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QASMT or Brisbane State High: which pathway, and can you do both?

You can apply to both. They use different tests, different providers and different calendars, and neither restricts you from applying to the other. QASMT uses the Edutest and applications are made in Year 5. Brisbane State High uses ACER's HAST and lets you sit in Year 5 for conditional entry or Year 6 for direct entry.

The restriction people confuse this with is the one-application rule inside the Queensland Academies: you may apply to QASMT, QACI or QAHS, but only one of them, in a given year. That rule says nothing about Brisbane State High.

How do the two compare?

Different tests, different shapes, different amounts of information afterwards.

QASMTBrisbane State High
Test providerEdutestACER (HAST)
Apply inYear 5Year 5 (conditional) or Year 6 (direct)
Sections5: verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning, reading, maths, writing3 or 4: reading, maths reasoning, written expression, plus abstract reasoning at Year 6
Timed testing135 min in one sitting100 min (Year 5) or 140 min (Year 6)
DeliveryComputer-based at a test centrePaper, pencil and pen
Application fee$270 on-time, $300 late$420, once per year across categories
Extra stagesEngagement activity for shortlisted candidatesEnrolment interview for Year 5 conditional pathway
Test results to parentsNoNo
Feedback if unsuccessfulNoNo

The comparison above uses the Queensland Academies Year 7 enrolments page and the Brisbane State High Academic Selective Entry page, both checked 10 September 2026.

Does preparation transfer between them?

Partly. The reading and writing work transfers well. The reasoning work does not transfer cleanly at all, and the pacing transfers badly.

What carries across:

  • Wide reading, inference and comparison across short texts
  • Timed handwriting or typing under pressure
  • Calculator-free mental arithmetic
  • Answer-sheet discipline

What does not:

minutes. Those are different skills, and practising one at the other's length trains the wrong instinct.

and 25. A child drilled to a 30-minute rhythm will misjudge a 45-minute reading section.

name.

  • Writing length. Edutest gives 15 minutes with no planning time. HAST-P gives 30
  • Section timing. Edutest runs 30-minute sections throughout. HAST runs 45, 40, 30
  • Abstract reasoning. HAST at Year 6 includes it. Edutest has no section by that
  • Verbal reasoning. Edutest includes it as a full ability section. HAST does not.

So doing both is viable, but not by running one preparation program. Run the shared skills together and the format-specific drills separately in the final three months.

Do families actually attempt both?

Yes, families do both, and it is a rational thing to do. You get one year, or with luck two, to find out whether your child can get a place. Private schooling keeps getting more expensive and Brisbane keeps growing, which means the competition for the good public places keeps tightening. Under those conditions, sitting both papers is just using the attempts you have.

In practice the preparation overlaps heavily. There are differences between the two tests and they can be taught, but a child working seriously on reading, reasoning and timed writing is building for both at once. The extra work is format-specific and it sits in the last stretch.

The real cost is not the workload, and it surprises parents when we say it. It is the collision between two writing systems.

The structure we teach for these exams is pitched higher than most Year 5 or Year 6 classrooms, and it is closer to what the child will need in high school. Some primary schools already ask for writing at that level and accept the structure. Many do not. When they do not, a child is being asked to write one way at school and another way for the exam, and some children cannot hold both. They try to reconcile the two and end up doing neither well.

The children who come through this fine are the ones who accept early that these are simply two different jobs. This is how you write for the exam, that is how you write for school, and you are not required to make them agree. Once a student stops fighting that, the problem disappears. It is worth saying to them explicitly rather than assuming they will work it out.

Worth a sanity check before you commit to either paper: some children do not need the exam at all. Local catchment and programs such as instrumental music are separate pathways, and it is worth confirming which ones your family is eligible for before you spend a year preparing for a test.

Which one has the earlier deadline?

They alternate depending on which BSHS pathway you take, so map both calendars before you commit. For the most recent cycles:

September 2026

  • BSHS Year 7, 2028 (Year 5 cohort): test Wednesday 29 July 2026
  • QASMT Year 7, 2028: applications closed 4pm Friday 21 August 2026, test 5 to 6
  • BSHS Year 7, 2027 (Year 6 cohort): test Monday 27 April 2026

A Year 5 child in 2026 attempting both sat the BSHS test in late July and the QASMT test in early September, about six weeks apart. That is a tight but manageable window if the shared preparation was done early and the format-specific work was split across the two months between them.

Both cycles have now closed. Dates move each year, so build your plan from the schools' published timelines, not from these.

What do you find out afterwards?

From either school, almost nothing. This is the part families are least prepared for and it shapes how you should prepare.

Queensland Academies state that they do not distribute individual test results or parent reports and do not provide diagnostic information about a child's strengths or areas for growth. Brisbane State High states that there is no internal review of the Executive Principal's decision and that feedback will not be given on unsuccessful applications.

Neither school publishes a cut-off score. Queensland Academies publish no weighting between the Entrance Test, school reports and the engagement activity.

The practical consequence: if your child sits both and misses both, you will not learn which section let them down at either school, and you will be making the Year 6 decision blind. The only section-level picture of your child's performance is the one you build before the day, from properly marked practice.

What if we miss out?

Different second chances at each, and they are not equivalent.

At Brisbane State High, a Year 5 candidate who is unsuccessful can sit again in Year 6. That is the final opportunity for Year 7 entry through the academic stream.

At QASMT, an unsuccessful candidate may be placed in the merit pool, which keeps the application under consideration for vacancies right through to the end of Year 7. The Academies note that at all previous entry points, vacancies have arisen and merit pool applicants have been offered enrolment. While in the pool, you are prompted to supply updated reports and NAPLAN as they are released, so the application needs feeding.

Students who miss Year 7 entry to QASMT can also apply for Year 10 entry, which is open at all three Queensland Academies from Term 3 of Year 8.

A few structural differences worth weighing

Beyond the tests themselves:

Programme in Years 7 to 9 then the Diploma Programme in Years 10 to 12. Brisbane State High runs the Queensland curriculum.

making a commitment to that school, and there is no transfer process between campuses.

including participation in the Aspiring Minds program in Year 6. A QASMT offer does not work that way.

state this explicitly.

  • Curriculum. QASMT runs the International Baccalaureate exclusively, Middle Years
  • Commitment. Applying to a Queensland Academy is described by the Academies as
  • Conditions. A BSHS Year 5 conditional offer carries two years of conditions,
  • Siblings. Neither school offers automatic sibling entry. Queensland Academies

Where to next

pathways

side by side

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FAQ block for schema

Can my child apply to both QASMT and Brisbane State High? Yes. They are separate schools with separate applications. The one-application rule applies only within the three Queensland Academies.

Do QASMT and Brisbane State High use the same test? No. QASMT uses the Edutest and Brisbane State High uses ACER's Higher Ability Selection Test.

Which is more expensive to apply to? Brisbane State High, at $420 non-refundable, compared with $270 on-time for QASMT Year 7 entry.

Do either of them tell you your child's test results? No. Neither school distributes individual test results, and neither gives feedback on unsuccessful applications.

Can we sit both in the same year? Yes, subject to the published dates. In the 2028 cycle the two sittings fell about six weeks apart.

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Written by the teaching team at Practice Tests and Exams. We have taught Year 3 to 12 English and Year 3 to 6 maths in small group classes to our own syllabus since 2008, and prepare Queensland students for selective entry and scholarship exams.

Comparison built from the Queensland Academies Year 7 enrolments page and the Brisbane State High School Academic Selective Entry page, both checked 10 September 2026.