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BSHS HAST FAQ: seven parent questions answered

Seven of the questions Brisbane families ask most often about Brisbane State High School selective entry and the ACER HAST — paper structure, preparation routines, calculator policy, resources, and the enrolment interview.

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Quick Answer

Brisbane families most often ask about the difference between HAST-P and the full HAST, what a weekly preparation routine should look like, what resources to use, whether to prepare Mathematical Reasoning without a calculator, what happens at the enrolment interview, and how reapplication works after an unsuccessful Year 5 sitting. This page answers the seven we field most frequently and pairs with the BSHS preparation hub for the wider context.

  • Questions answered7
  • Pairs with hub/bshs-selective-exam-preparation
  • Sibling spokesExam format · Results
  • SourceBrisbane parent enquiries

Read the full Brisbane State High School Selective Entry Preparation (HAST) guide.

The questions below are the seven Brisbane State High School (BSHS) HAST questions our faculty fields most often. They sit alongside, rather than duplicate, the broader exam-overview answers on our BSHS selective entry preparation hub — read the hub first if a fundamentals question (what HAST is, which schools use it, application costs) is still open, then come back here for the deeper, practical questions that follow.

How does this FAQ pair with the rest of the BSHS spokes?

The FAQ block below covers paper-structure clarifications, preparation routines, calculator practice, recommended resources, the enrolment interview, reapplication after an unsuccessful Year 5 sitting, and what to do if your child is unwell on the published test day. For the section-by-section walkthrough of every HAST paper, see our BSHS HAST exam format spoke. For how order-of-merit selection and reported scores work after the sitting, see our BSHS HAST results interpretation spoke. The Higher Ability Selection Test is built, marked and reported by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER); BSHS-specific fees, dates and interview conditions are published on Brisbane State High School’s Academic Selective Entry page.

HAST-P versus HAST Secondary at Brisbane State High

For Year 7 2028 entry, current Year 5 applicants sit HAST-P with three school-published timings: Reading Comprehension 35 minutes, Mathematical Reasoning 35 minutes and Written Expression 30 minutes. That three-component battery is what BSHS lists for this intake; it is not the same statement as ACER’s general Primary package description, which can include Abstract Reasoning depending on the school’s chosen package. For Year 7 2027 entry, Year 6 applicants sit HAST Secondary; BSHS names that paper and points families at ACER Secondary sample materials, but does not publish a matching per-component clock on the enrolment page. ACER administers HAST as a paper-only assessment and provides results to the school on a stated 10-working-day turnaround after it receives completed tests — family notification timing remains a school decision.

Preparation, resources and dual Queensland pathways

BSHS states that past test papers are not available and that the best preparation is active engagement with current primary-school learning. Use ACER’s sold Sample Question Booklets and free Student Information Bulletins as the official sample set, then add timed section practice and writing feedback. Keep Queensland Academies preparation on a separate track if you are applying to both: Academies use an EduTest-style entrance test, while BSHS uses ACER HAST, and tutor intake notes show families often underestimate that the tests, fees and timelines differ. Practise Mathematical Reasoning without a calculator unless your child’s sitting instructions say otherwise, and treat the published BSHS date as fixed — the school does not offer alternative sittings.

At a glance

Key facts.

Test administrator
Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)
Year 5 paper (Y7 2028)
HAST-P · Reading 35 · Maths 35 · Writing 30
Year 6 paper (Y7 2027)
HAST Secondary · timings set by BSHS/ACER materials
Mathematical Reasoning prep
Practise without a calculator
Application fee
$420 non-refundable (once per year)
Alternative test dates
Not offered — published sitting only
Keep going

More on this exam.

FAQ

Common questions, plainly answered.

7 questions our faculty fields most often about this exam.

At Brisbane State High School, Year 5 applicants for Year 7 2028 entry sit HAST-P with three published components — Reading Comprehension (35 minutes), Mathematical Reasoning (35 minutes) and Written Expression (30 minutes). Year 6 applicants for Year 7 2027 entry sit the Higher Ability Selection Test — Secondary (HAST); BSHS publishes that paper name but does not publish a per-component timing table for that intake on the Academic Selective Entry page. ACER describes HAST as a paper-only ability test (reading, mathematical/scientific reasoning, abstract reasoning and written expression depending on level and package), not a year-level curriculum exam. A Year 5 sitting can lead to a conditional Year 7 offer that still requires transition activities, continued excellence through Years 5–6, and an enrolment interview with a Leadership Team member; a Year 6 sitting is the direct Year 7 pathway for that cycle.

ACER’s public HAST programme pages do not publish a calculator rule. Treat Mathematical Reasoning as a no-calculator skill in preparation: children need confident mental fluency with arithmetic, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratios, basic algebra, geometry and multi-step word problems without electronic assistance. Confirm permitted materials from the BSHS candidate information for your child’s sitting — that document is the authority on the day. Daily short mental-math practice (tables, fraction–decimal conversions, estimation) is the habit our tutors see transfer most cleanly into timed papers.

A practical weekly schedule for BSHS HAST families allocates four to six hours across several short sessions rather than one long cram: one timed Reading Comprehension set with careful review, one timed Mathematical Reasoning set with worked-solution review, one Written Expression piece with specific feedback, and — for Year 6 Secondary candidates — regular Abstract Reasoning practice. Keep a daily ten-minute mental-math drill on the remaining days, and keep wide reading of fiction and non-fiction alongside the timed work. Consistent weekly cadence over many months outperforms intensive cramming in the final fortnight. BSHS itself states that the best preparation is active engagement with current primary-school learning, plus sleep, breakfast and calm parental support on the approach to test week.

Start with what the authorities publish. ACER sells HAST Sample Question Booklets as downloadable PDFs and publishes free HAST Student Information Bulletins (Primary and Secondary) with a small number of sample questions. Brisbane State High School states that past test papers are not available, so do not expect an official past-paper pack from the school. Layer HAST-specific commercial practice, abstract-reasoning workbooks, advanced reading and timed writing on top of those samples. If your family is also considering Queensland Academies, keep the pathways separate — Academies use an EduTest-style entrance test, while BSHS uses ACER HAST; fees, timelines and section structures differ, and blending one programme across both is the mistake we see most often in tutor intake.

For Year 5 applicants, Brisbane State High School publishes that a conditional offer of enrolment requires an enrolment interview with a member of the Leadership Team, alongside transition activities and continued excellence in academia, attendance, effort and behaviour through Years 5 and 6. Test results are the primary selection criterion and students are selected on an order of merit; school reports, Year 5 NAPLAN and competition results are required documents, but BSHS does not publish how those inputs are weighted against the interview. Use the interview to confirm practical enrolment steps and any conditions on the offer. Score bands, cut-off numbers and reserve-list mechanics are not published on the Academic Selective Entry page — see our BSHS HAST results spoke for how to read what ACER and the school do report.

Yes. An unsuccessful Year 5 sitting does not bar a later Year 6 application for the next Year 7 intake. A fresh Selective Entry Online Application Form is required, and the $420 application processing fee is non-refundable, non-transferable and payable once per year via the school’s Qkr! process — not once for the lifetime of an application. The Year 6 pathway uses HAST Secondary rather than the three-component HAST-P battery BSHS publishes for the Year 5 sitting, so introduce Abstract Reasoning practice early in Year 6 rather than treating the year as a repeat of HAST-P only. Merit ranking for the new cycle stands on its own; do not assume a previous sitting’s result carries forward as either credit or penalty.

Brisbane State High School publishes the Academic Selective Entry test dates for each intake and states that those are the only dates on which students can undertake the academic tests — the school does not offer alternative dates. For the Year 7 2028 (Year 5) cycle the published sitting is Wednesday 29 July 2026; for Year 7 2027 (Year 6) it was Monday 27 April 2026. If your child is unwell, contact the BSHS enrolment enquiry channel immediately, supply a medical certificate, and ask what special consideration — if any — is available; an alternative sitting is not guaranteed. Build the prep timeline to peak in the weeks before the published date, avoid stacking other high-pressure tests in the same week, and protect health in the final week before the sitting.

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