After months of preparation, the wait for results is the hardest part. Here’s what to expect — and a reminder to confirm the exact date on the NSW Department of Education website, since it’s set fresh each year.
The general timing
Results and placement outcomes for the Year 6 Selective test are generally released around the middle of the year. We won’t quote a precise date, because the Department (DoE) confirms it annually and it can shift. Watch for their official announcement rather than relying on last year’s date.
Reading the performance report
This is where many parents get tripped up. The report does not contain a raw score or a precise rank. Instead it uses relative bands — describing roughly where your child sits compared with everyone who sat the test (broadly the top 10%, the next 15%, the next 25%, and the lowest 50%). There are no published cut-offs to compare against. We unpack this fully in how selective placement works.
The takeaway: read the report as a picture of relative performance, not a school mark. A band tells you how competitive the result was — not a percentage out of 100.
If an offer doesn’t come
A first-round miss is not the end of the road. Reserve lists and withdrawals can open places later in the process, so keep an eye on the Department’s updates. And it’s worth holding perspective: a strong local high school can be every bit as good a path. The test is one data point in a long education, not a verdict on a child.
Whatever the result
However it lands, the skills built along the way — reading, reasoning, writing under time — carry well beyond this one test. If your family is weighing next steps or future siblings, our guide on how placement works and our selective practice tests are good places to start.