What do my child's performance bands mean?
Does top 10% mean my child got 90% right? No. The Department says the band shows where your child placed among everyone who sat that section, not the percentage of correct answers.
Selective performance report
Choose a band for each section
Your result
- Band's exact percentile range
Not an overall rank or a chance of a place. NSW gives bands, not scores, and decides places on scores it does not publish, with school choices and fair-access rules applied.
Questions people ask
Does top 10% mean my child got 90% right?
No. The Department says the band shows where your child placed among everyone who sat that section, not the percentage of correct answers. Top 10% for Reading means your child's result was in the top tenth of students who did that reading test.
Is lowest 50% a fail?
No. There is no pass or fail mark for any section. Half of all children are in the lowest 50% for every section, by definition.
Why can't I get my child's actual score?
The Department stopped releasing individual test scores and placement ranks. It says past score reporting affected student privacy and wellbeing and encouraged unhealthy competition. Parents receive the four bands instead.
Can a child get a selective offer without top 10% in writing?
Yes. Among 72 families with a 2027-entry Selective offer who shared their bands on Braintree's results board, about half reported top 10% for writing and the rest a lower band, including 8% in the lowest 50%. That is a self-selected sample, and it describes offer holders, not the chance for any band.
More free tools
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How we work this out
What it does
Use the section bands on the official 2027-entry performance report to see each section range.
The four bands on the NSW performance report (top 10%, next 15%, next 25% and lowest 50% of candidates) for each section of the Selective test (Reading, Mathematical Reasoning, Thinking Skills, Writing) and the OC test (the first three).
Method
- Each band is a rank among everyone who sat that section: top 10% is the 90th to 100th percentile, next 15% the 75th to 90th, next 25% the 50th to 75th and lowest 50% the 0 to 50th.
- For Selective, we count 2026-entry reports on PassPapers' public entry guide with exactly the same four bands, overall and at the school you choose. Rows that repeat exactly are kept, and shown separately, because they may be different children.
- We show how the bands of offer holders who reported on Braintree's 2027-entry board split in each section. That is the share of offer holders in each band, not the chance of an offer for a band.
Published figures
The test format these tools use
| Section | Answers | Time | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 38 (17 question groups) | 45 minutes | 25% |
| Mathematical Reasoning | 35 | 40 minutes | 25% |
| Thinking Skills | 40 | 40 minutes | 25% |
| Writing | One piece of writing | 30 minutes | 25% |
| Section | Answers | Time | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 33 (14 question groups) | 40 minutes | One third |
| Mathematical Reasoning | 35 | 40 minutes | One third |
| Thinking Skills | 30 | 30 minutes | One third |
Sources
Checked .
- NSW Department of Education: Selective High School Placement Test practice tests, Test format table
- NSW Department of Education: Opportunity Class Placement Test practice tests, Test format table
- NSW Department of Education: Outcomes: performance report, Performance report section (2026)