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ACER Scholarship Test Preparation for Australian Independent Schools (2027–28)

ACER Scholarship Test preparation for participating schools across Australia. Coverage of Primary Level P (Years 4–6 entry) and Secondary Levels 1–3 (Years 7–12 entry), with timed practice and writing feedback aligned to the published ACER formats.

By Braintree Editorial, Exam preparation editors, Braintree Coaching Australia

Reviewed by Braintree Academic Panel on

Last updated

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Independent schools nationwide · Level P + Levels 1–3 · ACER-marked

Mock test packs

ACER Scholarship practice packs — timed papers, marked on the LMS.

Self-paced papers with section-level feedback. Browse tiers by access length and practice volume.

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About the exam

The ACER Scholarship test, in plain language.

The ACER Scholarship Tests identify academically able students for scholarship awards at independent schools. Unlike curriculum exams, they rank applicants by critical thinking, problem solving and higher-order reasoning so schools can differentiate the top end of performance.

Each school sets its own sitting date with ACER. Parents register and pay for every school they apply to, students sit once per school sitting, ACER marks the papers, and the school decides whether to award a scholarship. Result reports may come from ACER or the school. Delivery is paper-based for Primary Level P and online or paper-based for Secondary Levels 1–3.

Test dates

Each participating school registers its own sitting date with ACER. ACER does not publish one national 2027 or 2028 test day, so confirm the registration window and sitting date on each school's scholarship page.

Scoring & cutoffs

ACER marks papers and reports results to the school. Scholarship decisions sit with the school, not with ACER. Parents typically receive a result report from ACER or the school after the school has completed its selection process.

  • Reading and Viewing (Level P)

    Confirm with schoolSee school instructions

    Primary Level P reading and viewing items for Years 4–6 entry. Measures comprehension and interpretation of written and visual texts.

  • Mathematics (Level P)

    Confirm with schoolSee school instructions

    The Mathematics test offered within Primary Level P for Years 4–6 entry.

  • Writing (Level P)

    Confirm with schoolSee school instructions

    The Writing test offered within Primary Level P for Years 4–6 entry.

  • Written Expression (Levels 1–3)

    Confirm with schoolSee school instructions

    The secondary writing test ACER lists for Years 7–12 entry.

  • Humanities (Levels 1–3)

    Confirm with schoolSee school instructions

    The Humanities test ACER lists for Secondary Levels 1–3.

  • Mathematics (Levels 1–3)

    Confirm with schoolSee school instructions

    The Mathematics test ACER lists for Secondary Levels 1–3.

Mock test packs

ACER Scholarship mock packs, currently on sale.

Self-paced practice papers, with writing marked on the BrainTree LMS within 24 hours. Buy once, sit whenever — every pack ships with cohort percentiles and section-level feedback.

Mock-pack tiers pending owner waiver

No published ACER Scholarship course tiers are available yet. The external LMS checkout stays wired and tiers will render from DB-backed rows once seeded.

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ACER Scholarship preparation details

Quick answer: what is the ACER Scholarship Test?

The ACER Scholarship Tests are ability assessments written by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and used by independent schools across Australia to award academic scholarships. Primary Level P covers Reading and Viewing, Mathematics and Writing for Years 4–6 entry (paper-based). Secondary Levels 1–3 cover Written Expression, Humanities and Mathematics for Years 7–12 entry (online or paper). Parents register through each participating school; ACER marks the papers and reports results back to the school.

Braintree Coaching Australia prepares families for the specific level each target school has registered — not a generic “scholarship” mix that blurs ACER, EduTest and HAST formats. For the AAS + multi-provider overview see private school scholarship exams. For practice drills and mock cadence see ACER Scholarship practice resources. When a school lists EduTest instead, read ACER vs EduTest — choosing your prep track before you buy materials.

ACER Scholarship Test format, levels and dates (2027–28)

ACER publishes Scholarship Tests in two level bands. Each participating school registers its own sitting date with ACER; ACER does not list one national 2027 or 2028 test day. The format, levels and scholarship cycle below were verified against the official ACER Scholarship Tests page on 15 July 2026.

LevelTypical entry yearsSectionsDelivery
Primary Level PYears 4–6Reading and Viewing, Mathematics, WritingPaper
Secondary Level 1Year 7Written Expression, Humanities, MathematicsOnline or paper
Secondary Level 2Years 8–9Written Expression, Humanities, MathematicsOnline or paper
Secondary Level 3Years 10–12Written Expression, Humanities, MathematicsOnline or paper

2027–28 registration and sitting checklist

What to confirmTypical patternStatus for 2027–28 entry
School uses ACER Scholarship (not AAS or EduTest)Named on scholarship pageConfirm per school
Registered level (P, 1, 2 or 3)Matches entry year offeredConfirm on school pack
Registration windowSet and published by each schoolUnconfirmed per school — check its admissions page
Sitting dateRegistered by each school with ACERUnconfirmed per school
Application feeShown during the school registration processConfirm on school portal

Families also targeting EduTest scholarship sittings in the same year need a separate preparation track; EduTest material does not substitute for ACER Level P or Secondary practice. The national three-way matrix (including HAST) lives on Australian scholarship exams compared; the two-product ACER Scholarship vs EduTest choosing guide is on ACER vs EduTest.

Download free mock tests for on-screen stamina once you know which ACER level the school requires.

Which schools use the ACER Scholarship Tests?

Participating schools across Australia register their own sitting dates with ACER for scholarship rounds. The school chooses Primary Level P or Secondary Level 1, 2 or 3 based on the entry year it is selecting for. Always confirm the level and date on the school’s scholarship page before you buy practice materials or book coaching.

ACER’s published cycle is:

  1. School registers a test date with ACER.
  2. Parents register and pay for each school they apply to.
  3. Students sit the test.
  4. ACER marks the papers and reports to the school.
  5. The school decides whether to award a scholarship.
  6. ACER or the school distributes result reports to parents.

What sections are in Primary Level P and Secondary Levels 1–3?

LevelEntry years (typical)SectionsDelivery
Primary Level PYears 4–6Reading and Viewing, Mathematics, WritingPaper
Secondary Level 1–3Years 7–12Written Expression, Humanities, MathematicsOnline or paper

ACER’s public scholarship overview does not list question counts or minute allocations. Treat ACER’s scholarship page and the school’s information pack as the source of truth for the current cycle; do not copy timings from a different assessment.

How do parents register, and what does it cost?

Registration is per school, not a single national portal. You register and pay through each school you want to apply to, using the link or form that school publishes for its ACER Scholarship sitting. If a link is missing, contact the school’s scholarship coordinator or ACER Scholarships on scholarships@acer.org / 1300 768 952.

Check the fee displayed by each school before submitting. ACER’s official cycle requires parents to register and pay for each school they wish to apply to, so families considering multiple schools need to review each registration separately.

How long should families prepare?

A practical runway is six to twelve months once you know the entry year and level:

  1. Foundations (months 1–3). Wide reading across fiction and non-fiction; daily calculator-free maths fluency; one short writing task each week.
  2. Section practice (months 4–8). Timed humanities or reading sets, mathematics reasoning papers, and weekly writing marked against a clear rubric.
  3. Full mocks (final 8 weeks). Full sittings under the school’s published timing, including the writing task in one sitting.

Of our 2024 cohort volume (4,214 students enrolled across Braintree Coaching Australia programmes), scholarship families who locked the correct ACER level early spent less time reworking the wrong paper format in the final term — a programme observation from tutor intake notes, not a placement guarantee.

When a school’s pack or parallel pathway includes visual pattern items (for example HAST Abstract Reasoning alongside an ACER Scholarship sitting), use the abstract and non-verbal reasoning skills guide for matrices and series drills — then return to Level P or Levels 1–3 mocks for the registered scholarship paper.

Is ACER Scholarship the same as EduTest or HAST?

No. Confirm the assessment provider and level on each school’s own scholarship page before choosing practice material. This page stays focused on ACER’s Level P and Secondary Levels 1–3 rather than repeating a multi-provider matrix. For a secondary comparison, read Australian scholarship exams compared; for a two-provider decision, use ACER vs EduTest.

Related ACER Scholarship resources

Last updated: 2026-07-15. Reviewed by the Braintree Coaching Academic Team. Section structure and level bands verified against acer.org/au/scholarships (checked 15 July 2026). School-specific 2027–28 sitting dates remain Unconfirmed until each school publishes its cycle.

ACER Scholarship results and parent testimonial

Results, reported honestly.

We publish anonymised cohort ranges and the way we measure them, rather than a single placement total we cannot independently audit. See our results and outcomes for the cohort ranges, or read the measurement methodology.

“Great content. Well structured course. Very easy to understand the modules. Extremely helpful”

Hanna V

Google review · 6 June 2025

FAQ

ACER Scholarship, plainly answered.

Five questions our faculty fields most often about the ACER Scholarship exam.

The ACER Scholarship Tests are ability assessments developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research and used across Australia to identify academically able students for scholarship awards. They measure critical thinking, problem solving and higher-order reasoning rather than curriculum recall alone. Primary Level P covers Years 4–6 entry; Secondary Levels 1–3 cover Years 7–12 entry.

Primary Level P includes Reading and Viewing, Mathematics and Writing, delivered on paper. Secondary Levels 1–3 include Written Expression, Humanities and Mathematics, delivered online or on paper. ACER’s public overview does not list section timings, so confirm the current instructions on the school’s scholarship page and on acer.org/au/scholarships.

Parents register and pay through each participating school for every school they wish to apply to. The school registers its test date with ACER; ACER marks the papers and reports results back to the school; the school then decides whether to award a scholarship. Contact scholarships@acer.org or 1300 768 952 if a school’s registration link is unclear.

ACER Scholarship and EduTest are different assessment products. The ACER Scholarship Tests use Primary Level P and Secondary Levels 1–3 formats. Confirm the provider and level named by each target school before choosing practice material.

Most families work to a six- to twelve-month runway. Start with wide reading and calculator-free maths fluency, add weekly timed section drills once the school confirms the level (P, 1, 2 or 3), then sit full timed mocks in the final eight weeks. Writing needs weekly practice against a clear rubric because it is scored separately from the multiple-choice sections.

Start with ACER’s own scholarship information and any sample materials published for the level your school uses. Pair that with timed section drills, a weekly writing task and a mistake log. Braintree Coaching Australia’s ACER Scholarship practice resources page lists verified starting points and a practical mock cadence.

ACER marks papers and reports to the school; the school then informs parents if a scholarship is awarded. Result reports may be distributed by ACER or by the school. ACER does not publish one national results date, so confirm timing with the school’s scholarship coordinator.

Start ACER Scholarship preparation this week.

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