Edutest vs ACER vs AAS — Exam Providers Explained for Parents

Mar 30, 20266 sections

Overview

A parent-friendly comparison of Australia's three major selective and scholarship exam providers: Edutest, ACER (Australian Council for Educational Research), and AAS (Academic Assessment Services). Covers exam formats, timing, which schools use each provider, and what to know before you start preparing.

Why This Matters

The biggest mistake parents make is treating all selective and scholarship exams as the same. They are not. Victoria alone uses three different providers — ACER, Edutest, and AAS — each with different formats, timing, question styles, and scoring. The same school can even use different providers at different year levels. For example, Melbourne High uses ACER for Year 9 entry but Edutest for Years 10 and 11. Understanding which provider your child's target school uses is the first step to effective preparation. Practising for the wrong format wastes time and builds the wrong habits.

ACER — Australian Council for Educational Research

ACER is an independent, not-for-profit research organisation and one of Australia's most established assessment bodies. It is best known in Victoria as the official administrator of the Year 9 Selective Entry High School exam for Melbourne High School, Mac.Robertson Girls' High School, Nossal High School, and Suzanne Cory High School. Beyond selective entry, ACER also runs scholarship tests used by around 250 independent schools nationally, and the HAST (Higher Ability Selection Test) for gifted and extension programs.

ACER Selective Entry Exam (Year 9)

• Reasoning — Reading: 50 questions, 35 minutes
• Reasoning — Mathematics: 35 questions, 30 minutes
• General Ability — Verbal: 60 questions, 30 minutes
• General Ability — Quantitative: 50 questions, 30 minutes
• Writing — Persuasive: 20 minutes
• Writing — Creative: 20 minutes
• Total venue time: ~4 hours (including breaks and admin)
• Paper-based, multiple choice + written tasks
• Content does not exceed Year 8 curriculum

ACER Scholarship Tests (Private Schools)

• Different format to the selective entry exam
• Typically includes Written Expression, Humanities, and Mathematics/Science
• Humanities: 40–45 MCQs; Mathematics/Science: 32–36 MCQs
• Results are often school-specific, not broadly transferable
• Schools set their own registration dates — usually February–March

Victorian Schools Using ACER

• Year 9 selective entry: Melbourne High, Mac.Robertson Girls', Nossal, Suzanne Cory
• Scholarships: Presbyterian Ladies' College, Penleigh and Essendon Grammar, Peninsula Grammar, Ivanhoe Grammar, Xavier College, Methodist Ladies' College, Bialik College, and many more

What Catches Students Off-Guard

• The selective entry exam is significantly longer than most scholarship tests (~4 hours at venue)
• The two-task writing section is easy to underprepare for — many students only practise one style
• Questions are designed so most students will not finish every section — this is intentional
• ACER scholarship results from one school often cannot be transferred to another

Edutest

Edutest is an independent testing organisation with a strong presence across Victorian private school scholarships and specialist school entry programs. It is the provider for JMSS (John Monash Science School) and EBS (Elizabeth Blackburn Sciences) entrance exams, and handles Year 10 and 11 entry for Victoria's four selective high schools. Edutest's format is distinctive: five tightly timed sections with separate verbal and numerical reasoning papers. The structure rewards speed and mental agility, and the writing task is notably shorter than ACER's.

Edutest Standard Scholarship Format

• Verbal Reasoning: 40–60 questions, 30 minutes
• Numerical Reasoning: 30–40 questions, 30 minutes
• Reading Comprehension: 25–35 questions, 30 minutes
• Mathematics: 25–35 questions, 30–45 minutes
• Written Expression: 1–2 tasks, 15–30 minutes
• Total duration: ~2.5–3 hours
• Multiple choice + written response
• No penalty for incorrect or unanswered questions

Abilities vs Achievement

• Abilities tests (Verbal Reasoning, Numerical Reasoning): estimate potential to learn, reason, and apply logic
• Achievement tests (Reading, Mathematics, Written Expression): measure what has been learned and how well it can be applied
• This split is unique to Edutest — ACER and AAS combine reasoning differently

Victorian Schools Using Edutest

• Selective/specialist: JMSS, EBS, plus Year 10/11 entry at Melbourne High, Mac.Robertson, Nossal, Suzanne Cory
• Scholarships: Caulfield Grammar, Wesley College, Carey Baptist Grammar, Brighton Grammar, Trinity Grammar, Methodist Ladies' College, Geelong Grammar, Camberwell Girls Grammar, and many more

What Catches Students Off-Guard

• The writing task can be as short as 15 minutes — brutally tight compared to ACER's 20-minute tasks
• Edutest expects most students to score around 50% — getting half right is normal, not a failure
• Many students will not finish sections — time management is the real skill being tested
• Edutest's result-transfer system lets one sitting be shared to multiple schools, but only if those schools participate in the same cycle

AAS — Academic Assessment Services

AAS (formerly Robert Allwell and Associates, now owned by Janison) has been operating since 1974 and specialises in school-level scholarship, placement, and gifted testing. Unlike ACER's government selective exam role, AAS works exclusively with individual independent schools to deliver customised assessments. AAS is the most flexible of the three providers. Schools can tailor the test to their needs, which means the exact format can vary between schools — even though they all use the same provider. This makes AAS the hardest provider to prepare for generically.

AAS Typical Format

• Reasoning and Problem Solving: 40–45 minutes, ~60 questions (combines verbal, figural, and numerical reasoning into one integrated section)
• Reading Comprehension: 40–50 minutes (fiction and non-fiction passages — literal, inferential, and critical analysis)
• Mathematics: 40–50 minutes (number, measurement, geometry, data, probability, and applied reasoning)
• Written Expression: 25–30 minutes (stimulus-based writing task)
• Total duration: ~170 minutes (~3 hours)
• Multiple choice (4–5 options per question) + written response

How AAS Differs

• Reasoning is combined into one section (verbal + figural + numerical) rather than split like Edutest
• Figural and spatial reasoning (visual patterns, matrix completion) features more prominently than in ACER or Edutest
• Tests can be delivered online or on paper, depending on the school
• AAS emphasises strategic thinking and applied reasoning over rote curriculum knowledge

Victorian Schools Using AAS

• Melbourne Girls Grammar, Camberwell Grammar, Firbank Grammar, Korowa Anglican Girls' School, Genazzano FCJ College, Ballarat Clarendon College, Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar, Lauriston Girls' School, Ruyton Girls' School, St Michael's Grammar, Trinity Grammar, and others

What Catches Students Off-Guard

• The format can differ between schools — do not assume every AAS exam is identical
• The integrated reasoning section is unfamiliar to students who have only practised split verbal/numerical papers
• AAS is usually encountered through the school's own scholarship page, not a central portal — easy to miss registration deadlines
• Figural reasoning (pattern sequences, matrices) is a section many students have never practised

Side-by-Side Comparison

Here is a quick comparison across the three providers to help you understand the key structural differences at a glance.

Exam Duration

• ACER Selective Entry: ~4 hours at venue (longest — includes breaks)
• Edutest Scholarship: ~2.5–3 hours
• AAS Scholarship: ~3 hours

Reasoning Structure

• ACER: Verbal and Quantitative as separate "General Ability" sections
• Edutest: Verbal Reasoning and Numerical Reasoning as separate "Abilities" papers
• AAS: Combined Reasoning and Problem Solving (verbal + figural + numerical in one section)

Writing Tasks

• ACER Selective: 2 tasks (persuasive + creative), 20 minutes each
• Edutest: 1–2 tasks, 15–30 minutes total (varies by school/year level)
• AAS: 1 stimulus-based task, 25–30 minutes

Primary Use in Victoria

• ACER: Year 9 selective entry (MHS, MGHS, Nossal, Suzanne Cory) + private school scholarships
• Edutest: Private school scholarships + Years 10/11 selective/specialist entry (JMSS, EBS, selective schools)
• AAS: Private school scholarships (especially girls' schools and grammar schools)

Tips for Parents

Start by confirming which provider your target school uses — check the school's admissions or scholarship page directly, as providers can change year to year. If your child is sitting exams for multiple schools, they may encounter more than one provider in the same cycle. Do not assume that preparation for one provider transfers perfectly to another. ACER's general ability sections require different skills than Edutest's verbal/numerical split, and AAS's integrated reasoning with figural components is its own discipline entirely. For private school scholarships, remember that the exam is usually only one part of the process. Interviews, school reports, NAPLAN results, and sometimes portfolios or auditions also factor into the decision. Finally, the most important thing you can do is start early. Six months of consistent, targeted preparation will always outperform a last-minute cram. Whichever provider your child faces, the fundamentals — reading widely, reasoning clearly, writing under time pressure — are universal.

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