ACER Scholarship

Overview

The ACER Scholarship Tests are a set of academic ability tests developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and used by around 250 independent schools across Australia to help select students for academic scholarships. There is no single, centralised "ACER exam": each participating school runs its own scholarship program, sets its own number of scholarships and selection criteria, and uses the ACER test as one input into that decision. Many schools that test on the same day take part in ACER's Cooperative Scholarship Testing Program, sitting a shared test and sharing the results with every school on a family's application list, so a child generally only needs to sit one test to apply to several cooperative-program schools in the same year.

Who can apply

Eligibility is set by each participating school, not by ACER, but the tests themselves are organised by year level and entry point:

• Primary (Level P) - for entry into Years 4 to 6, sat by children currently in the year below their entry year.

• Secondary Level 1 - for entry into Year 7 or Year 8.

• Secondary Level 2 - for entry into Year 9 or Year 10.

• Secondary Level 3 - for entry into Year 11 or Year 12.

A parent or carer creates an ACER parent account, adds the child's details, and then applies and pays separately for each school the family wants to be considered for. Any additional eligibility rules - such as current enrolment, residency, or academic record - are set by the individual school a family is applying to.

Exam pattern

For 2026, the components tested differ between the primary and secondary levels. Timings and question counts can vary slightly between year levels and between paper-based and online sittings; schools confirm the exact timing for their sitting.

Level P (Years 4-6 entry)

Secondary Levels 1-3 (Years 7-12 entry)

Multiple-choice sections (Humanities and Mathematics) carry no penalty for an incorrect answer, and Written Expression is marked separately as extended writing. Depending on the school, the test is sat on paper or online.

Marking and results

ACER reports results as percentile ranks for each component rather than raw scores or percentages: a percentile shows the proportion of the comparison group of test-takers that a student's score was equal to or better than. ACER marks the tests, scores the writing, and sends each school an Individual Test Report for every applicant; ACER itself does not decide who receives a scholarship. Each school then uses the test percentiles, alongside its own criteria such as interviews, references or past school reports, to make its own scholarship offers. Because every school's criteria and scholarship numbers differ, there is no fixed "pass mark" - some schools look for students above roughly the 90th percentile, while others consider a broader range of applicants.

Important dates

Dates are set by ACER's testing calendar and by each school, and vary by state and by whether a school sits on the shared Cooperative Scholarship Testing Program date or its own alternate date. As an example, for 2027-entry testing (confirmed for the 2026 sitting), the Cooperative program test date for Queensland, New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Victoria schools was a Saturday in late February 2026, with a separate Saturday date in early February 2026 for the South Australian cooperative program; applications for that cooperative round opened in September 2025 and closed in early February 2026. Each school publishes its own scholarship timeline - including its application opening and closing dates, test date, and results date - since Australian school scholarship programs typically test around the middle of the year before the intended year of entry. Families should confirm exact dates with each school and with ACER's own parent portal rather than assume one date applies everywhere.

Fees

For 2026, published secondary sources describe a cooperative-program test fee of roughly $129 to$164 paid to ACER, depending on the year level and whether an early-bird rate applies, plus a separate application fee charged directly by each school (commonly in the range of $50 to$150). A family applying to more than one school pays the school application fee separately for each school, even where the same single cooperative test result is shared between them. Fees change from year to year and by school, so the current amount should be confirmed with ACER and with each school before applying.

How to apply

1. Create a parent account on ACER's scholarship portal and add the child's details.

2. Decide which participating school or schools to apply to, and confirm each school's year level, scholarship criteria and closing date directly with the school.

3. Submit a separate scholarship application and registration fee for each school through the portal, selecting the correct test level for the child's intended year of entry.

4. Sit the test on the school's chosen date - either the shared Cooperative program date or the school's own alternate date - either on paper at a school test centre or online, as the school specifies.

5. Provide any additional documents a school asks for, such as past school reports or a scholarship application form, as part of that school's own process.

After the exam

ACER sends each school the applicant's Individual Test Report once marking is complete. Each school then runs its own selection process on top of the test result, which commonly includes an interview, a review of school reports or references, and consideration of the family's circumstances where a scholarship has a needs-based component. Results and outcomes are released on a date set by the school, or on a nominated date for schools in a cooperative program. A strong percentile result does not guarantee an offer, since the number of scholarships at each school is limited and the school's own criteria, not the ACER percentile alone, decide the outcome.

Preparation tips

• Treat practice sessions like the real test: timed, under test conditions, since each component runs to a tight time limit relative to the number of questions.

• For Humanities, practise reading unfamiliar stimulus material - articles, poems, cartoons, diagrams - closely, since questions are answered from the material given rather than from outside knowledge.

• For Mathematics, focus on multi-step problem-solving across number, measurement, geometry and statistics rather than memorising formulas, since the test emphasises reasoning over rote calculation.

• For Written Expression, practise planning and writing a complete, well-organised response to an unfamiliar topic within the time allowed.

• On multiple-choice sections there is no penalty for a wrong answer, so attempt every question rather than leaving any blank.

• Begin preparation well ahead of the test date rather than in the final few weeks, and confirm the exact level and format (paper or online) the target school has registered the child for.

FAQs