Queensland Academies Science Maths Technology (QASMT) Selective Year 7 Test – Ultimate Test Prep Guide for Parents

A 3-Hour Edutest Exam & Only 1 Application Per Year. Will Your Child Get In?


What is the Queensland Academies Science Maths Technology (QASMT) Selective Year 7 Test & How to Prepare Your Child?

Queensland Academies (QA) are a set of 3 public high school schools located in 3 campuses in Brisbane and the Gold Coast. While the academies accept students from Year 10 onwards, from 2019, the Queensland Academy Science, Mathematics and Technology will be open to students in Year 7. To gain admission into Year 7, students will have to do an entrance exam when they are in Year 6 (and a further option is available to sit the exam in Year 5 in 2019).

Queensland Academies has other programs with selective entry for students. Such programs are the Young Scholars and Brilliant Futures. However, these entry streams have used ACER to write their test. Selective entry to the school in Year 7 is new for Queensland Academies for the Science Mathematics and Technology campus and the 6-part exam is prepared by Edutest. Exam Success has extensive experience preparing children for Edutest selective school tests and scholarship exams since 2011.

The Queensland Academies Science Maths and Technology entrance exam by Edutest goes for approximately 3 hours and students are asked to complete 5 test papers each covering:

  • reading
  • mathematics
  • verbal reasoning
  • numerical reasoning
  • written expression

More details about the test format can be found below in the test format section.

Queensland Academies are Queensland's top performing school. To gain admission, it's important that your child prepares thoroughly because it is a difficult exam. Without preparation, students often feel disappointment and sadness when they receive the rejection.

While it is a new exam for the school (available in 2018), Exam Success has experience with successfully helping students gain entry when they sit Edutest exams. When you do your test preparation with us, your child can feel confident coming into the exam that they have prepared with experts.



What’s in the Queensland Academies Science Maths Technology (QASMT) Selective Year 7 Test (test format, number of questions and time limit)?

The Queensland Academies Selective Test for Year 7 entry into the Science, Mathematics and Technology campus has 5 parts. It is written by Edutest.

There are two main areas - the achievement test which tests how much your child has learnt from school. The other part is ability - this tests how your child thinks, reasons and solves problems.

The questions are multiple choice questions, except for the writing piece.

The ability tests are heavily based around critical thinking and problem-solving so rote learning such as memorizing multiplication tables or formulas, isn’t going to give your child the edge they need.

What they need are strategies in order to problem-solve quickly and correctly when faced with an exam question.

Verbal and numercial reasoning is often unfamiliar to many parents but it can be taught and is a study area under 'reasoning' a branch of study under philosophy. Our reasoning courses are developed by one of our exam experts who has studied from a logic professor at the renowned University of Melbourne.

The 5 parts along with their description (including time limits and number of questions per test *) are shown below:


Verbal Reasoning


Number of questions: 30 questions (estimated)
What’s the time limit*? 30 minutes
Time per question* ~ 60 seconds

Measures the ability to think and reason using words and language. This includes vocabulary, word relationships, classification and deduction. Questions like "if all kips are pip, then it must be that..." and "which word does not belong in the group" may be seen in your child's exam.

Reading Comprehension


Number of questions: 30 questions (estimated)
What’s the time limit*? 30 minutes
Time per question* ~ 60 seconds

Measures the capacity to read and interpret meaning from written passages, as well as correct, complete and punctuate sentences.

Numerical Reasoning


Number of questions: 30 questions (estimated)
What’s the time limit*? 30 minutes
Time per question* ~ 60 seconds

Measures the ability to think and reason using numbers. This includes series, matrices, arithmetical reasoning and deduction. Questions that ask you to solve a puzzle with numbers and patterns in matrices may appear.

Mathematics


Number of questions: 30 questions (estimated)
What’s the time limit*? 30 minutes
Time per question* ~ 60 seconds

Measures year-level appropriate mathematical knowledge, including items tapping numbers, measurement, algebra, space and data. Your child should know most of the mathematics content that would be delivered in Year 7 as we find many students achieve this level going into the exam.

Written Expression


Number of questions: 1 writing prompt
What’s the time limit*? 15 minutes
Time per question* ~ 15 minutes

This test assesses the ability to convey ideas clearly in written form. Punctuation, creativity, construction, grammar, spelling and relevance to the task are assessed. We have found that writing prompts are mainly narrative or persuasive pieces, however, they can take on a broader form e.g. discussion. Many students fall short in this area so it's important to prepare at least 12 months in advance so that any issues can be addressed earlier rather than later.

﹡ The number of questions and time limit have been taken from the Edutest website along with reports from parents and students. Please note that the authoritative body can change the number of questions and time limits from year to year so please refer to their websites for the most up to date information. Time per question is calculated by taking the time limit divided by number of questions.

As you'll see, the time limit provided to students is very limited – students need to answer the question on average within 60 seconds! For written expression, writing a whole piece in 15 minutes is a real challenge.

Your child needs support and expert programs designed around beating the clock. Programs that teach strategic time management and how to answer the question correctly & quickly.



How can your child ace the Queensland Academies SMT Selective School Test for Year 7 Entry (and get a school offer)?

Early preparation and making regular practice a habit will help your child prepare for the test in a way that is effective, but also reduces a lot of pressure.

When I do private tuition, the process I use to help students gain a coveted selective school spot involves just 5 steps!

For reading, mathematics, numerical reasoning and verbal reasoning:

  1. Do a practice test disregarding the time limit. Focus on getting the question right and find out what your score is in the end.
  2. For any question you didn’t get correct, figure out what should be the correct answer (and check it with your answer key).
  3. For those same questions, come up with strategies so that when you’re faced with a similar question next time, you’ll be able to answer it. Hone your strategy over time so that you reduce the number of steps it takes to get to the answer (and so that you can answer the question more quickly).
  4. Repeat steps 1 – 3 until you get a score of 95-100%. Each time you repeat it, if done properly, your child should be seeing a higher score in their practice test.
  5. Then do practice tests within the time limit. What you’ll find is that working in a time limit is easier, once you have a process to answering various questions correctly.

While they look like 5 easy steps, going through each step does time a long time if done properly.

Written Expression is a bit trickier as there are so many ways where your writing can lose marks (we’ve identified 52!).

Based on our experience helping students get into selective schools, we’ve found that students improve dramatically through targeted feedback. Writing improves quickly when you have experts providing feedback. Your child shouldn’t have to sit in class and learn grammar rules, but rather, they should:

  1. Write their essay
  2. Get customized feedback.
  3. Repeat steps 1-2 again. Using the feedback, overtime, students see an improvement in their essays. They stop making the same mistakes and their writing is better.

Make sure you prepare your child fully so they can get a spot in Queensland Academies, the top performing group of schools in Queensland!



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  • Free writing boost bonus (valued $100+): Benefit from expert scoring and personalized written feedback on 5 of your essays. This is the most effective way to see significant writing improvement in a short time frame. See an example of scoring and expert written feedback on a real essay.

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Don't know what courses or test papers to choose for your exam? Check our course and test paper selection guide based on your exam .

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The price above is inclusive of 10% GST. If you are purchasing for use outside of Australia, at checkout, you'll be charged the amount without GST
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Don't know what courses or test papers to choose for your exam? Check our course and test paper selection guide based on your exam .

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The price above is inclusive of 10% GST. If you are purchasing for use outside of Australia, at checkout, you'll be charged the amount without GST
Reading Comprehension Test Preparation Online

Practicing reading skills is essential for competitive entrance exams, such as scholarships, selective schools, and NAPLAN literacy. And with our online course, practice has never been easier.

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Narrative Writing - Written Expression Test Preparation

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This course also includes complimentary scoring and in-depth written feedback on 1 of your essays. The written feedback you'll receive includes a revised version of your essay and specific points on three key areas: relationship to the prompt, structure, and expression. This is a great way to understand where you're excelling and where you can improve. See an example of scoring and expert written feedback on a real essay here.

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  • ACER scholarships and selective schools exams like Perth Modern, WA GATE and Brisbane State High School.
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The price above is inclusive of 10% GST. If you are purchasing for use outside of Australia, at checkout, you'll be charged the amount without GST

Persuasive Writing & Discussion Written Expression Test Preparation

You can be a grammar whiz and an A+ student. But without good written expression, you're unlikely to succeed in NAPLAN and entrance exams for selective schools and scholarships. This persuasive & discussion writing online course everything you need to refine your argument skills and become a more confident writer.

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This course also includes complimentary scoring and in-depth written feedback on 1 of your essays. The written feedback you'll receive includes a revised version of your essay and specific points on three key areas: relationship to the prompt, structure, and expression. This is a great way to understand where you're excelling and where you can improve. See an example of scoring and expert written feedback on a real essay here.

Great for:

  • NSW HSPT
  • Academic Assessment Services scholarship and selective school exams
  • ACER scholarships and selective schools exams like Perth Modern, WA GATE and Brisbane State High School.
  • Edutest scholarships and selective school tests like Victorian Selective Schools (MacRob, Melb High, Suzanne Cory and Nossal) and Queensland Academies Selective entry (Year 7).

After purchase, you gain immediate access to your course for 6 months to get a head start on your test prep.

$AU175.99
The price above is inclusive of 10% GST. If you are purchasing for use outside of Australia, at checkout, you'll be charged the amount without GST


Frequently Asked Questions

See answers to frequently asked questions by parents:

How does the extension work for courses? I need more than 6 months.

It's great that you're planning ahead. Once you purchase, access is provided for 6 months from the date of purchase. An extension is $19 per month for an individual course or $39 to have your whole originally purchased course package renewed per month. To get extension access, just extend on the website where you access your course.

How do we get more practice worksheets to work on? The videos are helpful but we need more practice material to practice under time constrraints [sic].

As a minimum, per course there are 10 questions x 10 checkpoints = 100 questions (some courses/checkpoints have more). The final checkpoints (Checkpoint 11 / 12) is the practice exam which has for the Year 7 exams, approximately 30-45 questions depending on the course and for Year 9, this is 50-65 questions depending on the course. The course should provide all the practice questions you require in order to prepare effectively for the exam.

Parents don't often realise that too many practice questions is not a good thing because students are more likely to skim over the question and 'do it' and opposed to understanding the logic more deeply. Understanding the logic leads to Exam Success!

I've seen this problem happen a lot where parents buy all this practice material and become confused and stressed not knowing where to start! Focus on quality of practice questions over quantity and your child will be less stressed, more focused and better prepared for the exam. It's about studying smarter not harder!

If I wish to purchase whole package, how much time (approx.) should it take for my 10yr old to complete all the units?

If you have the time for example, 6 months to spare, I'd recommend 3.5 hours each weekend. Each course has 12 checkpoints and there are 7 courses altogether (84 checkpoints - approximately 84+ hours of exam preparation. If you have 3 months to the time of the exam, I'd recommend doing a checkpoint per day (if doing the full package of 7 courses). Some students say it takes on average 37 hours to complete one course (for 7 courses that would be 210 hours) so potentially, your child could do the course full time during the summer holiday period and beyond.

If we complete certain units but want to go back to previous units, can we do that? How long are the videos available to us? Can they be downloaded?

Yes - that's what we wanted as students often have to reinforce their knowledge. You can revisit the unit whenever you like. It's like having the ultimate text book in video format and you can flip ahead or back whenever you need. Access is granted for a period of six months. If you need an extension it is $19 per month for an individual course or $39 per month to have your whole package extended per month.

No the videos cannot be downloaded, everything is available to access on the site.

Is there a discount if we want to buy more than 2 packages? If I plan to buy all packages, it comes up to almost $700/- which is quite pricey

There are packages available that provides savings.

Individual packages are there as sometimes, students may only need to polish up on one area and this provides them with that polishing up.

We price our products based on the work involved to prepare them and we put in alot of effort as shown by our results and reviews from students and parents. When you think about it, we are value for money compared to other providers as:

Hendersons charge around $180 - $270 for a 1-day workshop on 1 subject only. Ours is $150 and students have access for six months AND they can revisit whenever they need.

James An's selective trial test course cost around $1090 for four subjects over a 10-week term (Herald Sun 2013). Exam Success' full package is $449 which includes +3 more subject but also $641 LESS expensive than James An.

According to a Sydney Morning Herald article, "Mr Mysore said he had spent about $3000 to help prepare his son, who went to coaching for four hours a week, for the selective exam." (Herald Sun 2013). Exam Success' course is less than 1/3 of the cost and doing the full package (7 courses) over 6 months would take around 3.5 hours per week.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to the teacher. I've heard stories where students have a good teacher at a tuition school and when they don't they don't really take much in.

At Exam Success, we make sure that what your child is watching is effective so that they get the best learning possible and preparation for their exam.

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