Free HAST Practice Questions (Primary Level)

HAST is the test most families meet with the least warning. A school asks for it, the letter names a date, and there is often nothing in the envelope that shows you what the questions actually look like. The quickest fix is to try a few. Below are free HAST-style practice questions at the Primary level, in Mathematical Reasoning and Abstract Reasoning. Tap a choice to grade it instantly and read the explanation — no account, no cost.

Mathematical Reasoning

The maths in HAST is less about calculation and more about choosing the right step. The numbers stay manageable; the work is deciding what to do with them. These two are typical of that: one shares a quantity in a ratio, the other takes a fraction of a fraction.

Abstract Reasoning

This is the section with no classroom equivalent. There's no content to revise — each question shows a pattern and asks what follows. Children who have never seen the format can lose time simply working out what is being asked, which is the main reason a few practice questions are worth more here than anywhere else.

What to notice while your child answers

The score across four questions tells you almost nothing. Where your child hesitates tells you quite a lot:

• Stuck on what the question wants. That's a format gap — more questions of the same type are the thing that helps.
• Understood the question, muddled the steps. That's a reasoning gap, and it's the ordinary business of maths at school. Talk it through, then try a similar one a few days later.
• Right answer, no idea why. Worth a second look. Ask them to explain it back to you; if they can't, the answer may not stick next time.

Four questions is a sample of question styles, not a measure of your child. Treat anything you notice as a starting point for conversation rather than a verdict.

About the Primary HAST

HAST — the Higher Ability Selection Test — is developed and administered by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), and more than 100 selective and independent schools around Australia use it for entry and scholarship decisions. The Primary level has up to four components — Reading Comprehension, Mathematical Reasoning, Abstract Reasoning and Writing, at 30 minutes each — which runs to about two hours of testing, but not every school uses all four.

Our HAST explainer sets out the full section-by-section breakdown, the other HAST levels, and which schools use it.

Check which components your school actually requires

This is the one piece of admin worth doing before any practice. Schools choose which HAST sections they use, arrange their own testing sessions (typically March to June), and decide how the result feeds into an offer — as an entry assessment, as part of a scholarship decision, or alongside an interview and school reports. Two families preparing for "the HAST" can therefore be preparing for quite different papers.

Ask the school which components your child sits, then aim your practice at those. ACER publishes test information on its HAST page, and the school's admissions office can confirm dates and registration deadlines.

Keep going

• A full free set. The free HAST practice test covers Reading Comprehension, Mathematical Reasoning and Abstract Reasoning with instant feedback — still no account.
• The whole picture. HAST explained walks through the levels, the sections, which schools use it, and how it differs from the ACER Scholarship Test.
• Working out which test you're facing. Year 7 scholarship tests: which one will your child sit? maps HAST, the ACER Scholarship Test and school-run exams against each other.

Steady beats intense here. Twenty minutes a few times a week, spread over a term, does more for familiarity and nerves than a long weekend of drilling ever will.