A guide for parents
If your child is in Year 3 or Year 4 in NSW, you may have heard other parents talking about the OC test. OC stands for Opportunity Class.
Opportunity classes are for high potential and gifted students in Years 5 and 6. They are held in selected NSW public primary schools. Children apply before Year 5 and sit the Opportunity Class Placement Test while they are in Year 4. This guide explains how it works in simple terms.
Parents normally apply when their child is at the end of Year 3 or the beginning of Year 4. The child then sits the OC test in Year 4 for a place starting in Year 5.
You do not have to choose a school in your local enrolment area. Families can choose up to 4 opportunity classes and list them in order of preference. Only choose schools that you would genuinely be happy for your child to attend.
| Step | When |
|---|---|
| Applications | November to February |
| OC test | Early May, while your child is in Year 4 |
| Results | September, while your child is in Year 4 |
For Year 5 entry in 2027, the OC test was held on 8 and 9 May 2026. Each child only sat the test on one of those days. The make-up test was held on 22 May 2026. OC placement outcomes were released on 9 September 2026.
These dates change each year, so always check the NSW Department of Education website for the current dates.
The OC test has 3 sections.
The Reading test checks how well your child understands different types of writing. This can include fiction, non-fiction, poetry, magazine articles and reports. It is not just about finding a sentence in the passage. Children may need to work out:
This section checks how well your child can use maths to solve problems. It is not only about doing calculations quickly. A child may know how to add, multiply or work with fractions but still find these questions difficult if they are not used to deciding what maths to use.
Calculators are not allowed. Children can use paper for working out.
Thinking Skills tests problem solving and critical thinking. Children may need to:
This section can feel unusual at first because children do not always see these types of questions in normal school work.
No. There is no writing section in the Opportunity Class Placement Test. This is one important difference between the OC test and the Selective High School Placement Test. The selective high school test has a writing section. The OC test does not.
The OC test is computer based. Children sit the test at a test centre, usually at a school. The Department provides what they need to sit the test. Children read the questions on the screen and select their answers on the computer. There are short breaks between test sections.
It is worth making sure your child is comfortable reading longer passages on a screen and moving through computer based questions before test day.
Yes. The NSW Department of Education provides free official OC practice tests. There are online computer based practice tests as well as PDF versions. These are useful because they show your child the types of questions and the way the test works. The practice questions are not the questions your child will receive in the real test.
There is no set mark that guarantees an OC place. Offers depend on:
Different schools can therefore need different levels of test performance. The Department does not publish a minimum entry score because it can change from year to year.
Yes. You can choose up to 4 opportunity classes. Put the school you want most as your first choice. If your child's test performance is high enough for more than one of your choices, the offer will come from the higher preference. So do not put a school first because you think it might be easier to get into. Put your schools in the order you actually prefer them.
The NSW Department of Education also uses an Equity Placement Model. Up to 20 percent of places at each opportunity class can be made available for high potential and gifted students from these groups:
Students still need to sit the OC test. Offers are still based on their test performance. There is no separate application for an equity place. Eligible students are considered through the normal application process.
From the 2027 intake, the Department also introduced gender parity for coeducational opportunity classes. This means an equal number of places are made available for girls and boys.
For example, if an opportunity class has 15 Year 5 places, 7 places are allocated for girls and 7 for boys. The remaining place is offered based on academic merit regardless of gender. If all places for one gender are not filled, the remaining places can be offered to students of the other gender who qualify.
No. The Department does not give parents an individual test score or placement rank. Instead, when results are released, you can see a performance report in the application dashboard. For each test section, it shows whether your child performed in:
This is a comparison with the other children who sat the test. For example, being in the top 10 percent for Reading does not mean your child scored 90 percent. It means their Reading performance was in the top 10 percent of students who sat that test. There is also no pass or fail mark for each section.
No fixed cut-off score is published. You may see old OC scores discussed online, but the Department says there are no set minimum entry scores. The level needed for an offer changes because the number of applicants, their results and the number of places change. Past results can therefore give a misleading picture of what will happen in another year.
Good preparation should not just mean doing harder and harder test papers. Children need the skills underneath the questions.
Children should practise reading beyond the basic plot. They should learn to ask:
Children need to understand maths, not just remember methods. They should practise:
A child can be quick at calculations and still need work on mathematical reasoning.
Thinking Skills should be practised as a skill of its own. Children may not have been directly taught many of these question types at school. They can learn how to:
Children should also be comfortable:
The first time your child sees the computer format should not be test day.
At SelectiveCoach, we break the OC test into the skills behind the questions. If a child keeps getting a certain type of question wrong, we want to know why. It might be:
Once we know the missing skill, we can teach it directly. The aim is not simply to give children harder questions. The aim is to help them understand how to solve them.
The OC test is designed to be challenging. A child does not need to answer every question easily to be capable. Preparation should help a child become more confident with the skills and test format without making the whole experience stressful.
Before the OC test, check that you have:
Ask us where your child stands. See our OC and Selective preparation, or use the form below and tell us your child's year.
Checked on 21 September 2026 against the NSW Department of Education: What are selective high schools and opportunity classes, Placement test, Application process and Outcomes, Opportunity class practice tests and Selective high school practice tests, Using the application website and Fair access, Choosing your schools and Years 8 to 12 applications. Dates change every year. Always confirm the current ones with the department before you rely on them.
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