The Selective Test Dilemma: Past Papers, Books, Tutoring and Online Platforms compared
19 August 2026•PassPapers Team•7 min read
Ask ten families how they're preparing for the NSW Selective Test and you'll get ten different answers. Books. Weekly tutoring. An online platform. A bit of all three. So what's the right fit for your family?
The first dilemma: use the official papers now, or save them?
The Department of Education publishes three official sample papers. That's all you get, so parents face a choice:
Parent A saves them for the end. They're the closest thing to the real test, so they make the best final rehearsal.
Parent B uses one now. If you don't know where your child is weak, you can spend months working on the wrong things.
Our recommendation for DoE sample papers
- 1
Sit paper 1 early as a benchmark
Use the computer-based version under real exam conditions. You'll see which question types cost marks, and how your child handles the clock.
- 2
Ignore the score. Read the breakdown.
The first score might be low. That's fine. What matters is which sections and question types went wrong.
- 3
Aim your prep at what you found
This is where books, tutoring or an online platform come in. We compare all three below.
- 4
Sit paper 2 midway to check progress
A few months in, sit the second paper. If the same weak areas show up, the prep in between was aimed at the wrong things.
- 5
Save paper 3 for a final rehearsal
A few weeks out, sit all four sections in one go, timed, in the morning, no help. The closest your child will get to the real day.
You've done your first sample paper. What's next?
Since 2025 the Selective Test has been:
- Fully computer-based, sat on a laptop at a test centre
- 155 minutes across four timed sections, writing typed
- Read and answered on screen, with two A4 sheets for rough working
Many parents assume that if their child knows the content, the format doesn't matter. Research says otherwise:
Students scored lower on computer-based writing tests than they did on paper-based tests, across all years examined (Years 2-5) ... the estimated gap between paper-based and computer-based test results varied from 15 to 20 NAPLAN scaled points
The students who took the test online performed as if they'd had five fewer months of preparation in math and 11 fewer months of preparation in reading than their peers who took the test on paper.
Format matters. So how do your options compare?
Books and PDF materials
The cheapest way to cover content, and a fair place to start.
- Cheap, and you can start tonight.
- Your child works at their own pace.
- You can sit with them and talk through answers.
The problem is not the questions. It's everything around them.
- All on paper. None of it matches the screen your child sits the test on.
- No exam stamina. Scrolling a passage, flagging a question and watching a clock are different skills.
- Once your child finishes the book, you're buying another one.
- No timer, and no one to mark the writing task.
- No record of which question types keep going wrong.
Tutoring classes
A weekly class gives you two things: structure and a person to ask.
- A set time that keeps prep on track.
- A teacher who can explain what a written solution can't.
- For a child who won't start on their own, it's what makes prep happen.
The trade-offs are familiar to anyone who has done a term.
- By far the biggest cost, charged by the term whether or not it suits you.
- The biggest time commitment too: class, travel and homework.
- Little personalisation in a group class.
- Miss a week and the class moves on without you.
- Handouts are usually printed, so practice happens on paper again, not on screen.
- One session has to cover content and exam technique at once. Neither gets the time it needs, so the rest becomes homework.
Online platforms
Platforms are strong on one thing: they match the conditions of the real test.
- Timed sections on a screen, the same way the test is sat.
- Full-length sittings that build stamina.
- Instant feedback, while your child still remembers their thinking.
- A record of every attempt, so weak areas stop being a guess.
Most fall short everywhere else.
- Many are just question banks with answers attached. Nothing that teaches.
- A child who didn't understand the question reads an explanation they also don't understand.
- No one to ask when your child is stuck.
- No booked time, so a child who needs accountability can drift.
TLDR: So which one does your child need?
Each option does one job well.
- Books teach the content cheaply. But they can't help your child practise the real format, or show you what keeps going wrong.
- Tutoring gives your child structure and someone to ask. But it costs the most, and the class moves at the group's pace, not your child's.
- Platforms let your child practise the real format. But most stop there. Nothing teaches, and there's no one to ask.
The catch? Your child doesn't need one of those jobs done. They need all three.
So families end up paying for the book, the tutoring and the platform, and still feel underprepared.
We built the platform we couldn't find
The problem was never the book, the tutor or the platform. It was that none of them worked together, and you were left joining them up.
So we built PassPapers to do all three in one place, on a platform kids would actually enjoy using.
What that looks like for you and your child
- 1
They're motivated to learn the method, not just the content
- 2
They never stay stuck, because they're surrounded by support
- 3
They practise on screen and against the clock, like the real test
That's all three jobs, in one place. One subscription instead of three things to buy, and no drive across town taking up your weekend. Most important of all, you can see it working with full visibility.
Final thought
Before you buy anything else, be honest about one thing.
If your child sat an official practice test tomorrow, would anything about it feel new?
If the screen would feel new, that's a gap. If the questions would feel new, that's a gap. If your child knows the content but can't get through it in time, that's a gap too.
Most families close those gaps by buying three separate things. You don't have to. Start below by finding out where your child actually stands. Once you know which gaps are real, everything you need to close them is already in one place.
Research referenced
- NSW Department of Education. Selective high school practice tests: three free practice tests with answer keys, explanations and online computer-based versions.
- NSW Department of Education. Selective High School Placement Test format and timing, 2026 entry.
- Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation, NSW Department of Education. Are writing scores from online writing tests for primary students comparable to those from paper tests? Published 2021.
- Backes, B. and Cowan, J. Is the pen mightier than the keyboard? The effect of online testing on measured student achievement. American Institutes for Research / CALDER, 2018.