The selective Qld state high schools were only one in three make the cut
Queensland kids as young as six are taking up private tutoring to help prepare them for an education Hunger Games to gain entry into the state’s four prestigious selective schools.
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Children as young as six are being tutored years in advance to get them ready for an education Hunger Games to secure a spot in one of the state’s top schools.
New figures also reveal that just over a third of students who battle it out to get into one of the four prestigious selective schools actually make it through.
Of the almost 2500 children who sat for entrance exams at either the Queensland Academy for Science, Mathematics and Technology (QASMT), The Queensland Academy for Creative Industries (QACI) or the Queensland Academy for Health Sciences (QAHS) last year, only 700 secured places.
Parents shelled out $250 a pop for kids to sit the entrance examinations, with all fees non-refundable.
At QACI, only 174 places were available, while QAHS had just 179 spots and only 250 students made it into QASMT.
Meanwhile, Brisbane State High School – which the Department of Education does not consider a selective school, as it offersboth selective and catchment entry – offered just 124 out-of-catchment placements to the 524 Year 6 students who sat their competitive academic entrance exam in 2024.
Parents had to cough up a $420 non refundable processing fee for their child to be eligible for the exams.
A Queensland Department of Education said the money from entrance exam fees was used in a range of ways, including the administration of applications, including HR and advertising, purchasing and administrating of Edutest exams, purchasing the Customer RelationshipManagement (CRM) database platform and the input and extraction of data from the CRM.
Lee Excellence Education Academy founder and tutor E-Yong Lee said while the majority of his younger students were being tutored to not fall behind in their everyday learning, there were some children who were being prepped for vigorous high school exams from a young age.
“Parents typically become worried for high school towards the end of primary school, and request preparation for anything from NAPLAN, to entrance exams, to interview preparation,” he said.
“But some get worried from the moment their child enters primary school because they are waitlisted for private schools, with some waitlisted since birth, or if they have realised that they are not in an ideal catchment.”
Little Emily Paterson, 6, already gets regular tutoring. Her mum Jettie Fan said she hoped it would set her up the best possible start.
“She is a lot more confident in her schooling so we are really happy we did tutoring so early,” Ms Fan said.
“She mainly focuses on maths and English but I can imagine she will start to do NAPLAN exam preparation in the next year or so.”
Ms Fan said she knew of many families who were entering their children into tutoring early on.
“There is a big gap between primary school and high school so it will definitely give her the best preparation for that,” Ms Fan said.
Tutor Prabhjot Singh said he has helped many primary school students practice for high school entrance exams.
“My youngest student is in Year five and he will be sitting the high school entrance exam for QASMT,” Mr Singh said.
“I do definitely see more and more students coming in regarding competitive exams … their parents want the tutor to make sure their child can be prepared to sit an entrance exam.”
Australian Catholic University inclusive education expert Dr Matthew White warned parents not to put too much pressure on young kids in the lead-up to applying for schools with vigorous testing processes.
“Having those selective schools, it really does send that message that if you are gifted that you need to get into those schools, to get the opportunities that those schools provide,” he said.
“It is also a huge financial cost to parents to prepare their children to undertake the entrance exam. Lots of parents spend quite a lot of money on preparation,” he said.
He said rejection from a selective school could also be damaging to students’ mental wellbeing and self-confidence.
“There are going to be impacts, especially to their academic self-concept and to how they see themselves – those students do take a hit,” Dr White said.
Australian Tutoring Association CEO Mohan Dhall said coaching colleges designed to cater to students wanting to sit entrance exams can leave parents “vulnerable”.
“Every state wants to cater for kids and so the purpose of selective schools is to try and have academically gifted streams to cater for children,” he said.
“You have vulnerable parents because there are a limited number of places in a highly competitive system and businesses that present themselves as authorities for these exams.”
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