Free OC & Selective Past Papers (2021–2023) with Answers
Every official NSW past paper and sample test we have, in one place — 82 PDFs across OC and Selective, with answer keys and worked solutions. Direct download, no email, no account.
- 82
- PDF files
- 2021–2023
- past papers
- OC & Selective
- all subjects
- Free
- no sign-up needed
These materials are © NSW Department of Education. Provided for personal study use only — redistribution or commercial use is not permitted.
OC (Opportunity Class) Past Papers
OC (Opportunity Class) placement tests are held for Year 4 students entering Year 5. The exam covers three sections: Maths, Reading, and Thinking Skills. Every paper below comes with an answer key; the official sample tests also include worked solutions.
Maths
Mathematical reasoning, problem solving and numerical thinking for OC placement tests.
Reading
Reading comprehension, vocabulary and text analysis skills tested in the OC placement exam.
Thinking Skills
Logical reasoning, critical thinking and problem-solving skills assessed in OC placement tests.
Selective (SHS) Past Papers
Selective High School placement tests are held for Year 6 students entering Year 7. The exam covers Maths, Reading, Thinking Skills, and Writing. The Maths, Reading and Thinking Skills papers below come with an answer key, most with worked solutions. Writing is marked against a rubric rather than an answer key, so those are the prompts only.
Maths
Advanced mathematical reasoning and problem solving for Selective High School placement.
Past Papers
Reading
Comprehension and textual analysis for the Selective High School placement test.
Past Papers
Thinking Skills
Critical thinking, logical reasoning and abstract problem solving for Selective High School.
Past Papers
How to use past papers
- 1. Sit one cold, on paper, timed. Print a full paper, give your child the official time limit and mark it against the answer key. That first score is the baseline everything else is measured against.
- 2. Read the misses, not the mark. Group the wrong answers by what they were testing rather than by question number — three careless slips and three genuine gaps need completely different responses.
- 3. Then rehearse in the format the test actually uses. Since 2025 both the OC and the Selective placement tests are sat on a computer. A printed paper trains the thinking; it cannot train on-screen pacing, flagging questions, or working without margins.
Past papers FAQ
- How many official past papers are there?
- This page carries 82 PDF files: the 2021, 2022 and 2023 papers for OC (Maths, Reading, Thinking Skills) and for Selective (Maths, Reading, Thinking Skills, Writing), plus the sample tests published for each subject. Answer keys are included for every Maths, Reading and Thinking Skills paper; the Writing papers are prompt-only, since there is no single correct answer to key. Worked solutions are included wherever they were published alongside the paper.
- Are these the real exams?
- Yes — these are the materials published by the NSW Department of Education, reproduced here unchanged. MockStar did not write them and has not edited them. What a PDF cannot reproduce is the sitting itself: both the OC and the Selective test moved to computer-based delivery from 2025, so the paper gives you the questions but not the format.
- Can I print them?
- Yes, for your own child's study. These materials are © NSW Department of Education and are provided for personal study use only — redistribution or commercial use is not permitted.
- Why practise on a computer if the papers are PDFs?
- Because the real test is on screen. Since 2025 both placement tests are delivered by computer: sections are timed on screen, there is no margin to work in, and navigation between questions is done with a mouse. Past papers are the right way to meet the questions; a full-length computer-based mock is the way to rehearse the conditions.
Know where your child stands, not just what they got wrong
MockStar runs full-length OC and Selective mock tests in the same computer-based format as the real exam, marks them the moment they are submitted, and turns the misses into targeted practice.