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QLD · Brisbane State High School selective entry preparation

Brisbane State High School Selective Entry Preparation (HAST)

Brisbane State High School selective entry preparation for Year 5 and Year 6 families — the HAST components the school publishes for each intake, the application dates and $420 fee, and how places are decided.

By Braintree Editorial, Exam preparation editors, Braintree Coaching Australia

Reviewed by Braintree Academic Panel on

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Limited and heavily oversubscribed · 2 entry pathways · ACER HAST (paper-only)

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About the exam

The BSHS HAST test, in plain language.

Brisbane State High School is a partially selective Queensland state secondary school in South Brisbane. Selective entry uses the ACER HAST, and the school states that entry through the academic selective entry category is limited and heavily oversubscribed each year.

HAST is an ability-focused assessment rather than a curriculum recall test. It measures inference, reasoning, problem-solving and written expression, and ACER administers it on paper only. For Year 7 2028 entry BSHS publishes a three-component HAST-P for Year 5 applicants; Year 6 applicants sit HAST Secondary, for which the school publishes no component timings. ACER's own HAST-P also includes Abstract Reasoning, so the three-component battery is the school's published sitting rather than an ACER-wide standard. Permitted materials, including whether a calculator may be used, are set out in the school's Candidate Information Bulletin.

Test dates

Applications for Year 7 2027 and Year 7 2028 entry have both closed. The published test dates for those intakes were Monday 27 April 2026 (Year 7 2027, Year 6 applicants) and Wednesday 29 July 2026 (Year 7 2028, Year 5 applicants). Applications for Years 8–11 2027 entry close Monday 24 August 2026, with the Selective Entry Equity Bursary closing Monday 17 August 2026. BSHS offers no alternative test dates. Confirm the next Year 7 cycle on the school's own enrolment page.

Scoring & cutoffs

ACER scores HAST and reports results directly to BSHS. The school selects on an order of merit and states that test results are the primary selection criterion; it does not publish a cut-off value, and it does not publish how the test, school reports, NAPLAN and achievements are weighted. ACER publishes a 10-working-day turnaround between receiving completed tests and providing results to the school; when families are notified is not published.

  • Reading Comprehension

    35 min (BSHS-published, Year 7 2028 HAST-P)Not published

    Inference, vocabulary in context and author's purpose across fiction and non-fiction passages. BSHS lists this component as multiple choice for the Year 7 2028 HAST-P sitting.

  • Mathematical Reasoning

    35 min (BSHS-published, Year 7 2028 HAST-P)Not published

    Problem-solving across arithmetic, fractions, ratios, geometry and multi-step word problems. BSHS calls this component Mathematic Reasoning; at HAST Secondary ACER names it Mathematical and Scientific Reasoning.

  • Written Expression

    30 min (BSHS-published, Year 7 2028 HAST-P)Not published

    Written response work. Neither ACER nor BSHS publishes how many pieces are set or how long each is allowed within the component.

  • Abstract Reasoning

    Not publishedNot published

    Visual pattern recognition, matrices and series. ACER lists Abstract Reasoning as a component of both HAST-P and HAST Secondary; it is not in the three-component battery BSHS publishes for the Year 7 2028 HAST-P sitting.

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Practice papers

  • 10Reading comprehension papers
  • 100Reading Comprehension Practice Pack
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  • 20Writing tasks, marked with feedback
  • 50+Poetry comprehension tests

Mastery & support

  • IncludedNon-Verbal Reasoning Mastery Course
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  • IncludedDaily Paragraph Editing & Grammar
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BSHS HAST results

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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

BSHS HAST, plainly answered.

Five questions our faculty fields most often about the BSHS HAST exam.

HAST (Higher Ability Selection Test) is the academic ability assessment developed and administered by ACER (Australian Council for Educational Research) for BSHS selective entry. It measures higher-order thinking — inference, reasoning, problem-solving and written expression — rather than year-level curriculum recall. ACER states that all HAST assessments are paper-only: multiple-choice items are machine scored and Written Expression is assessed by qualified human markers. Year 5 applicants sit HAST-P; Year 6 applicants sit HAST Secondary.

Brisbane State High School uses the HAST exam administered by ACER. It does not use EduTest. This is the most common source of confusion for Queensland families, because the Queensland Academies (QASMT, QACI, QAHS) use an entrance test facilitated by EduTest. Families targeting both BSHS and a Queensland Academy are preparing for two different instruments, on two different timelines, with two separate fees.

BSHS publishes two pathways into the Year 7 selective intake. Year 5 applicants sit the Academic Selective Entry Test and, if successful, receive a conditional offer of enrolment; the school's published conditions are successful participation in transition activities, continued excellence in academia, attendance, effort and behaviour through Years 5 and 6, and an enrolment interview with a member of the Leadership Team. Year 6 applicants sit HAST Secondary in the year before entry. What happens after a Year 6 offer is not set out in the same detail on the school's enrolment page — confirm it with the school before choosing a pathway.

For Year 7 2028 entry, BSHS publishes a three-component HAST-P sitting for Year 5 applicants: Reading Comprehension 35 minutes (multiple choice), Mathematic Reasoning 35 minutes (multiple choice) and Written Expression 30 minutes. Those three components add up to 100 minutes of test time, although the school itself publishes no total. For Year 6 applicants sitting HAST Secondary, BSHS publishes no per-component timings and points families at the HAST Secondary sample booklet and the Candidate Information Bulletin. ACER publishes component names — Reading Comprehension, Mathematical Reasoning, Abstract Reasoning and Written Expression — but no timings or question counts.

Families complete the Selective Entry Online Application Form and submit school reports for the previous three semesters, the Year 5 NAPLAN report, and results of academic competitions and achievements. The processing fee is $420, described by the school as non-refundable and non-transferable, and paid via the Qkr! app with proof of payment supplied. The fee is paid once per year, covering every selective entry category applied for in that year — it is not a one-off payment that covers an application until Year 11. Selective Entry Equity Bursaries exist for families facing genuine hardship and may cover or reduce the fee.

Brisbane State High School states that entry through the academic selective entry category is limited and heavily oversubscribed each year. It publishes no acceptance rate, no number of places and no cut-off value, so any percentage you see quoted elsewhere is not a school figure. The school uses the phrase 'ranked above the cut-off', so a threshold exists as a concept, but its value is not published and moves with the strength of each year's applicants.

Applications for Year 7 2027 and Year 7 2028 entry have both closed. The published test dates were Monday 27 April 2026 for Year 7 2027 entry (Year 6 applicants) and Wednesday 29 July 2026 for Year 7 2028 entry (Year 5 applicants). Applications for Years 8–11 2027 entry close Monday 24 August 2026, and the Selective Entry Equity Bursary for that intake closes Monday 17 August 2026. The school states these are the only dates on which the Academic Tests can be sat and that it does not offer alternative dates. Check the school's enrolment page for the next Year 7 cycle.

No. Brisbane State High School states plainly that past test papers are not available, and its published advice is that the best test preparation is to be actively engaged in current learning at primary school, together with a good night's sleep, a healthy breakfast and parental support in maintaining calm. ACER sells HAST sample question booklets and publishes Student Information Bulletins through its student support page; those are the closest thing to an official content benchmark, and they are not past papers.

There is no published answer, because neither ACER nor BSHS recommends a preparation period. In our own teaching practice, families who start six to twelve months out spread the work across reading and reasoning rather than compressing it into the final term, which is the pattern that best protects a child's Year 5 or Year 6 workload. Because HAST is an ability assessment rather than a syllabus test, broad reading and regular reasoning practice do more than late cramming.

ACER scores the HAST and provides results directly to Brisbane State High School; ACER publishes a 10-working-day turnaround between receiving completed tests and providing results to the school. BSHS does not publish individual cut-off scores. It selects on an order of merit, with test results as the primary selection criterion, and it does not publish how the test, school reports, NAPLAN and achievements are weighted. The school's enrolment page says nothing about a waitlist or reserve list, and it does not publish when families are notified — ask the school directly rather than planning around a date we would be guessing at.
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