BSHS HAST exam format: components, timing and scoring

Brisbane State High School (BSHS) uses the Higher Ability Selection Test (HAST) administered by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to assess applicants for selective entry, and it is the paper our students prepare for inside the BSHS selective entry preparation programme. For Year 7 entry from Year 5, Brisbane State High publishes a HAST-P battery of three timed components — Reading Comprehension (35 minutes), Mathematical Reasoning (35 minutes) and Written Expression (30 minutes).

Year 6 applicants sit HAST Secondary; the school does not publish per-component timings for that sitting on its Academic Selective Entry page, and ACER's Secondary battery includes Abstract Reasoning alongside Mathematical & Scientific Reasoning, Reading Comprehension and Written Expression. The Higher Ability Selection Test is built and marked by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER); ACER's HAST programme overview describes the Primary and Secondary levels schools can choose from.

Application windows, fees and sitting arrangements for Brisbane State High are published on the school's Academic Selective Entry page, within the broader selective-entry framework maintained by the Queensland Department of Education.

Which sections does the BSHS HAST exam include?

For the Year 5 pathway, Brisbane State High publishes three HAST-P components. For the Year 6 pathway, the school names HAST Secondary and points families at ACER Secondary sample materials; it does not publish a matching per-component clock. ACER Secondary includes Abstract Reasoning; treat section detail below that is not on the BSHS page as coaching orientation, not a school-published timetable.

Section	HAST-P (Year 5, BSHS-published)	HAST Secondary (Year 6)	What families practise
Abstract reasoning	Not listed on the BSHS HAST-P battery for this intake	Named in ACER Secondary; BSHS does not publish a clock	Pattern recognition, matrix completion, sequence and transformation rules.
Reading comprehension	35 minutes · multiple choice	Named; timing not published by BSHS	Literal, inferential and critical reading across fiction, informational and persuasive texts.
Mathematical reasoning	35 minutes · multiple choice	Named (Mathematical & Scientific Reasoning at Secondary); timing not published by BSHS	Problem solving, number patterns, fractions, measurement, geometry and algebraic thinking — classroom mocks work by hand.
Written expression	30 minutes · 1 task	Named; timing not published by BSHS	Creative narrative or persuasive writing under timed conditions against the writing rubric you use in practice.

The three Year 5 timings above are school-published for that intake and sum to 100 minutes of section time in our arithmetic — BSHS does not publish a single "total paper minutes" figure on the Academic Selective Entry page. Do not treat 100 minutes as an ACER-wide HAST-P standard.

How long is the BSHS HAST exam?

Use the school's published component times for Year 5 HAST-P (35 / 35 / 30 minutes). For Year 6 HAST Secondary, plan mocks from ACER Secondary sample materials and confirm arrival, registration and dismissal windows with the school for that cycle — BSHS does not publish a full-paper duration for that sitting. Allow extra time on the day for arrival, registration, instructions and dismissal beyond the timed sections.

How is the HAST scored?

ACER marks the paper and reports results to the school. ACER's public HAST programme pages describe individual student reports and a school report with a clear ranking; they do not publish a mean-100 / SD-15 scale or a national reference-group formula on the pages we cite. Brisbane State High selects students on an order of merit, with test results as the primary selection criterion. School reports, Year 5 NAPLAN and competition results are required documents for Year 7 entry, but the school does not publish how those inputs are weighted against the test.

BSHS uses the phrase "ranked above the cut-off" but publishes no cut-off number, band or range. Any numeric selective-entry band you see elsewhere is coaching guidance or market rumour, not a school statute — see our BSHS HAST results spoke for how to read what ACER and the school do report.

Which year levels can take HAST for BSHS?

Brisbane State High School offers two HAST entry pathways: a Year 5 conditional offer based on HAST-P and a Year 6 direct offer based on HAST Secondary.

• Year 5 — HAST-P (three BSHS-published components). Conditional offer made in Year 5; the place is taken up at the start of Year 7 when the child meets the school's published conditions (transition activities, continued excellence through Years 5–6, and an enrolment interview with a Leadership Team member).
• Year 6 — HAST Secondary. Direct Year 7 pathway for that cycle. ACER Secondary includes Abstract Reasoning; BSHS does not publish a per-component timing table for this sitting.

Students who are unsuccessful in Year 5 may still apply in Year 6 by sitting HAST Secondary on that cycle's published date.

When is the BSHS HAST sat and what is the test-day timing?

For the 2026 calendar on the school's Academic Selective Entry page, Year 5 applicants toward Year 7 2028 sat on Wednesday 29 July 2026, and Year 6 applicants toward Year 7 2027 sat on Monday 27 April 2026. The school states these are the only dates for those intakes and does not offer alternatives. Plan to arrive early for registration and seating. For the chronological "night before · morning of · at the venue · during the test · after" checklist, see our BSHS HAST test-day guide.

For the current cycle's published sitting dates, the $420 processing fee and which application windows are open, see our Brisbane State High selective entry guide, which is checked against the school's own Academic Selective Entry page.

What does this mean for preparation?

A child who is performing strongly in Year 4 or Year 5 maths and reading still needs targeted work on (a) the timed reasoning sections, which most state-curriculum classrooms do not teach explicitly, and (b) the written expression task under tight time pressure. Abstract Reasoning on the Year 6 Secondary paper is the largest format delta versus the Year 5 HAST-P battery BSHS publishes, and it rewards methodical practice with pattern, rotation and matrix puzzles. See our BSHS HAST preparation strategies for a structured plan that covers each section.