Train for HAST
with the test in sight. Excelerator.
HAST is used by many independent schools in NSW for selective-stream entry and scholarships in later year groups. The Excelerator is our term programme for students sitting HAST for re-entry: every component taught explicitly, a timed trial test every fortnight and writing marked every week. Jr. HAST for Years 6 and 7, Sr. HAST for Years 8 to 10.
HAST tests how your child thinks, not what they memorised.
The Higher Ability Selection Test is built by ACER and used by independent schools across New South Wales for entry into academically selective streams and for scholarship selection. It assesses five things: reading comprehension, written expression, mathematical reasoning, abstract reasoning and scientific reasoning. None of these can be revised from a textbook the week before. The Excelerator trains them as skills, with clear strategies, timed practice and feedback every week.
Wednesday covers the literacy and abstract side: reading comprehension, written expression and abstract reasoning. Friday covers the quantitative and scientific side: mathematical reasoning and scientific reasoning. A trial test every fortnight puts all of it under exam conditions, so your child practises the real thing five times across the term.
The four gaps we see every exam year.
Students sitting HAST for re-entry tend to lose marks in the same four places. The Excelerator is built to close them.
Reading Comprehension
Students who read fluently but miss inference, tone and author’s purpose. HAST passages are dense and the questions sit below the surface, so speed without depth scores poorly.
Written Expression
Strong ideas that collapse without structure. HAST rewards a clear line of thought in both discursive and creative responses, with controlled paragraphing and precise vocabulary.
Abstract Reasoning
Matrices, sequences and spatial patterns that look like nothing school teaches, because they are not taught at school. Pattern recognition is trainable, but only with regular exposure.
Maths & Scientific Reasoning
Students who can follow a method but stall when a question is unfamiliar. HAST asks them to interpret data, reason from evidence and apply maths in contexts they have not seen before.
Re-entry places are limited, and HAST rewards familiarity. Students who have met the question types many times walk in calm and keep their pace. The Excelerator gives your child that exposure in one focused term: a clear strategy for every component, a timed trial test every fortnight and marked writing every week.
Two classes. Every component covered. A trial test every fortnight.
One class on the literacy and abstract side, one on the quantitative side, and a trial test every two weeks to put it all under exam conditions. Each class is 60 minutes with a clear remit, running every week of the term.
Reading Comprehension, Written Expression & Abstract Reasoning
One hour on the three components that decide the literacy half of HAST. Reading is taught for depth, writing is marked every week, and abstract reasoning is drilled as a trainable skill rather than a mystery.
- Reading comprehension at depth, inference, synthesising ideas, tone and the subtle details in complex texts
- Dense unseen passages, fiction, non-fiction and persuasive texts under exam pacing
- Writing workshops, discursive and creative responses, organising ideas, controlling tone and style
- Marked writing every week, with model responses and improvement targets
- Abstract reasoning logic labs, matrices, sequences, rotations and spatial logic puzzles
- Multi-layered diagrams, the recurring patterns students learn to recognise on sight
Mathematical & Scientific Reasoning
One hour on the quantitative half of HAST. Not curriculum revision: reasoning with numbers, interpreting data and drawing conclusions from evidence in unfamiliar contexts.
- Multi-step problem-solving, questions that combine logic, quantities and data
- Number sense and estimation, the fluency that buys time in a timed paper
- Data interpretation, tables, graphs and the traps built into them
- Scientific reasoning, hypotheses, variables, controls and evidence
- Experiment analysis, reading a described investigation and reasoning from results
- Unfamiliar contexts, applying known maths and science ideas to problems students have never seen
Fortnightly Trial Test
One HAST-style trial test every two weeks, completed online on the Scholarly Learning Platform. The two classes teach the thinking. The trial test is where students practise it under exam conditions, until the format stops feeling like a test and starts feeling like routine.
- 5 trial tests, one every two weeks across the 11-week term
- HAST-style questions, built to the shape and difficulty of the real components
- Timed conditions, so pacing becomes a habit rather than a shock on test day
- Ranked results, every test scored and ranked against the wider Scholarly cohort
- Component breakdown, see which of the five areas moved and which need work
- Reviewed in class, common errors from each test picked up in the lessons that follow
Everything in. No upsells.
Two live classes a week, a trial test every fortnight, all materials, all feedback, all reports.
Top-ATAR graduate tutors
Every class taught live by tutors with elite academic records and specific training in ACER-style questions and HAST marking criteria.
Fortnightly trial test, 5 in the term
One HAST-style trial test every two weeks, timed and completed online. Every test is scored and ranked against the wider Scholarly cohort.
Marked writing every week
Written expression comes back annotated with specific coaching on structure, vocabulary and control, plus model responses to work from.
Progress reports with percentile rankings
See exactly where your child sits against the wider Scholarly cohort, component by component and trial test by trial test, so you know what is strong and what needs work.
Weekly homework with feedback
Practice sets matched to HAST formats, with worked explanations, tracked through the Scholarly Learning Platform so nothing quietly slips.
Catch-up recordings
Every class is recorded and available for two weeks afterwards, so a missed session or a tricky concept can be watched back.
7-day Success Coach support
Questions answered outside class time via WhatsApp, WeChat and Scholarly Ask, with a dedicated coach monitoring homework and progress.
What the week looks like
Weekly homework aligned with each class, tracked through the Scholarly Learning Platform. Recordings available for two weeks after every session. 7-day Success Coach support via WhatsApp and WeChat for questions outside class time.
One focused term, every HAST component.
22 live sessions and 5 trial tests across Term 1 2027. Two classes a week, one trial test every fortnight, 11 weeks, every component taught explicitly. Choose Jr. HAST for Years 6 and 7 or Sr. HAST for Years 8 to 10.
- 22 live online sessions (2 per week)
- Wednesday 5-6pm and Friday 5-6pm
- 5 fortnightly trial tests, scored and ranked
- All five HAST components covered explicitly
- Marked writing every week with model responses
- Weekly homework with detailed feedback
- Progress reports with percentile rankings
- Recordings available for two weeks after each class
- 7-day Success Coach support
Common Questions
Make the next HAST sitting count.
HAST rewards reasoning that has been trained, not guessed. Two classes a week across all five components, a trial test every fortnight and marked writing every week, across Term 1, 2027.