Year 6 Victoria Scholarship Accelerator
An essential introduction to private school scholarship exams.
Melbourne scholarship exams are run by three providers: EduTest, AAS and ACER, and every school runs its own sitting. This course prepares Year 6 students for the February 2027 exam window and Year 7 entry in 2028, covering all three formats plus school-specific papers.
Dates already confirmed for 2028 entry: PLC Sat 30 Jan, Ivanhoe Girls’ Sun 7 Feb, Genazzano Fri 12 Feb, Caulfield and Loreto Ballarat Sat 13 Feb, St Kevin’s Sat 27 Feb. Wesley, MLC, Xavier, Carey, Fintona, Camberwell Girls, Camberwell Grammar, Trinity and Huntingtower confirm their February dates over the coming months. A few schools have already tested for 2028 entry during 2026: Haileybury, Korowa, Ruyton, Scotch and Ivanhoe Grammar. We prepare for all three providers, with timed drills for each format.
EduTest
- One sitting per school, late January – February 2027, fee set by each school
- Online or paper, ~2.5–3 hours, no calculators
- Curriculum-aligned plus ability, mixes achievement and reasoning
- Five papers: verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning, reading comprehension, mathematics (~30 questions / 30 minutes each)
- One short 15-minute essay, one weak paragraph can sink it
- Used by Haileybury, Brighton Grammar, Carey, Caulfield, Wesley, MLC, St Catherine’s, Fintona, Camberwell Girls, Loreto Mandeville Hall, Trinity Kew, Loreto Ballarat and Toorak College
ACER
- One sitting per school, each on its own date (PLC Sat 30 Jan, St Kevin’s Sat 27 Feb 2027), results reported to that school only
- Paper-based, ~3 hours, no calculators
- Reasoning and critical thinking, deliberately not curriculum-based
- Written Expression: two 25-minute tasks, the heaviest writing load of any provider
- Humanities / comprehension: 40–45 questions in 40 minutes
- Mathematics: 32–36 questions in 40 minutes
- Used by PLC, Xavier, St Kevin’s, Huntingtower, Bialik and Ivanhoe Grammar. Each school sets its own application fee
| Exam | Schools | Test date (2028 entry) |
|---|---|---|
| EduTest One sitting per school · 13 schools | Haileybury (all campuses), Brighton Grammar, Carey Baptist Grammar, Caulfield Grammar, Wesley College, MLC, St Catherine’s, Fintona, Camberwell Girls Grammar, Loreto Mandeville Hall, Trinity Grammar Kew (academic and music), Loreto College Ballarat, Toorak College | Sat 13 Feb 2027 for Caulfield (applications close 3 Feb) and Loreto Ballarat (close 5 Feb). Wesley, MLC, Carey, Fintona, Camberwell Girls, St Catherine’s and Trinity test in February 2027, dates to be confirmed. Haileybury’s 2028-entry test already ran in June 2026. |
| AAS One sitting per school · 8 schools | Scotch College, Camberwell Grammar, Genazzano FCJ, Lauriston, Korowa, Sacré Cœur, Ballarat Clarendon, Ruyton | Fri 12 Feb 2027 for Genazzano (applications close 3 Feb). Camberwell Grammar, Lauriston and Sacré Cœur test in February 2027, dates to be confirmed. Korowa (Aug 2026), Ruyton (11 Oct 2026) and Scotch (17 Oct 2026) have already run their 2028-entry rounds. |
| ACER One sitting per school · 6 schools | PLC Melbourne, Xavier College, St Kevin’s College, Huntingtower, Bialik College, Ivanhoe Grammar | Sat 30 Jan 2027 PLC (applications close 20 Jan). Sat 27 Feb 2027 St Kevin’s (close 17 Feb). Xavier, Huntingtower and Bialik test in February 2027, dates to be confirmed. Ivanhoe Grammar tests 17 Oct 2026. Results go to that school only. |
| Confirm with school Provider not published · 5 schools | Melbourne Grammar, Kilvington Grammar, Mount Scopus, The King David School, Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar | Ivanhoe Girls’ tests Sun 7 Feb 2027 (applications close 29 Jan). Melbourne Grammar’s 2028-entry academic round has already closed. Kilvington opens applications in November 2026. Confirm the provider and date with each registrar. |
EduTest
AAS
ACER
Confirm with school
Heads up: Dates, fees and providers change every cycle. This table reflects what each school and provider had published as at October 2026 for 2028-entry rounds; always confirm directly with each school’s registrar before relying on a date. Want our full Melbourne scholarship calendar? We send it with every enrolment.
The Melbourne cycle for 2028 entry: most applications open in late 2026, deadlines close mid-January to mid-February 2027, and the exams land between late January and late February 2027. Here is the runway your Year 6 child is on.
Haileybury tested in June 2026, Korowa on 1 August, Ruyton on 11 October, and Scotch and Ivanhoe Grammar on 17 October 2026. If one of these is a target school, ask the registrar directly about remaining options.
Most schools open 2028 scholarship applications and publish exam dates between October and December 2026. Every provider runs one sitting per school, so list your target schools early and diarise each closing date.
Starting Wednesday 6 January. Two classes a week: Reading & Writing Mastery (Wednesday 7:00pm, Scholarly Learning Platform) and Scholarship Exam Prep (Saturday 11:30am, Zoom). 6 weeks covering EduTest, AAS and ACER formats.
The competitive schools’ windows close between mid-January and mid-February 2027 (PLC 20 Jan, Ivanhoe Girls’ 29 Jan, Caulfield 3 Feb, Genazzano 3 Feb, Loreto Ballarat 5 Feb, St Kevin’s 17 Feb), even though Year 7 doesn’t start until January 2028. Missing a deadline means missing the scholarship entirely.
PLC Sat 30 Jan, Ivanhoe Girls’ Sun 7 Feb, Genazzano Fri 12 Feb, Caulfield and Loreto Ballarat Sat 13 Feb, St Kevin’s Sat 27 Feb. Wesley, MLC, Xavier, Carey, Fintona, Camberwell Girls, Camberwell Grammar, Trinity, Huntingtower and Bialik also test in February 2027, dates to be confirmed. One sitting per school, and there is no resit.
Schools release results, shortlisted students are invited to interview, and offers for Year 7 2028 are issued from March through August 2027. This is where the interview preparation component of the course pays off.
Beyond the curriculum, it’s the support system, the technology, and the culture that set Scholarly apart from every other option.
2 sessions per week. Reading & Writing Mastery runs live on the Scholarly Learning Platform, and Scholarship Exam Prep runs live on Zoom.
Exam dates vary by school. Some students will sit their scholarship exams before the course concludes.
Year 6 Victoria Scholarship is a Hybrid Programme. Wednesday classes (Reading & Writing Mastery) are live on the Scholarly Learning Platform. Saturday classes (Scholarship Exam Prep) are live on Zoom.
Scholarship exams reward two different muscles: drilled reasoning under time pressure, and written expression with depth and control. We grow them in different rooms, one class for each, every week.
Every Victoria provider weights written expression heavily: ACER gives it two 25-minute tasks, AAS gives it a dedicated session, and EduTest’s 15-minute sprint is short enough that one weak paragraph can sink the score. This class runs the full length of the term, built around a genuine novel study rather than isolated exercises.
- A Genuine Novel Study A full read and study of a real, well-loved book this term, chosen for its themes and craft, not excerpts
- Building a Specific, Evidence-Backed Argument Students construct arguments about how the book uses a symbol or character to make its point, not vague generalisations
- Comprehension under timed conditions Reading strategies and speed for ACER-style and EduTest-style passages
- Narrative, persuasive & expository structures Vocabulary, inference and tone, built through weekly marked writing tasks
- ACER-style 40-minute extended responses and EduTest 15-minute sprints, both trained explicitly, with detailed feedback every week
Students walk into the writing component of any Victoria scholarship paper with a tested frame and a confident voice, whether the prompt gives them 15 minutes or 40.
Provider-aligned drills, timing and strategy across every reasoning paper. This is the class that makes EduTest, ACER and AAS question shapes feel familiar before test day.
- Verbal & Numerical Reasoning (EduTest / AAS)
- Reading & Viewing strategies (ACER) and Comprehension (EduTest)
- Mathematics, curriculum-plus and speed
- Higher-order thinking / problem solving (ACER)
- Mock papers in the final weeks, marked and reviewed
Students recognise every Victoria question shape before test day, EduTest’s five sections, ACER’s extended responses, AAS’s two-session battery, and apply drilled reasoning routines under time pressure.
Scholarship offers are finalised at interview, and most Year 6 students have never done one. We provide guidance on interview skills, helping students confidently express their values and experiences during scholarship interviews.
- Communicating personal values and experiences effectively and naturally
- Developing articulation and maturity in responses
- Common interview questions and how top schools structure their interviews
- Presentation and confidence, first impressions, body language, conversation flow
Students who reach the shortlist stage walk into the interview room prepared, articulate, and confident.
- Reading & Writing Mastery, Wednesday 7:00 – 8:00pm (Scholarly Learning Platform)
- Scholarship Exam Prep, Saturday 11:30am – 12:30pm (Zoom)
- Exam format mastery, EduTest, ACER & AAS structures
- Abstract & verbal reasoning development
- Narrative & persuasive writing proficiency
- Reading comprehension & exam strategies
- Interview preparation for shortlisted students
- Weekly homework with detailed feedback
- 7-day Success Coach support
Every scholarship season, the WhatsApp and WeChat messages arrive from Scholarly families across Australia: Sydney Grammar, King’s, Shore, Knox, Reddam, Trinity and more. The same preparation system now comes to Victoria families. A few messages below, shared with permission, names blurred for privacy.
Messages shared with parent permission. Student names removed for privacy.
One February window decides it. Most Melbourne scholarship exams land between late January and late February 2027, one sitting per school, and the reasoning and writing they test cannot be crammed. 6 weeks in Term 1 starting Wednesday 6 January, two live classes a week, on the Scholarly Learning Platform and Zoom.
Enrol for Term 1 Book a Free Trial Class