The writing task is one part of the NSW Selective High School Placement Test, sat in Year 6 for entry into a selective high school in Year 7. It is short but high-stakes: a single piece of writing that shows how well a student can think, structure ideas, and control language under time pressure. Here is exactly how it works and what markers reward.
The format: one task, about 30 minutes
Students get a single stimulus - an image, a quote, a short scenario, or an opening line - and write one response to it. The task usually names the text type to use, and it can be an unexpected one: recent tests have asked for a newspaper article, a diary entry, or a speech, not just a story or an essay. There is roughly 30 minutes to plan and write, and strong responses are typically around 300 to 400 words.
How the writing is marked
Markers score the quality of the ideas and how effectively the student writes for the purpose and audience, alongside their control of sentences, punctuation and spelling. In practice that means two things matter at once, and one cannot fully make up for the other:
- Content and style - original, relevant ideas; a clear structure with a beginning, middle and end; and precise, varied language that suits the audience.
- Mechanics - controlled sentence structure, accurate punctuation, and correct spelling, including more ambitious words.
Our practice tool marks each response out of 25 against these criteria and returns a band plus specific feedback, so students can see which of the two areas is holding their mark back. You can read more in our guide to the text types and our selective writing tips.
What a strong response looks like
High-scoring writing is not the longest or the most complicated. It is writing that takes the stimulus somewhere fresh, holds a clear structure, and reads smoothly. The best responses:
- answer the actual task and use the required text type well;
- open with a hook and end with a deliberate, satisfying finish;
- show one or two genuinely original ideas rather than clichés;
- vary sentence length and openings to control pace;
- make very few spelling or punctuation slips.
How to prepare
The single most effective preparation is regular, timed practice with honest feedback, across the full range of text types so an unexpected one on the day is not a shock. Practise planning quickly, writing to time, and reviewing what would lift the mark next time.
You can practise a free NSW Selective writing test here and get instant marking against the official criteria. For the genuine sample papers, the NSW Department of Education publishes official practice tests.