A centralised selection process, handled by the Department of Education and Training, is used to select students for the following year to commence in year 9 in one of the four Selective Entry Schools: Melbourne High School, The Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School, Nossal High School in Berwick and Suzanne Cory High School in Werribee. 

Please note the Year 9 examination will be administered by an external company. Melbourne High School has no direct control or jurisdiction over the examination process and cannot intervene in any way.

​Students are selected based on their results in the year 9 entrance examination which is held in the year preceding enrolment.  For 2024 enrolment Melbourne High School will select 336 students to enter Year 9.  Approximately 1500 students sitting the entrance examination will have listed Melbourne High School as their first preference school.

Results of the examination are issued by the Department of Education and Training in September and the first round of places are offered at Melbourne High School.  Subsequent rounds offering places to successful students are made until all places have been filled.  This process continues until the end of the school year.

How to Apply for Year 9​

Students must be Australian or New Zealand citizens or hold a visa or ImmiCard.  Fee-paying international students enrolled in Victorian schools are not eligible to apply.  Melbourne High School cannot enrol international or temporary students.

Applications are open and are to be made online at:  https://vic.registration.selectiveentry.acer.org

The application portal can also be accessed through the selective entry website: https://selectiveentry.acer.org/vic 

Applications close on Friday 2 June 2023.

The entrance examination takes place on Saturday 15 July 2023 across multiple locations in Melbourne.

​Equity Consideration

​Equity consideration helps ensure that all candidates have access to the same opportunities.

Candidates are eligible for a place in the equity consideration category if they:

• have parents with either a Commonwealth Health Care Card or a Pension Card, and who qualify for income support benefits, (see Attachment 2 for an example) and/or

• identify as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person. 

Eligibility for the equity consideration category is verified at the application stage.

Order of Preference

Parents/carers must indicate which of the Selective Entry High Schools they would prefer their child to attend in the application.

Up to three school preferences can be listed; however, you may choose to only list one or two schools.

Parents/carers should only list schools they are prepared to accept and would like their child to attend. They should also consider factors such as distance from each school and how their child will travel to school.

The order of preferences is important. Applicants should place the most preferred school as number one. If a candidate qualifies for more than one school, they will only be offered the highest preference for which they qualify. 

Offers for one Selective Entry High School are not transferable to another Selective Entry High School.

Examination format

​The entrance examination is a written assessment, designed to test ability rather than achievement and will include a focus on higher order thinking skills.

The examination takes approximately three hours to complete and includes:

• Reasoning – Reading

•  Reasoning – Mathematics

•  General Ability – Verbal 

• General Ability – Quantitative 

• Writing

The examination will contain a series of tests including multiple choice questions and written tasks.

Reasoning tasks in Reading and Mathematics assess a student’s ability to use their life and academic knowledge and skills and apply them to problems and tasks using the information provided in the task.

General ability tasks assess a student’s ability to learn in each of the tested areas by allowing the student to demonstrate their higher order thinking and problem-solving skills.

Principal’s Discretionary Category

​The maximum number of students admitted into Melbourne High School and The Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School, Nossal High School and Suzanne Cory High School, combined must not exceed 4% of any one school’s Year 8 enrolment. 

The principal of each Selective Entry High School has the authority to offer up to 5% of places under the principal’s discretion category, provided this does not exceed the cap of students from any single school.  For 2024 enrolment at Melbourne High School, 17 places are reserved for entry in this category.

The Principal identifies from the examination results those candidates who meet the discretionary eligibility and invites them to submit an application under the principal’s discretion category.

Candidates score in the entrance examination is the major criteria and the Principal may consider factors such as twins, siblings of candidates or a pre-existing connection to the School.

An invitation to apply for a principal’s discretion category is not an offer of a place at the school.  Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed from the applications received and offers of a place are made to successful candidates by the School.

If a candidate accepts an offer at a Selective Entry High School and receives an offer to apply for principal’s discretion at a higher preference school, the candidate can retain the initial offer while the principal’s discretion process is undertaken.

Candidates wishing to respond to an invitation must use the MHS Application Form, provided in the invitational email.  Candidates handwrite a personal response outlining reasons for wanting to join the School.  Co-curricular involvement and achievements, leadership skills and community involvement should be documented. 

Individual compassionate factors that have had a long-term effect on a candidate’s education can be included. Copies of school reports are required.

The decision of the principal is final and is not subject to appeal.

Online Information Pack

The Department of Education has published an online Information Pack for the

2024 Year 9 Entry to Victoria’s Selective Entry High Schools.

Please read this Pack prior to submitting your child’s application:

SEHS Student Welcome Pack >> CLICK HERE