1-on-1 versus group tutoring
The first decision most families face is whether to pursue 1-on-1 tutoring or group tutoring. Both have real advantages and the right choice depends on the student.
Every session is focused entirely on one student. Questions get addressed in the moment and the pace adjusts to where the student actually is.
- Students who need a concept explained multiple times before it clicks
- Students who are reserved or uncomfortable asking questions in front of others
- Students with uneven strengths across subjects
A tutor works through content with a class of students, typically following a fixed curriculum at a set pace.
- Students who are quick to grasp new concepts and do not need extended explanation
- Students who benefit from peer learning or a structured class environment
- Generally more affordable than 1-on-1
- Often comes with more pre-prepared resources and practice material
The key caveat on group tutoring is class size. The smaller the group, the more personalised the attention each student gets. For exam-specific preparation, two to four students is a meaningfully more effective range than a full class.
The exam is completed online, which means the format students practise in matters. In-person group tutoring does not fully replicate sitting a timed online exam. Students who practise in the actual format they will encounter on exam day tend to be less disoriented when it counts.
Start with concepts, then move to trial tests
"A student who does not understand how to approach a Thinking Skills question will answer it incorrectly. Repeating this does not build understanding. It builds the habit of getting it wrong."
The most common preparation mistake is doing practice papers before a student understands the underlying concepts.
A student who does not understand how to approach a Thinking Skills question will answer it incorrectly. If they then do another practice paper with the same question type, they will answer it incorrectly again. Repeating this does not build understanding. It builds the habit of getting it wrong. By the time a student arrives at the exam, they have practised the mistake dozens of times.
The right sequence is: learn the concept first, then apply it through practice. Once the concept is understood, timed practice papers serve their purpose: building speed, building confidence, and simulating exam conditions.
The only exception is if the exam is genuinely imminent and there is almost no time left. In that situation, working through practice papers to become familiar with the format is better than nothing. But the ideal is not to reach that point.
Resources: what to use and what to avoid
The quality of preparation materials varies significantly. Using the wrong resources wastes time and, worse, teaches students incorrect approaches.
The most reliable starting point is the sample questions and practice tests published by the NSW Department of Education. These are the most accurate representation of what the exam looks like in terms of question format, difficulty, and style.
Attempt them properly the first time: under timed conditions, without looking up answers mid-way. Working through the same questions a second or third time is not useful preparation. Students remember the specific wording and the answer rather than developing the underlying skill.
For additional practice, look for resources aligned to the current online exam format. The Selective exam was redesigned and moved online in recent years. Books written for the old paper-based format, including some still being sold today, do not reflect how the current exam works. If a resource was written before the online transition, treat it with caution.
The current exam is set by Cambridge Assessment. Materials designed for the Cambridge format are more likely to be relevant than generic selective exam books.
There has been a flood of websites and online platforms claiming to offer selective exam preparation. Some are genuinely useful. Many are not. A common pattern is AI-generated questions that look plausible on the surface but do not reflect the actual structure, difficulty or question types of the exam. Students who spend significant time on these platforms may feel like they are preparing effectively while actually practising for a different exam altogether.
The clearest signal of a quality resource is whether students who have actually sat the recent exam recognise the format and difficulty. Tutors with current students in the system have the best read on which platforms are genuinely aligned with what appears in the exam.
When in doubt, the Department of Education's own materials are the safest benchmark.
Use rankings, not raw scores
In the months before the exam, many students complete weekly or fortnightly trial tests through programs or tutoring providers. This is valuable. The exposure to exam-format questions and the experience of working under timed conditions is genuinely useful.
The number to pay attention to is not the raw score. It is the ranking.
A raw score of 15 out of 25 in Writing might seem low. But if the average across 100 students sitting the same test that week is 10 out of 25, a score of 15 places a student in a strong position relative to the cohort. A raw score of 20 might look excellent, but if the test was easy and most students scored similarly, it tells you less than you think.
The difficulty of trial tests varies between providers and between weeks. A ranking tells you where a student sits relative to other students preparing for the same exam. That is the only comparison that matters.
If a student is aiming for a highly competitive school, a useful benchmark is whether they are consistently placing in the top 10 to 15 percent across the trial test cohort. If they are, they are in a competitive position. If they are consistently in the middle or lower half, the preparation plan needs to change. Either the work being done, the time being spent, or the school preferences being considered.
The Selective Horizon program
Bing's Academy runs the Selective Horizon program from February to April each year. It is a free 10-week trial test program for Year 6 students. 250 places available.
Bing's Academy runs the Selective Horizon program from February to April each year. It is a free 10-week trial test program for Year 6 students preparing for the May Selective exam. Students sit all four sections of the exam each week and receive gender-segmented rankings after each test.
The 2027 program runs from 12 February to 18 April. There are 250 places available. For students who are serious about using weekly trial tests as part of their preparation, this is the most structured way to do it. See the Selective Horizon page for details.
Consistent preparation over cramming
"A student who learns something new each week and practises it consistently retains it. A student who covers the same ground in a shorter period often finds the earlier concepts have faded by the time the exam arrives."
The Selective exam cannot be crammed for effectively. The question variety across Reading, Mathematical Reasoning, Thinking Skills and Writing is too broad to master in a month, even with intensive study. Students who arrive at the exam having prepared consistently over 12 to 18 months are in a fundamentally different position from students who have prepared intensively for 4 to 6 weeks.
This is the snowball effect. A student who learns something new each week and practises it consistently retains it. A student who covers the same ground in a shorter period often finds the earlier concepts have faded by the time the exam arrives.
A few practical points on what consistent preparation looks like:
A student who is strong in Mathematical Reasoning but weak in Reading is not well served by spending equal time on both. Broad practice without targeting known weaknesses means improving at what you are already good at while the gap in the weaker area stays the same. Use trial test rankings by section to identify where the most work is needed.
The writing section requires a typed response completed in 30 minutes. Many students underestimate how much practice typed, timed writing actually requires. Unlike multiple choice sections where pattern recognition can develop relatively quickly, writing requires sustained practice over months to improve meaningfully. Start it early.
A student who is exhausted or burnt out from over-preparation will not perform well on exam day regardless of how much they have covered. Consistent moderate effort over time is more effective than unsustainable intensity followed by burnout.
School preference strategy matters
Preparation is not only about getting the score up. It is also about making good decisions with whatever score a student achieves on the day.
Students can nominate up to three selective schools in order of preference. A student who has been consistently ranking in the top 20 to 25 percent across trial tests should not be listing only the three most competitive schools in the state as their preferences. A more considered list: one ambitious choice, one realistic choice, one safe choice. That gives a genuine chance of receiving at least one offer.
Using trial test rankings to calibrate which schools are realistic targets is one of the most practical things a family can do in the months before the exam. The OC result from Year 4 is also useful context. It gives a baseline for where a student sat relative to a competitive cohort two years earlier.
Preparing with Bing's Academy
John attended Penrith Selective High School after sitting the Selective exam in Year 6, and later transferred to Girraween High School through the HAST exam in Year 10 for Year 11 entry. He has been preparing students for the Selective exam since 2014 and has seen what consistent, targeted preparation does to outcomes compared to last-minute cramming.
At Bing's Academy, every student works 1-on-1. Every session is built around where that student actually is, not a fixed curriculum delivered to the group. We start with an assessment so we know exactly which sections and question types need the most work.
If you want to understand what preparation should look like for your child at their current level, get in touch. We are happy to have that conversation.
For a full breakdown of how the Selective exam works and what each section involves, see our NSW Selective exam preparation page.
John 'Bing' Huang
Founder, Bing's Academy