Free thinking skills practice test
Thinking Skills is the section most families find hardest to prepare for, because it isn't taught at school. This practice test is half the length of the real selective section at the same pace: 20 critical thinking and problem solving questions in 20 minutes, four options each, with a full explanation of every answer.
Selective Thinking Skills practice test
- Questions
- 20
- Time
- 20 min
- Calculator
- No
- ✓ 20 questions in 20 minutes: the same one-minute pace as the real section (40 questions in 40 minutes).
- ✓ Every question has four options and one correct answer.
- ✓ Critical thinking questions: answer from the information given, not from what you already know.
- ✓ No calculator. Use paper to sketch orders, tables and diagrams.
Free, no account needed. Your answers stay in your browser; we only save your score.
The real test
- Format
- Computer-based, on computers provided by the NSW Department of Education, held in May
- Thinking Skills (selective)
- 40 multiple-choice questions, four options each, 40 minutes
- Thinking Skills (opportunity class)
- 30 minutes in the OC placement test
- What it tests
- "General critical thinking and problem-solving abilities"; no previous knowledge is needed
Sources: NSW Department of Education: Selective High School Placement Test · NSW Department of Education: Selective high school practice tests. Practice questions written by EagleTeach tutors; not affiliated with any exam board.
The two halves of Thinking Skills
The department describes the section as testing general critical thinking and problem solving, with no previous knowledge needed. In practice the questions fall into two families, and this test mixes them as the real one does.
- ✓ Critical thinking: spotting a flaw, an assumption, what must be true, and what strengthens or weakens an argument
- ✓ Problem solving: ordering from clues, codes, logic puzzles, spatial reasoning and number puzzles
How to improve thinking skills
Critical thinking questions reward reading precisely: "must be true" is stricter than "could be true", and an answer can sound sensible yet not follow from the information. Go through each explanation and name the trap you fell for.
Problem solving questions get faster with a few habits: draw the order as a line, make a small table for logic puzzles, and test the options rather than solving from scratch when that's quicker.
FAQs
Is this an official thinking skills test?＋
No. The questions were written by EagleTeach tutors in the style of the NSW Thinking Skills section. The department publishes free official practice tests online, which are the best place to start.
How many questions are in the real Thinking Skills test?＋
In the Selective High School Placement Test, 40 multiple-choice questions with four options in 40 minutes. The Opportunity Class test gives 30 minutes for Thinking Skills.
Can you prepare for thinking skills?＋
Yes. No knowledge is needed, but familiarity with the question types, careful reading and timed practice all help, and the critical thinking types in particular improve quickly once children learn what each question is really asking.
Is this test useful for the OC test too?＋
Yes, for practice. The OC Thinking Skills section is shorter (30 minutes) and aimed at younger children, but the question types are the same families.
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