It’s the question every parent asks, and the honest answer is that “what score do you need?” is the wrong question. The NSW Selective test has no fixed pass mark and no cut-off score published by the Department of Education. Anyone quoting an exact number is guessing.
Why there’s no magic number
Selection is relative and competitive. Your child’s result is reported as a band that reflects how they performed compared with every other applicant across the state — not as a percentage you can target in advance. Because the threshold for any given school depends on how many people apply and how strong the field is, it effectively moves every year.
To give a sense of scale, roughly one in four applicants is offered a place. That’s competitive, but it also means a great many capable children apply, and small differences in performance can matter.
What to aim for instead
Rather than chasing a number, aim for balanced, reliable performance across all four sections. Each section counts for 25%, so a weak spot in writing or reading can pull down an otherwise strong result. Consistency under time pressure is what carries through.
How performance is reported
After the test, families receive a performance report showing relative bands — broadly, the top 10%, the next 15%, the next 25%, and the lowest 50%. There is no raw score or rank in it. We explain this in detail in how selective placement works and when results are released.
The practical takeaway
The most useful thing you can do is help your child practise in the real format and review every mistake honestly. Realistic selective practice tests with percentile feedback show where they actually stand against a comparable cohort — far more useful than a number nobody can confirm.