IGNITE practice tests and resources: official samples and study materials

For South Australian Year 6 families targeting Year 7 IGNITE entry, practice materials sit in three groups: official ACER samples, publisher drills, and labelled Braintree Coaching Australia modules you can print today, including our free IGNITE sample questions with worked solutions and IGNITE vocabulary list. Choose the campus first on our IGNITE schools guide, confirm which paper that school sits, then use this page for official samples and a paper-matched plan. For the broader programme overview, start with our IGNITE program preparation hub.

Where can we get the official IGNITE sample materials?

The most reliable starting point is the sample material published by the test administrator, ACER. Two things are worth knowing before you click. ACER sells its HAST Sample Question Booklets as downloadable PDF files rather than giving them away, while the free HAST Student Information Bulletins carry a small number of sample questions at no cost. ACER does not release past papers. Confirm first which paper your target school uses: Glenunga International and Aberfoyle Park sit the ACER HAST for IGNITE entry, while The Heights School titles its sitting the ACER Ignite assessment on its own page (it also appears on ACER's HAST participating-schools list under Ignite Program — keep the school-published paper name when you buy Heights practice).

• Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) — HAST student support is where families find the paid Sample Question Booklets and free Student Information Bulletins. ACER builds and marks the HAST used at Glenunga and Aberfoyle Park and the Heights Ignite assessment, so its samples are the closest indicator of real question style and difficulty.
• The Department for Education, South Australia publishes the official list that names the three IGNITE schools; it does not publish statewide place counts or acceptance rates.
• Registration runs through each school's own IGNITE page, not through a single statewide portal hostname. Glenunga International High School, The Heights School and Aberfoyle Park High School are the three campus pages to open. Glenunga and The Heights each publish when registration opens through ACER's online system, sitting length and the one-school rule; Glenunga adds that a student may sit once and only at one IGNITE school. Aberfoyle's live programme page describes the Year 7–10 IGNITE curriculum but does not publish assessment dates there — confirm entry steps with Aberfoyle, and use the IGNITE schools guide for the three-campus ledger before you buy resources.

Our free IGNITE sample questions with worked solutions cover all four components and are written for parent-led review at the kitchen table, so you can see the question styles before committing to a paid resource. They are Braintree-labelled coaching practice, not official ACER past papers.

Sit an ACER sample under timed conditions early in the year as a diagnostic. Mark it carefully, identify the two weakest components, and use the result to shape the first three to four months of practice. A diagnostic that is not reviewed is wasted practice. Set aside ninety minutes to mark and discuss it before the next attempt. In our mock reviews we ask families to protect that review block before the next sitting; stacking papers without review does not help.

What kinds of practice materials does your child actually need?

A complete IGNITE preparation kit covers four kinds of material: component-specific drills, full-length mock papers, vocabulary and writing rubrics, and a mistake-tracking log. Each addresses a different gap, and none replaces the others.

Material	Purpose	Frequency
Component-specific drills (reading comprehension, mathematical reasoning, abstract reasoning)	Building accuracy on individual question types.	Daily, 20–30 minutes per session.
Full-length timed mock papers	Practising stamina, pacing and transitions across a sitting the length of the real one.	Weekly in months 4–8; twice weekly in the final mocks phase.
Vocabulary lists with context sentences	Supporting reading comprehension and written expression practice.	20 new words per week throughout the plan.
Writing prompts with rubrics	Improving structure, vocabulary and timing under a timed write.	One timed write per week.
Mistake log	Identifying recurring errors and stopping them recurring.	After every drill or mock paper.

On timing, work from your target school's own page rather than from ACER. Glenunga International publishes a four-part assessment completed over approximately 3 hours with time allowed for a break, and The Heights School publishes the same four-part structure over 3 to 5 hours with a break. ACER publishes no component-by-component timings for either paper, so the mocks we run take two to three hours by our own design rather than to a length ACER has confirmed. The Heights also states that these are written tests and that laptops are not required, which is a good reason to sit the full-length mocks on paper.

Start with the mistake log. Across our IGNITE and HAST mock reviews we ask families to name the type of miss (rushed stem, unfinished working, unnamed abstract rule, writing plan skipped) so the next drill can target that type (aset-mistake-bank Abstract Reasoning under-practice pattern also shows up here). Sitting more papers without that review does not teach the same lesson.

How many practice papers should a child sit?

A typical IGNITE preparation plan includes ten to fourteen full-length mock papers across nine to twelve months. The number matters less than the pacing: cluster mocks too early and the child plateaus; leave them too late and there is no time to act on the patterns.

1. Months 1–4 (foundations). One full-length paper early as a baseline (an ACER sample), and one more at the end of month four. The goal in this phase is accuracy under building conditions — not yet full pace.
2. Months 4–8 (component practice). One full-length paper every two to three weeks (about three to four papers in this phase), plus two timed component papers each week. Review every paper carefully before sitting the next.
3. Final 8 weeks (full mocks). One full-length paper roughly every two weeks under real conditions — timed, scored, no notes — tapering in the final fortnight. No new mock papers in assessment week.

Mocks your child reviews carefully are worth more than mocks they simply sit. The review is where you decide which drill comes next. Keep the weekly total inside a sensible ceiling too: our academic panel's recommended maximum for core selective and OC-level preparation is around five to six hours a week including class time, tapering in the final fortnight, and adjusted downwards if sleep, mood or family time start to suffer (prep-philosophy-weekly-caps). That is coaching guidance rather than a rule. For a fuller week-by-week build-up, see our IGNITE preparation strategies.

Glenunga International and Aberfoyle Park sit the ACER HAST itself, so the material in our HAST practice tests and resources guide applies to those two schools directly. The Heights sits ACER's separate IGNITE assessment, so treat HAST material there as close practice rather than a match.

What should we look for in a paid IGNITE question bank?

Paid third-party question banks vary considerably in quality. Before committing budget, check a bank against four criteria:

• Difficulty matched to the real test. Compare a sample question to the official ACER material. If the third-party questions are noticeably easier or harder, particularly in mathematical reasoning and abstract reasoning, the bank will not predict real performance.
• Solutions that explain the reasoning, not just the answer. Look for solutions that name the inference in a reading passage, the step in a maths problem or the transformation rule in an abstract reasoning item.
• Coverage across every component the child will sit. A bank that skips Written Expression leaves one of the four named parts unprepared. ACER publishes the component names but not their weighting, and schools choose from a range of test packages, so confirm which components your target school's paper includes.
• Access through to the sitting. Confirm the access window covers the run-up to the scheduled ACER date.

Official sample materials from ACER, our free IGNITE sample questions and IGNITE vocabulary list, and a structured weekly routine are enough for most families. A paid bank is a supplement, not a substitute for reviewing every mistake.

How should writing and abstract-reasoning practice fit in?

Written Expression responds to deliberate practice but is often neglected at home. One timed write of 25 to 30 minutes per week, marked against a clear rubric covering ideas, organisation, language and conventions, is the habit we recommend before adding volume. Plan first: five minutes of planning produces a stronger piece than the same time spent writing without one. Alternate weeks between creative and discursive forms, since neither child nor parent knows which the paper will set.

Abstract Reasoning rewards methodical practice with rotation, reflection, sequence and matrix puzzles. Classroom work does not teach those patterns directly — and Abstract Reasoning is the component Year 6 families most often under-practise before the first mock (aset-mistake-bank; our observation from mock reviews, not an ACER statistic). Two 25-minute timed drill sessions a week in the component-practice phase, plus one mixed-pattern session, is a workable home cadence. When marking, ask your child to name the rule for every item, right or wrong, because only a named rule generalises to the next item.

This week: open your nominated school's IGNITE page to confirm the paper, print our IGNITE sample questions or the matching ACER sample, and sit one timed diagnostic with a same-day review block. Pair this page with the IGNITE schools guide if the campus is still open, with our IGNITE assessment format guide for what each component measures, and with our IGNITE preparation strategies for the week-by-week build. A structured IGNITE preparation course can run that schedule end to end after the official-first framing; it is optional, and it is not a substitute for school pages or ACER samples.