The Elite Cognitive Upgrade: The Selective Test Thinking Skills Accelerator

With the May 2026 Selective Test on the horizon, the margin for error is zero. For high-achieving students, this is a critical period to build a decisive edge, but we know that schedules are tighter than ever. That’s why we created the upgraded Thinking Skills Accelerator: a flexible, elite programme designed for peak performance on your terms. This isn’t a live course with rigid timings; it’s a collection of 10 intensive, 30-minute on-demand masterclasses, each engineered to install the superior analytical frameworks needed for the most complex Selective Test questions. Your child can integrate these powerful lessons into their existing study routine, whenever it works best, turning potential downtime into a period of incredible growth.

Our Guiding Philosophy: Schemas, Not Tricks

Why do even the brightest students falter in the Thinking Skills exam? It’s because they encounter problems that fall outside their experience, and they lack the mental models (schemas) to categorise and attack these unfamiliar challenges. Our entire methodology is built on installing these schemas, moving beyond simple tricks to provide a lasting cognitive upgrade. We begin by eliminating the #1 enemy of performance: construct-irrelevant reading load. Many questions are intentionally buried in dense, academic text. We teach students to apply a Claim-Evidence-Warrant (CEW) parsing filter, allowing them to instantly identify the question’s core logical structure and ignore the distracting noise. This single skill saves critical time and mental energy.

The 10 Masterclasses: A Deep Dive into the Core Constructs

Our curriculum is organised around the five core thinking constructs the Selective Test examines. Each masterclass is a deep dive into one specific area, paired with a rigorous 40-question, distractor-aware homework assignment that turns common traps into triggers for the correct strategy.

Construct 1: Data Reasoning

• Masterclass: Advanced Graph Sense. Students master the percent-of-a-changing-whole schema, preventing errors when comparing percentages across different totals. They also learn to spot misleading visual representations.
• Masterclass: Data to Equations. We teach students how to translate complex multi-variable word problems and data tables into simple, solvable algebraic expressions, ensuring precision under pressure.

Construct 2: Argumentation

• Masterclass: Advanced CEW Parsing. This lesson focuses on deconstructing sophisticated arguments to instantly identify unstated assumptions, evaluate the strength of evidence, and pinpoint logical weaknesses.
• Masterclass: The Fallacy Lab. We build immunity to subtle logical fallacies often found in the Selective Test, including equivocation, circularity, and converse/inverse errors.

Construct 3: Spatial Logic

• Masterclass: Advanced Spatial Anchoring. To solve the most difficult 3D rotation and net problems, we teach feature anchoring—focusing on unique corners or T-junctions that remain invariant during rotation, making mirror-image distractors obvious.
• Masterclass: Complex Pattern Synthesis. Students learn to deconstruct multi-layered 2D grid and shape progressions, identifying the underlying rules of transformation to predict the next step in a complex sequence.

Construct 4: Constraint Logic

• Masterclass: Constraint Matrix Optimisation. For complex logic puzzles (like multi-variable seating arrangements), we teach students to use and optimise a scratch grid. This allows them to visually track multiple constraints and deduce the only correct solution with speed.
• Masterclass: Advanced Time & Windows. This lesson installs the schemas for interval intersection, essential for solving complex problems about overlapping schedules or conditional validity windows.

Construct 5: Sequential & Rate-Based Reasoning

• Masterclass: Directed-Path Optimisation. For complex map and network problems, we teach students to find the most efficient route by applying directed-path thinking, automatically accounting for multiple conditions and restrictions.
• Masterclass: Advanced Probability Reflexes. We automate the complement reflex for “at least one” probability questions (P(at least one) = 1 − P(none)) and introduce concepts of conditional probability.

The Ultimate Advantage: A Time-Based Strategy

Speed without accuracy is useless. Our system is designed for both. We teach a triage and timing protocol that empowers students to complete a 40-item paper in under 22 minutes on their first pass. This is achieved by:

1. Instantly solving questions for which they have a clear schema.
2. Parking the few truly novel or time-intensive problems.
3. Using the significant banked time to return to the parked questions with a clear mind and full confidence.

This is more than preparation; it is a fundamental upgrade to your child’s analytical engine. The Selective Test rewards cognitive efficiency, not just effort. Enrol in the upgraded Thinking Skills Accelerator today and equip your child with the schemas for success.