QASMT Toowong: Complete Guide to Year 7 and Year 10 Entry

What Is QASMT and How Is It Different?

The Queensland Academy for Science, Mathematics and Technology (QASMT) is the Queensland Academies campus at Toowong, in Brisbane's inner west. It teaches the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme in Years 11 and 12 with a science, mathematics and technology emphasis, and runs the IB Middle Years Programme in Years 7 to 9. The Queensland Department of Education records an agreed enrolment capacity of 1,480 for the campus.

Unlike QACI (Creative Industries) and QAHS (Health Sciences), QASMT is the only Queensland Academy that takes Year 7 applicants, so a child who enters at Year 7 has up to six years in the academy system before the Diploma years. All three campuses take Year 10 applicants.

This guide covers both entry pathways, the Entrance Test, and preparation. Confirm the shared application process in our Queensland Academies admissions guide, choose a campus with our campus selection guide, then use Queensland Academies practice resources for matched EduTest-style drills (not the generic EduTest vendor head). Format detail sits in the EduTest exam format guide; a sample reasoning paper and free mock tests are useful benchmarks; structured coaching is optional via our Queensland Academies course.

In this guide you will find:

• The published dates, fees and outcome timing for the current cycle
• Year 7 vs Year 10 entry requirements
• What the Entrance Test contains and how the engagement activity works
• A practical preparation timeline

The Toowong campus is well served by Toowong railway station and bus routes across South-East Queensland, which matters more than families expect once a daily commute is real. QASMT sits close to the University of Queensland's St Lucia campus; if a university partnership is part of why you are applying, ask the school what it currently involves rather than relying on second-hand descriptions.

For the broader EduTest family overview, see our EduTest selective school and scholarship hub.

When Do Applications Close and When Is the Entrance Test?

For Year 7 entry in 2028, on-time applications must be received by 4pm on Friday 21 August 2026, and testing is scheduled for 5 and 6 September 2026. The testing window spans those dates because candidates are scheduled across them; your child sits one test of about 3 hours, not a sitting on each date. Outcomes are released late in Term 4 2026.

The Year 7 application is designed to be lodged while your child is in Year 5. A late application pathway exists for families who miss the closing date, but late applicants are considered only where a vacancy arises, and Queensland Academies publishes no timeline for late-period testing.

Year 10 entry runs its own cycle. On-time applications open from Term 3 of Year 8, for entry two years later. For QASMT Year 10 entry in 2028, on-time applications close 4pm Friday 21 August 2026 with testing on Sunday 6 September 2026 — the same calendar close day as Year 7, but a distinct Year 10 / QASMT testing day. QACI and QAHS publish different Year 10 cells (including TBC rows) on the Queensland Academies Year 10 enrolments page; do not reuse QASMT's Year 10 dates for those campuses.

How Do Year 7 and Year 10 Entry Differ?

Year 7 entry is the primary early intake. It is the only Queensland Academy pathway open at Year 7, so STEM-focused families from across South-East Queensland share one early-entry window. A child who enters at Year 7 spends six years in the academy, building IB foundations through the Middle Years Programme first. The Academies publish no acceptance rate or place count for either intake.

Year 10 entry works as a pre-IB preparation year: the Queensland Department of Education states that Year 10 students at QASMT complete an IB Diploma preparation course of study. It suits a child who finds a STEM direction later or misses the Year 7 window, and it is available at all three campuses. EduTest sets year-level-appropriate content and compares each result against others in the same year level, so a Year 10 sitting is pitched at Year 10 content. The component set is the same five sections as Year 7, including Written Expression, across the same published section timings.

Selection assesses four elements:

1. The Entrance Test
2. Academic records — school reports and NAPLAN
3. An engagement activity (interview) for shortlisted candidates
4. Any additional relevant information supplied with the application

No percentage weighting is published for any of these four elements.

What Is on the QASMT Entrance Test?

The Queensland Academies Entrance Test is a series of tests of approximately 3 hours in duration, facilitated by EduTest. Queensland Academies publishes no minutes total; the five section timings below sum to 165 minutes (2 hours 45 minutes), and the published "approximately 3 hours" absorbs check-in and breaks. Both Year 7 and Year 10 applicants sit the same five components:

Applicants with approved access arrangements (AARA) sit an alternative sitting, which may fall on a different date to the main one.

Shortlisted candidates are invited to an engagement activity, which most families will recognise as an interview. Encourage your child to talk about specific projects or problems they have found genuinely interesting; a real account of something they built, broke or puzzled over reads better than a rehearsed answer.

Full component detail is in our EduTest exam format guide. For matched Queensland Academies practice across all five components, use our Queensland Academies practice resources. The separate EduTest practice resources page covers the vendor practice head used across many schools — keep it as a secondary reference, not the QASMT destination.

How Does QASMT Compare With QACI and QAHS?

Queensland Academies publishes one transfer rule: there is no transfer process from the end of the QASMT Middle School programme in Year 9 into Year 10 at QACI or QAHS. That is narrower than the blanket "no transfers between campuses" you will read elsewhere, but it is the rule that binds the Year 7 decision, so choose on specialisation, location and daily commute rather than reputation.

For campus comparison between QASMT, QACI, and QAHS, see our IB Diploma at Queensland Academies guide and HAST vs EduTest comparison.

When Should Preparation Start?

Do not neglect writing. Fifteen minutes of coherent writing under time pressure takes months of fluency building, and it is examined at both Year 7 and Year 10 entry. Because the sitting runs about 3 hours end to end, practise at least one full-length paper in one go so the last section is not the first time your child has had to concentrate that long.

How Competitive Is QASMT Entry?

Year 7 entry is the only early-entry pathway among the three campuses. Because QASMT alone accepts Year 7 applicants, STEM-focused families from across South-East Queensland share that one early window. Year 10 entry serves a child who develops a clear STEM direction later, sitting the same five components across the same section timings, pitched at Year 10 content — Queensland Academies publishes no statement that the Year 10 paper is harder, and it publishes no acceptance rate or place count for either intake.

Queensland Academies does not publish a cut-off score, an acceptance rate, or a percentile band for successful applicants, so there is no fixed mark to aim for. The Academies state only that the number of highly capable candidates seeking enrolment typically exceeds the number of places available. Offers are decided on the Entrance Test, academic records, the engagement activity and other relevant information, with no published weighting between them. In practice this rewards balanced performance: a child who is strong in numerical reasoning but weak in reading comprehension is more exposed than one who scores solidly across the board, because there is no single dominant component to carry a lopsided result.

Treat the engagement activity as a genuine part of selection rather than a formality. Because the Toowong campus draws applicants from across South-East Queensland, it is also worth being realistic about the daily commute before accepting a place: QASMT is well served by Toowong railway station and bus routes, but a long journey each way for six years is a factor families sometimes weigh too late. Treat the offer, the commute and your child's own appetite for a STEM-intensive programme as a single decision.

How Should Families Prepare for the Entrance Test?

Effective preparation starts with an honest baseline. Sit one full EduTest-format mock early, under quiet timed conditions, and use the result to rank the five components (Verbal Reasoning, Numerical Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, Mathematics and Written Expression) from strongest to weakest. The same five components apply at Year 7 and Year 10 entry, so the ranking exercise is the same either way. From that baseline, build a weekly routine: short daily reasoning drills, consolidation of year-level mathematics, wide reading across fiction and non-fiction, and one timed fifteen-minute write each week.

Because the sitting is a single block of about 3 hours, stamina inside one paper is what matters, not stamina across days. Simulate the full 165 minutes of timed sections in one sitting a few times in the final months so your child knows what the last section feels like. Do not leave Written Expression until late, since fluent, structured writing under time pressure takes months to build rather than weeks.

QASMT Year 7 or Year 10: Which Pathway Fits?

Year 7 entry gives a child up to six years inside the academy system, building International Baccalaureate foundations early and settling into the culture before the demanding Diploma years. It suits families confident about a STEM direction while their child is still in primary school. Year 10 entry works as a pre-IB preparation year for a child who finds their STEM focus later or who missed the Year 7 window; the trade-off is a shorter runway, and an entry paper pitched at Year 10 content rather than Year 5 content.

Two constraints shape the decision. You may submit only one Queensland Academies application per year, so applying to QASMT rules out QACI and QAHS in the same cycle. And there is no transfer from the end of Year 9 at QASMT into Year 10 at either of the other campuses. Choose on specialisation, location and daily commute rather than reputation alone.

What Are the Selective Pathways in Other States?

If you are comparing selective options in other states, our Victoria SEHS preparation hub covers Victorian selective entry for Melbourne High, Mac.Robertson, Nossal and Suzanne Cory, and our EduTest complete guide explains the shared test framework used across many interstate selective and scholarship pathways.

Dates, fees and test structure on this page were verified on 9 September 2026 against the Queensland Academies Year 7 enrolments page and Year 10 enrolments page. Reviewed by the Braintree Academic Panel.