This guide walks you through the whole journey — from deciding whether to apply, to accepting an offer — with the practical detail we share with Iris families. Exact dates change every year, so always confirm the current year's deadlines on the Department of Education's website; everything else here stays true year to year.
1. Should you apply at all?
The honest answer: if your child is curious, copes well with challenge, and sits comfortably in the top group of their class, an application costs you little and tells you a lot. Sitting the ASET is itself useful experience, and an offer is never an obligation — families decline places every year. The decision point that matters more is when to start preparing, because reasoning skills build gradually. Year 4–5 is ideal; the second half of Year 5 is still workable; starting two months before the test limits what's achievable.
2. The application
- Applications are lodged online with the Department of Education while your child is in Year 6 (for Year 7 entry), and typically close well before the test sitting — missing the window means waiting a year.
- You'll nominate program preferences: Academic programs at participating schools, Perth Modern School (fully selective), and Languages or Arts streams where offered. Arts programs include practical components such as auditions or portfolios on top of the test.
- You can list multiple preferences — and you should. Order them by genuine preference, not by perceived difficulty of entry; the order only matters when your child's score qualifies for more than one.
3. The test itself
| Section | What it demands | Our preparation focus |
|---|---|---|
| Reading Comprehension | Fast, accurate reading of unfamiliar texts; locating evidence; inference | Daily varied reading + timed passage drills |
| Communicating Ideas in Writing | One planned, complete piece in a very short window | Weekly 25-minute timed writing with feedback |
| Quantitative Reasoning | Mathematical thinking beyond classroom procedures | Concept mastery, then timed mixed sets |
| Abstract Reasoning | Pattern recognition at speed | Short, frequent pattern drills — little and often |
It's one sitting, on paper, under formal exam conditions — for many ten- and eleven-year-olds, the first formal exam of their lives. That's exactly why our mock exams replicate the format and the silence, not just the questions: the child who has "sat the exam" six times at practice has a real advantage over the child sitting it for the first time on the day.
4. After the test: scores and offers
Performance across the sections is combined into an overall standardised score, and places are offered in score order against each school's available places and your stated preferences. Practical consequences of that:
- Every section counts equally. A child who is exceptional at maths but skips writing practice is giving away a quarter of the scoreboard.
- There is no fixed "pass mark". Entry depends on how the cohort performs and how many places exist — so comparing one year's "cut-off" to another is unreliable.
- First-round offers usually land around mid-year, with later rounds as families decline. Not receiving a first-round offer is not the end — movement happens.
- Accept by the deadline. Offers lapse. If you're genuinely torn, accept and keep thinking — declining later is possible; resurrecting a lapsed offer is not.
5. A month-by-month rhythm that works
From 6+ months out
- Daily reading (15–20 min) outside your child's comfort zone
- 2–3 short reasoning practice sessions per week on the portal
- One timed writing piece each week
From 3 months out
- Add one full timed mock exam per fortnight, then weekly
- Review every mock together: sort errors into "didn't know", "rushed", "misread"
Final fortnight
- Wind down, not up: light revision, familiar routines, full nights of sleep
- One relaxed walk-through of exam-day logistics so nothing on the day is new
Questions we hear most from parents
"My child is anxious about exams — should we still apply?" Usually yes. Exam anxiety responds remarkably well to repeated, low-stakes simulation; the application gives that work a purpose. See our guide on exam-day underperformance for the full approach.
"Is tutoring necessary?" Plenty of children succeed without it. What tutoring reliably adds is structure, honest feedback, and writing assessment — the one section that can't be self-marked. Our free assessment will tell you frankly where your child stands and whether support would change the outcome.
"What if they don't get in?" Then they spent months strengthening reading, reasoning and writing — skills that pay off through high school regardless. No preparation is wasted.