Scholarships in the Territory, how they really work.

If you've lived in Melbourne or Sydney, you'll know about selective school exams. The Territory doesn't have them. There are no selective-entry government high schools here, and no single test that decides where children go.

What the NT does have is a small number of scholarships at non-government schools. They work in two quite different ways.

Scholarships decided on reports and NAPLAN

Some Territory scholarships don't set a test at all. Haileybury Rendall School in Berrimah is the clearest example. For its Year 5 scholarship, families send the two most recent school reports and the Year 3 NAPLAN report, along with a written statement about community involvement.^[2] The Year 10 scholarship works the same way, using the Year 9 NAPLAN report, then a shortlist and interviews.^[3] Awards are at the Principal's discretion.^[1]

Haileybury Rendall is the school that used to be Kormilda College. It took that name in 2018.^[4]

For this kind of scholarship, preparation looks a lot like steady schoolwork. Good reports over a couple of years, and a NAPLAN result that reflects what your child can really do, count for more than any cram course.

Scholarships with a test

Other schools set an exam, usually for entry to Year 7. If a school you like uses a test, ask when it sits, as some test in the year before entry.

ACER and Edutest are the two main scholarship test providers in Australia. Their tests usually cover:

• Reading: longer, denser passages than most school work.
• Maths reasoning: familiar Year 5 and 6 content, asked in unfamiliar ways.
• Writing: a timed piece, marked on ideas and control.
• Abstract or verbal reasoning: patterns and puzzles school doesn't teach directly.

Check each school directly

Scholarship rounds change from year to year, and plenty of Territory schools don't publish one at all. When we looked in October 2026, several schools named on scholarship lists online either had no current scholarship information or no longer existed under that name. Ring the school, or check its admissions page, before planning around a date.

How to prepare, sensibly

• Look after the reports. For report-based scholarships, a steady record over Years 3 to 6 matters most. Keep every report and NAPLAN result somewhere safe.
• Get the Year 5 basics solid. Fractions, decimals and multi-step problems show up in every reasoning test. Closing gaps beats doing more practice papers.
• Read widely, and talk about it. Discussing why a character did something builds the inference these tests reward.
• Write to a clock a few times. A quick plan, a strong opening and a clear ending is a skill of its own.
• If there's a test, try the format. A few sample questions take the surprise out of it. More than that rarely helps.

Where Study Compass fits

Our scholarship test prep for Years 4 to 6 is coming soon. In the meantime, the regular daily plan covers the Year 3 to 7 maths and English that school reports, NAPLAN and scholarship tests all depend on, and the NAPLAN-style practice tests give practice with the online format.