Here is the short version. Victoria has four selective entry high schools: Melbourne High School, The Mac.Robertson Girls' High School, Nossal High School, and Suzanne Cory High School. They are for academically high-achieving students in Years 9 to 12. Students sit a centralised entrance exam, run by ACER, in Year 8 for entry in Year 9. Around 1,000 places are offered each year. Entry is by competitive ranking, and there are no published cut-off scores.
Victoria's selective schools are among the most sought-after in the state, so parents naturally ask what score is needed. The honest answer is that no cut-off is published.
Below is how entry works, which schools there are, and how they compare. To estimate a result, use our Victorian selective calculator.
Key takeaways
- Victoria has four selective entry high schools.
- They are Melbourne High, Mac.Robertson, Nossal, and Suzanne Cory.
- Students sit the exam in Year 8, for entry in Year 9.
- The exam is run by ACER, and around 1,000 places are offered.
- Entry is by competitive ranking, with no published cut-offs.
- Melbourne High and Mac.Rob generally need the highest rankings.
The four selective entry schools
Victoria has four selective entry high schools, all government schools for academically high-achieving students in Years 9 to 12. Here they are.
| School | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Melbourne High School | Boys | South Yarra |
| The Mac.Robertson Girls' High School | Girls | Melbourne |
| Nossal High School | Co-educational | Berwick |
| Suzanne Cory High School | Co-educational | Werribee |
All four are government schools for Years 9 to 12. Entry is at Year 9.
How entry works
Entry is decided by one central exam, run by ACER (the Australian Council for Educational Research). Students sit it in Year 8, for entry into Year 9 the next year. The exam is held on one Saturday, usually in June, at test centres across Victoria.
Around 1,000 places are offered each year across the four schools, roughly 250 per school. Entry is by competitive ranking, so a child is measured against everyone else who sat the exam that year. A small number of places at Years 10 and 11 are managed directly by the schools, outside this central process.
The truth about cut-off scores
As in New South Wales, there are no published cut-off scores. Entry is a ranking, not a fixed pass mark, and the line shifts each year with the cohort and the difficulty of the paper.
So any exact score you see online is an estimate. The sensible aim is a strong, balanced result across all sections rather than a magic number. Students rank all four schools in order of preference, and are placed at the highest-ranked school where their result is competitive.
Want a rough idea of where a practice result sits?
Try the Victorian selective calculator →How the schools compare in demand
While there are no published cut-offs, the relative demand is known. Melbourne High and Mac.Robertson generally need the highest rankings, as the most sought-after schools. Nossal and Suzanne Cory may accept students from slightly lower percentiles.
The gaps can be small, and they shift year to year. A child aiming for any of the four needs a strong overall result, with balanced performance mattering more than excelling in one area alone.
It helps to hold the demand picture loosely, because it guides preferences without being a fixed hierarchy. Melbourne High (for boys) and Mac.Robertson (for girls) are generally the most sought-after and tend to need the highest rankings, while Nossal and Suzanne Cory, both co-educational, may accept students from a somewhat wider band, partly reflecting location and applicant patterns. But these differences are relative and modest, not fixed cut-offs: the exact score needed at any school shifts each year with the strength and size of the applicant pool, and the equity placement model means offers do not fall in a perfectly straight rank order. That has a practical consequence for how you preference the schools. Because one exam result feeds all four and you are placed at the highest-preference school where your result is competitive, the right strategy is to list the schools in your genuine order of preference, including the most competitive, since there is no penalty for aiming high, you are simply considered for your next choice with the same result if you miss. Balanced performance across the exam's sections matters more than a spike in one, because a weakness in any area drags the overall result under equal-style weighting. So prepare for an even, strong profile, preference all the schools you would genuinely attend in true order, and treat the demand rankings as a rough guide to competitiveness rather than a set of guaranteed thresholds. That approach makes the fullest use of a single result across all four schools.
What the exam covers
The ACER exam tests ability and reasoning, not memorised facts. It covers reading and verbal reasoning, maths and numerical reasoning, and writing, with one persuasive and one creative task. The content does not go beyond Year 8 level.
For a full breakdown of the exam and the process, see our Victorian selective entry test guide.
A note on John Monash Science School
One school often mentioned alongside these is John Monash Science School, a specialist science school. It is not one of the four selective entry high schools, and it has its own, separate entry process, with entry at Year 10 rather than Year 9.
If your child is interested in science and technology, it is worth a look. See our John Monash Science School guide for the details.
Common questions
What score do you need for Melbourne High?
No official cut-off is published, so there is no exact score to quote. Melbourne High is one of the most competitive Victorian selective schools, so a child needs a high ranking, with strong, balanced results across all sections.
What are the Victorian selective entry requirements?
Students sit a centralised ACER exam in Year 8 for entry in Year 9. Eligibility covers students at government, non-government, and home schools, with citizenship or visa criteria. Entry is by competitive ranking, with no published cut-offs.
How competitive is Mac.Robertson Girls' High School?
Very. Mac.Robertson generally needs one of the highest rankings among the four schools, alongside Melbourne High. A strong, balanced result across all sections is needed, and the exact line changes each year.
When do students sit the Victorian selective exam?
Students sit it in Year 8, usually on a single Saturday in June, for entry into Year 9 the following year. Applications typically open in March and close in April. Confirm exact dates with the Department.
How many selective places are there in Victoria?
Around 1,000 places are offered each year for Year 9 entry across the four schools, roughly 250 per school. There are far more applicants than places, so entry is competitive.
Is John Monash Science School a selective entry high school?
Not one of the four. It is a specialist science school with its own separate entry process and entry at Year 10, rather than the Year 9 central process used by the four selective entry high schools.
Estimate a Victorian selective result
Enter practice section results for a rough competitiveness guide. Free, and no signup.
Open the Victorian selective calculator →Related guides
This guide is general information for parents, not formal advice. The Victorian Department of Education and ACER set the rules, and details like dates and the selection categories can change. There are no published cut-off scores, so always confirm current details on the official Victorian selective entry pages. Reviewed by the ATARCalculators Editorial Team.