“The anagrams are gone from the test paper, as are synonyms and antonyms. The English is hard, the maths is mostly easier and the so-called thinking skills section will require students to race the clock in order to answer a question per minute.”

“We know for example some highly gifted kids are reflective thinkers, and won’t necessarily get answers quickly but they will get depth and complexity you can’t measure in a test.”

“The English paper, which required students to read more challenging texts such as Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay, as well as an extract from a modern book, The Family Law by Benjamin Law, was similar to the ICAS (International Competitions and Assessments for Schools) papers”