Trying to cover everything.
Even effort everywhere = small gains everywhere. The marks are in the 2–3 weakest areas.
Fix
Diagnose in week one, then drill those areas hard.
The families who get in usually aren't the ones who practise the most. They're the ones who know exactly what to work on. Answer 4 quick questions and we'll build a prep plan around your child, your timeline and your budget.
Build our prep plan →Question 1 of 4
Every Saturday–Sunday, Excela runs the ESAT — the Excela Selective Aptitude Test. One subject each week, rotating through Mathematical Reasoning, Thinking Skills, Reading and Writing, built to mirror the real computer-based NSW Selective Test experience. Sit it from home any time in the window.
Results Sunday 6pm: score, percentile against other candidates, and exactly which question types to work on next — feeding straight into your child's revision.
Free for every account, every week.
Invigilated trial sittings elsewhere cost from $40 each.
The next ESAT paper is announced during the week — sign up free and it appears on the dashboard.
Reserve a free seat →Every plan above ends in the same checklist. Here is how the three common ways of preparing actually compare against it.
| Prep books | Tutoring centre | Excela | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knows your child's weak question types | ✗ | Partly (crowded classes) | ✓ analytics per question type |
| Explains every wrong answer | ✗ answer keys only | Between lessons: ✗ | ✓ step-by-step + AI tutor on the spot |
| Marks writing with feedback | ✗ | ✓ (slow turnaround) | ✓ AI-marked against the NSW rubric |
| Matches the computer-based test | ✗ paper | Mostly paper worksheets | ✓ on-screen, same format |
| Weekly full timed trial test | ✗ | Sometimes, extra cost | ✓ free ESAT every weekend, ranked |
| Parent visibility | You mark it | Termly reports | Weekly report email, live dashboard |
| Cost | $20–60/book | $700–$1,700/term | Free to start · from $19/wk |
Every plan above ends with the same advice: pick prep that teaches, explains, marks writing, matches the real on-screen format, and shows you progress. Excela's free tier exists so you can verify all five before paying anything:
No card. If it doesn't clear the bar, you've lost nothing.
Start free →Skipped the quiz? Every plan is here. Most families recognise themselves in one of them.
Trying to cover everything.
Even effort everywhere = small gains everywhere. The marks are in the 2–3 weakest areas.
Diagnose in week one, then drill those areas hard.
Paper after paper, no review.
Feels productive; the same question types keep going wrong.
Every wrong answer gets a “why” — that review is where the marks come from.
Never sitting the full test length.
Stamina and pacing fail on the day.
One full timed trial test every weekend from now until the test.
diagnostic — Excela's analytics map strengths by subject and question type from real attempts
30–45 min drilling the flagged weak areas; Smart Review re-serves what keeps going wrong
one timed trial test. The ESAT runs every Saturday–Sunday and is free — including the percentile ranking against other candidates.
review every mistake together using the step-by-step solutions
a diagnostic in week one
practice targeted at weak areas, not everything
a full timed trial test weekly
explanations on every question
Cramming the week into one long session.
Little sticks; your child learns to dread it.
20 focused minutes most days beats 2 hours on Sunday.
Paying for classes your child keeps missing.
The class moves on without them; the fees don't come back.
Self-paced prep with no fixed times to miss.
Finding out about weak areas too late.
Most parents can't name the exact question types their child is losing marks on.
A 10-minute weekly check that shows you.
20 min of Today's Tasks — the platform decides what to work on, any device, whenever it fits
the free ESAT trial test replaces the class your week couldn't fit — sit it any time between Saturday 8am and Sunday 5pm
the parent report lands in your inbox — weak areas, progress, what's next, in one scan
no fixed class times
works in short sessions on any device
shows parents the weak areas without a meeting
teaching quality that matches structured tuition
Buying volume with no teaching layer.
Cheap packs and books repeat the same mistakes onto test day — and they're on paper while the real test is on a computer.
Materials that teach, explain every answer, and match the on-screen format.
Becoming the unpaid tutor at 9pm.
Marking writing, re-learning Year 6 maths — most parents burn out and prep stalls with them.
Let the platform do the tutor's job — explanations, writing feedback, a clear next step.
Equating spend with results.
Some families spend $1,700 a term out of guilt; others get there on a fraction.
Judge any option on teaching, feedback and analytics per dollar — at a price you can hold for a full year.
Start with the free NSW Department of Education sample papers for format familiarity — then keep going when they run out (there are only a handful)
30–45 min on Excela's free tier — it's genuinely free to start
the ESAT — a free ranked trial test every week. The most expensive parts of prep elsewhere (trial sittings, writing marking, diagnostics) are the free parts here.
Tutoring centre: $700–$1,700/term
Private tutor: $60–$120/hr
Invigilated trial sittings elsewhere: from ~$40 each
Excela: free to start, then from $19/week — with a free ranked trial test every weekend
teaches foundations, not just questions
explanations on every answer
writing feedback (the hardest thing to self-mark)
matches the computer-based test
a cost you can sustain all year
Making the test the only thing that matters.
Everything-rides-on-this children show less than they know.
Lower the stakes at home; treat it as one good path among several.
Jumping straight into full timed trials.
For an anxious child this just confirms tests are scary.
Untimed first, timer added in small steps.
Reacting to every bad score.
A sigh after a rough quiz teaches that mistakes are dangerous — the exact belief behind the nerves.
Track progress over weeks; praise the trend.
short untimed practice where mistakes stay private — hints and explanations on the spot, nobody else sees the score
Add the timer gradually once accuracy is solid
the weekend ESAT — the same format as the real test, sat from home, zero stakes. Ranking only appears in the results, and only your family sees it. Each sitting makes the real day feel more normal.
Watch the trend line in the analytics, not single scores
practice where mistakes are private
untimed-first, timer added slowly
small visible wins weekly
realistic test rehearsal before the day that counts
No single path is required. Consistency and targeted review matter more than the format the preparation comes in — a child who reviews every mistake for twenty minutes a day is usually ahead of one who sits in a class and never revisits the errors. Many families combine a couple of approaches, and plenty prepare without a tutoring centre at all.
It ranges enormously. Books and past-paper packs run about $20–$60 each, tutoring centres commonly charge $700–$1,700 a term, and private tutors sit around $60–$120 an hour. There are genuinely free options too — the NSW Department of Education publishes sample papers, and Excela's free tier includes practice, trial tests and writing feedback with no card.
They're the best possible starting point for format familiarity, and every family should use them. The limits are that only a handful exist and they come with no teaching layer — an answer key tells you what was wrong but not why, and nothing marks your child's writing. Plan what comes after them before you run out.
Light exposure from around Year 4 is plenty — short, enjoyable sessions building reading and number confidence. Structured preparation usually makes sense from about twelve months out. Starting later is still workable, but it has to be targeted: diagnose the weak areas first and spend the remaining time there rather than trying to cover everything.
The ESAT is the Excela Selective Aptitude Test — Excela's own free trial test, run every weekend. One subject each week, sat from home in a timed window, with a score, a percentile against other candidates and full worked solutions released afterwards. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the NSW Department of Education or the Selective High School Placement Test.
Thinking Skills is the usual answer, and the reason is simple: it isn't taught at school, so it's the one section where a strong classroom student can arrive with no preparation at all. It is consistently the lowest-scoring section across our platform's trial test averages. The good news is that it responds quickly to targeted practice because the question types repeat.
The ESAT (Excela Selective Aptitude Test) is Excela's own practice test. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the NSW Department of Education or the Selective High School Placement Test. This guide is general information, not a guarantee of selective entry.