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NSW exam guide
Free guide · official sources · kept current
Last checked · 2026-08

A NSW parent’s map of every major exam

New to parenting in Australia and no idea which exams exist, when they fall, or whether to prepare? This lays out every major exam a NSW child meets from primary to high school on one timeline, each with an official link.

  • What it tests
  • Which month
  • How long
  • Who enrols
  • Prepare or not
Official dates prevail — always open the official link before you enrol

What happens, and when

Ordered by the officially published 2026 dates. Amber = there is an enrolment deadline; miss it and you wait a year.
Nov–Feb
OC / selective enrolment window
March
NAPLAN 11–23
Feb–May
Scholarships school by school
Early May
Selective test 1–2
Mid May
OC test 8–9
August
ICAS varies by subject
Aug–Sep
OC / selective results
Oct–Nov
HSC written exams
👆 Tap any cell to jump to that exam.

NAPLAN

National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy
Arranged by the school · light familiarity is enough
Which month
2026: 11–23 March
Published to 2029: 2027 10–22 Mar · 2028 15–27 Mar · 2029 14–26 Mar
Which years
Years 3, 5, 7 and 9
Who enrols
No enrolment — the school arranges it
What you do: put the dates in your calendar
Format
Online, tailored — it branches on how your child answers
Year 3 writing is still pen and paper; Years 7 and 9 maths include a non-calculator section
What it covers
ReadingConventions of language · spellingConventions of language · grammar and punctuationNumeracyWriting
Green = what WOWli already practises.
It measures progress, not entry. Drilling past papers is not the point — actually learning the everyday material is. Light familiarity with the format mainly reduces nerves.
Key dates · nap.edu.au →What’s in the tests · nap.edu.au →Do reading comprehension with the text right beside itPro · BetaPractise spelling every dayfreeDo grammar and punctuation questionsPro · BetaDo maths questions — and walk through the ones that go wrongPro · Beta

OC (Opportunity Class) placement test

Opportunity Class (OC) Placement Test
You must enrol yourself · plan ahead
Which month
2026: 8–9 May
One test day only, allocated by the department · resit 22 May
Which years
Sat in Year 4, for entry in Year 5
A two-year placement (Years 5–6)
🔴 Enrolment window
November – February
Apply at the end of Year 3 / start of Year 4. Parents register in the department’s system with their own details (not the child’s) — the school will not do it for you.
How long
About 110 minutes
Official example timetable: reading 40 min + mathematical reasoning 40 min + thinking skills 30 min
Format
Computer-based · all multiple choice
Taken on department-provided computers, no writing task. The official pages do not say whether it adapts to answers, so we do not claim that it does.
When results come
9 September 2026
About four months between the test and the results
What it covers
ReadingMathematical ReasoningThinking Skills
Green = what WOWli already practises.
The usual mistake is not under-preparing — it is missing the enrolment. The window is November to February while the test is in May, so plenty of parents first hear about it from another parent in April, a full year too late.
NSW Department of Education · placement test →Application process →Do reading comprehension with the text right beside itPro · BetaDo maths questions — and walk through the ones that go wrongPro · Beta

Selective high school placement test

Selective High School Placement Test
You must enrol yourself · plan ahead
Which month
2026: 1–2 May
One test day only · resit 22 May
Which years
Sat in Year 6, for entry in Year 7
Entry into Years 8–11 is a separate process run by each school
🔴 Enrolment window
November – February
Apply at the end of Year 5 / start of Year 6 — same system as OC, and parents enrol themselves
How long
About 155 minutes
Official example timetable: reading 45 + mathematical reasoning 40 + thinking skills 40 + writing 30
Format
Computer-based · three multiple-choice components + one writing task
Taken on department-provided computers. The official pages do not say whether it adapts to answers.
🔴 Where it is held
From 2026, held only in NSW
Children overseas or interstate must return to NSW to sit it — keep early May clear of holidays.
When results come
19 August 2026
About three weeks earlier than OC
What it covers
ReadingMathematical ReasoningThinking SkillsWriting
Green = what WOWli already practises.
The most academically competitive test in NSW. Same enrolment system and same window as OC — families who sat OC already know the drill; if you did not, this is your first time, and do not assume the school will remind you.
NSW Department of Education · placement test →Application process →Do reading comprehension with the text right beside itPro · BetaDo maths questions — and walk through the ones that go wrongPro · Beta

ICAS

ICAS Assessments
Optional competition · does not affect placement
Which month (2026)
August, varies by subject
Digital Technologies & Writing 3–7 Aug · English 10–14 Aug · Science & Spelling Bee 17–21 Aug · Maths 24–28 Aug
Which years
Years 2–12, depending on the subject
Digital Technologies / Spelling Bee: Years 2–7 · Writing: Years 3–12 · English / Maths / Science: Years 2–12
🔴 Enrolling
If the school takes part, enrol through the school; if not, parents can enrol directly
You can go through an ICAS testing centre or an authorised partner instead of the school. Either way, a parent has to complete the enrolment.
Closing dates (2026)
School payment system (PPS) 20 July · parent and school entries 27 July
Both close at 11:59pm AEST on the day. They change year to year and can shift during the season — the official page is what counts.
How long
About 30–60 minutes per subject
The number of questions grows with year level; Writing is one task at every year level.
Format
Not stated on the official page
The official page states only this: Writing is one open-response task, and the other subjects are sets of questions. Whether it is on screen or on paper, and whether it is all multiple choice, is not stated there. Go by what your school or ICAS tells you.
Cost (Australian schools)
A$21.95 per subject per student; Writing A$25.95
Includes GST. Charged per subject — you pay for the subjects you enter.
What it covers
EnglishSpelling BeeMathematicsScienceWritingDigital Technologies
Green = what WOWli already practises.
It is not an entrance exam — it is for stretching a child and building confidence, and some private schools take note of it. Closing dates are per subject and shift during the season, so do not remember it as “sometime in August”: open the official page for the subject you are entering.
Test dates · icasassessments.com →Pricing · icasassessments.com →Do English papers, scored section by sectionPro · BetaSpelling Bee is daily spelling practicefreeDo maths questions — and walk through the ones that go wrongPro · Beta

Private school scholarship tests

Private School Scholarship Tests (ACER AAS / Edutest and others)
Apply school by school · the easiest to miss
🔴 We do not give one date for this
Each school runs its own — dates, subjects and how to enrol all differ
Most schools use a third party (ACER AAS, Edutest and others) to write and supervise the test, but each school sets its own enrolment and closing dates.
Format
Varies by school
Which subjects, how long and in what format are set by each school when it commissions the test — there is no single version. Your target school’s enrolment page states which assessment it uses, how many subjects and how long. That is the only reliable source.
What you should do
List your target schools → open each enrolment page → put every closing date in your calendar separately
Enrolment usually falls about a year to eighteen months before entry — earlier than most parents expect.
We would rather leave this cell blank than give you a date that might be wrong. There is no state-wide timetable for this one, and any table claiming otherwise needs checking against the school’s own site.
ACER AAS official →WOWli does not prepare specifically for this one.

HSC (Higher School Certificate)

Higher School Certificate
Entered by the school · a long game
Which month (2026)
Starts 13 October
The official wording is that it ends no later than 5 November · personal timetables are published on 1 May
Which years
Years 11–12
The written exams are in Year 12
Who enrols
The school enters its own students
Unlike OC and selective, parents do not apply for this one
How long
No single duration
Timed separately for each course a student takes; the timetable is published subject by subject
Format
Mostly written, plus orals and performance work
Three strands, each with its own timetable: written exams · oral exams for language subjects · performance, project and submitted-work exams. Whether any of it is on screen is not stated officially.
When results come
16 December 2026
School assessment plus the external exam combine into the ATAR university rank
The real fork is subject selection in Years 10–11, not the exam room in Year 12. It is on this timeline so you can see where the primary-school exams lead — not so you worry about it now.
NESA · HSC key dates →WOWli does not cover the HSC stage.

An exam is one date. What matters is where your child has not learnt something yet.

This guide stays free.

WOWli starts from what your child actually hits each day: bringing the easily-forgotten words back exactly when they are due, and walking through the maths that genuinely did not land. You can also photograph a question paper and turn it into online practice — the passage sits beside the reading questions, and grammar and maths are scored section by section.

Sentence dictation reads each sentence aloud for your child to write down, and any word they get wrong can be added to the word list in one tap. Daily plans are off by default — you decide whether to turn them on.

Work out where your child is stuck first, then decide what to practise.

See how WOWli does it →
What WOWli covers today: vocabulary and spelling, plus turning question papers into online practice — reading, grammar and maths, with a walkthrough for whatever goes wrong.
About this page
Compiled from the public official pages of the NSW Department of Education, ACARA (nap.edu.au), ICAS Assessments, NESA and ACER, for reference only. Dates, closing dates and formats can change year to year; always check the official site or your school’s notice before enrolling.
WOWli is not affiliated with, and has no partnership with, any of these organisations, does not publish exam information, results or enrolment on their behalf, and does not provide an official enrolment channel.
NAPLAN® is a registered trademark of ACARA. WOWli is not affiliated with ACARA; nothing on this page constitutes ACARA endorsement. Some content is adapted from material ACARA publishes under CC BY 4.0.
Found something that does not match the official source? Tell us — we will check, update, and change the “last checked” date at the top of the page.