensure fairness to both schools and students, the examiners use a standard approach to rounding. This means that some years offers may be slightly over or below the 4% cap.
The equity consideration category is not subject to the source school cap policy. The principal’s discretion category offers are released after the initial round of standard offers, but will only be made if the cap from the source school has not been reached.
What score will guarantee me entry into a selective entry school?
The entry score required for each school varies from year to year depending on the demand for places at the school and the scores achieved by those candidates who have listed the school as their first preference.
It’s worth noting that exam outcome reports are confidential, and should not be compared with other candidates’ reports. The examiners take into consideration a range of factors when making offers, including caps on source schools and school preferences.
To give your child the best chance of success at the selective entry exam, it’s important to have expert guidance. That’s why we offer feedback sessions with our experts, who provide tailored advice on overcoming the competition. With their extensive experience, our exam experts can help your child develop strategies to perform their best on the exam and increase their chances of receiving an offer. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to give your child the best possible chance at success. Book a feedback session with me today!
