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WA · Perth Modern and GATE selective entry preparation

ASET (GATE WA) Selective Entry Preparation for Perth Modern and GATE Programs

ASET (Academic Selective Entrance Test) preparation for Perth Modern School and Western Australia's Gifted and Talented Secondary Selective Entrance programs, commonly called GATE. Four-component coverage, full mock packs, and written feedback on the Communicating Ideas in Writing task.

By Braintree Editorial, Exam preparation editors, Braintree Coaching Australia

Reviewed by Braintree Academic Panel on

Last updated

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Perth Modern minimum entrance score 244.34 (2025 entry, guide only) · minimum TSS 209.5 to be considered · 24 select public secondary schools

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About the exam

The ASET test, in plain language.

Perth Modern School is a selective academic public school in Perth that takes its Year 7 intake through the ASET. Around it sits the Department of Education's wider network of Gifted and Talented Secondary Selective Entrance programs, hosted inside comprehensive state secondary schools across metropolitan and regional Western Australia.

ASET is an ability test: it measures reasoning across four components rather than year-level curriculum recall. Each component produces a standardised score that compares your child's result with all students who sat the test, and the four standardised scores are added to give the Total Standard Score (TSS). The Department states that all four tests are worth the same amount and that the scores are not percentages. The TSS, not the raw mark, is what the Department uses to rank applicants for academic program offers.

Test dates

The Year 7 ASET has been held in March in recent cycles: the standard sitting for the 2027 intake was Saturday 7 March 2026, with regional WA testing on 9 and 10 March 2026. The WA Department of Education has not yet published key dates for the 2028 intake, checked 16 August 2026, so no 2028 sitting or application date is stated here. Metropolitan students sit at designated centres; regional students sit at approved local centres and are ranked on the same TSS scale.

Scoring & cutoffs

A minimum TSS of 209.5 is required to be considered for an academic program, and a score of 209.5 or higher does not guarantee an offer. Perth Modern School's published minimum entrance scores were 244.34 for 2025 entry and 247.2 for 2024 entry. The Department defines a minimum entrance score as the lowest score that received an offer in previous years once all offers were complete, and cautions that these figures are a guide only, may change every year, and are usually lower than the Round 1 or Round 2 offer scores.

  • Reading Comprehension

    35 min35

    Inference, vocabulary in context and author's purpose across fiction and non-fiction passages. 35 multiple-choice questions.

  • Communicating Ideas in Writing

    25 min1

    One handwritten response to a single prompt, written on the answer booklet's writing sheet.

  • Quantitative Reasoning

    35 min35

    Logic-driven problem solving across number, pattern, ratio and measurement. 35 multiple-choice questions.

  • Abstract Reasoning

    20 min35

    Visual pattern recognition under tight time pressure. On our arithmetic, roughly one item every 34 seconds.

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Practice papers

  • 5Reading comprehension papers
  • 5Quantitative Reasoning papers
  • 5Writing tasks, marked with feedback
  • Not includedExam-style practice tests
  • Not includedReading Comprehension Practice Pack
  • Not includedPoetry comprehension tests

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  • IncludedVocabulary Mastery Pack
  • Not includedDaily Paragraph Editing & Grammar
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Practice papers

  • 400+Exam-style practice tests
  • 10Reading comprehension papers
  • 100Reading Comprehension Practice Pack
  • 10Quantitative Reasoning papers
  • 20Writing tasks, marked with feedback
  • 50+Poetry comprehension tests

Mastery & support

  • IncludedNon-Verbal Reasoning Mastery Course
  • IncludedVocabulary Mastery Pack
  • IncludedDaily Paragraph Editing & Grammar
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Abstract ReasoningSample · 1 of 1

Braintree-written practice item, not an official ASET question. Which option completes the sequence? A square rotates 90° clockwise at each step, and the shading inverts every second step. The sequence starts with an unshaded square and you are asked for the figure after three steps.

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From the journal

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Long-form pieces by our faculty on the strategy, pacing and preparation that work for this exam specifically.

ASET results

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.

FAQ

ASET, plainly answered.

Five questions our faculty fields most often about the ASET exam.

The Academic Selective Entrance Test (ASET) is the test the WA Department of Education uses to select Year 7 students for Perth Modern School and its Gifted and Talented Secondary Selective Entrance programs, commonly called GATE. ASET measures reasoning across four components rather than year-level curriculum recall. The Department's Applicant Guidelines list 225 Year 7 academic vacancies at Perth Modern School for the 2027 intake; placement in academic programs is based only on the Total Standard Score (TSS).

ASET has four components in a single sitting: Reading Comprehension (35 multiple-choice questions in 35 minutes), Communicating Ideas in Writing (one handwritten response in 25 minutes), Quantitative Reasoning (35 multiple-choice questions in 35 minutes) and Abstract Reasoning (35 multiple-choice questions in 20 minutes). The Department also publishes a 10-minute break between Communicating Ideas in Writing and Quantitative Reasoning. Those published timings add to 115 minutes of testing plus the break, which is our arithmetic rather than a departmental total: the Department publishes no total sitting length.

A minimum Total Standard Score (TSS) of 209.5 is required to be considered for a WA academic program, and the Department states plainly that a score of 209.5 or higher does not guarantee an offer. Perth Modern School's published minimum entrance scores were 244.34 for 2025 entry and 247.2 for 2024 entry. A minimum entrance score is the lowest score that received an offer in a previous year once all offers were complete; the Department describes these figures as a guide only, notes they may change every year, and says they are usually lower than the Round 1 or Round 2 offer scores.

The WA Department of Education states that Gifted and Talented academic, arts and languages programs are available at 24 select public secondary schools. ASET is the test sat for the academic programs and for Perth Modern School. For Year 7 academic entry in the 2027 intake, the Department's Applicant Guidelines publish per-school vacancies including Perth Modern School 225, Shenton College 64 and Willetton Senior High School 64, with a further 13 face-to-face academic programs at 32 places each and an online academic program for eligible country students. Your child can nominate several programs in preference order on one application.

The Year 7 ASET has been held in March in recent cycles. For the 2027 intake, the standard sitting was Saturday 7 March 2026, with regional WA testing on 9 and 10 March 2026 and performance reports emailed on Friday 29 May 2026. The Department has not yet published key dates for the 2028 intake, checked 16 August 2026. Perth metropolitan students sit at designated centres; regional students sit at approved local centres, and both groups are ranked on the same TSS scale.

Six to twelve months of steady preparation before the March sitting is the most common runway among the families Braintree Coaching Australia works with, and twelve months suits a child with gaps across more than one component. What matters more than the total is the pattern: weekly timed sets in each of the four components, regular full-length practice under the published timings, and written feedback on extended responses. Start with the Department's free Practice ASET so your child meets the real format first.

Yes. The Department's Year 7 academic vacancy table for the 2027 intake lists 16 face-to-face academic programs, including Shenton College and Willetton Senior High School at 64 places each and 13 further schools at 32 places each, plus an online academic program for eligible country students. Every academic program uses the same test and the same minimum TSS of 209.5 to be considered, and a score at or above that floor does not guarantee an offer. Families targeting Perth Modern routinely nominate one or more of these programs as further preferences on the same application.

Each of the four ASET components produces a standardised score that compares your child's result with all students who sat the test. The Total Standard Score (TSS) is the total of those four standardised scores, and it is what the Department uses to rank students for program offers. All four tests are worth the same amount, and the Department states that the scores are not percentages. It publishes no maximum TSS and no per-component maximum, so a TSS cannot be converted into a share of the cohort.

ASET is WA-specific, used for Perth Modern School and the state's Gifted and Talented academic programs, and tests four components including a 25-minute handwritten response. EduTest is used by independent and Catholic schools nationally and by the Queensland Academies (Year 7 at QASMT) and uses five components. HAST is used by Brisbane State High School and some other Programs of Excellence for Year 5 and Year 6 entry. The NSW Selective High Schools Test is the separate Year 6 entry test for NSW selective schools. Families applying across states must prepare for each format separately.

A strong preparation moves through three phases: foundations (twelve to six months out, with wide reading, mental-math fluency and first exposure to abstract-reasoning patterns), component practice (six to three months out, with weekly timed sets and worked solutions), and full mocks (final eight weeks, with full-length papers under the published component timings and written feedback on each extended response). Use the Department's free Practice ASET and ASET Handbook first: they are the only official format material, and the Department states practice results are not used in placement decisions.
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