Free OC practice test
Free, no sign-up, no payment. Try a set of practice questions in the current Opportunity Class (OC) format — Reading, Mathematical Reasoning and Thinking Skills — each with a worked explanation. Every question is an illustrative exemplar written by educators, not a real NSW past paper (NSW never releases them).
- Free
- No sign-up, no payment
- 18 questions
- Across all three OC sections
- Year 4
- For Year 5 OC entry
Written and reviewed by the Hootbrook education team · Last reviewed 30 August 2026
What’s on the OC test?
The Opportunity Class (OC) placement test is sat in Year 4, for entry to an Opportunity Class in Year 5. It has three sections — Reading, Mathematical Reasoning and Thinking Skills — answered on a computer, with no writing task. The practice questions below cover all three.
This page is for doing practice. For the full guide to dates, format and how placement works, see our complete OC test guide.
Try 18 OC practice questions
Choose an answer to see whether it’s right and how it’s worked out — no sign-up needed. These are illustrative exemplars in the current OC format across all three sections, not real NSW past papers. Take them a few at a time; understanding each answer matters more than racing through.
The sample questions below are shown in English — the OC test itself is sat in English.
“The old lighthouse had not shone for thirty years, yet every evening Mrs Patel climbed its spiral stairs. She carried no lamp and lit no flame. Instead she sat by the great dark window with her notebook, counting the ships that slipped past in the dusk and writing down their names.”Why did Mrs Patel climb the lighthouse each evening?
Choose an answer to see how it’s worked out.That’s it.
Close — answer from what the passage actually says.
The passage tells us she carried no lamp and lit no flame, which rules out lighting it. It then says she counted the ships and wrote down their names — she was keeping a record. Inference means using what the text states, not what a lighthouse is usually for.
“She sat by the great dark window, counting the ships that slipped past in the dusk and writing down their names.”In this passage, the word “slipped” most nearly means:
Choose an answer to see how it’s worked out.That’s it.
Close — let the sentence decide the meaning.
“Slipped” has several meanings, but here the ships are moving past in the dusk, so it means moved quietly and smoothly. Vocabulary-in-context questions reward the meaning the sentence supports, not the most common one.
“Honeybees cannot see the colour red. To our eyes a field of red poppies looks bright, but to a bee the same flowers appear dull and grey. This is one reason bees visit blue and purple flowers far more often. Gardeners who want to attract bees are often advised to plant lavender rather than red roses.”Which sentence best states the main idea of the passage?
Choose an answer to see how it’s worked out.That’s it.
Close — the main idea is what every sentence supports.
Every sentence points to one idea: bees see colours differently, and that shapes which flowers they choose. Options A and D are single details, and B is an overstatement — none of them is the whole point of the passage.
“Honeybees cannot see the colour red… bees visit blue and purple flowers far more often. Gardeners who want to attract bees are often advised to plant lavender rather than red roses.”Based on the passage, a gardener who plants only red roses will probably find that:
Choose an answer to see how it’s worked out.That’s it.
Close — follow what the passage tells us about red.
The passage says bees rarely visit red flowers and advises lavender over red roses, so red roses would draw fewer bees than lavender. It never says roses can’t grow, and it states bees see red as dull, not bright.
“The scientist’s explanation was so clear that even the youngest student could grasp it.”In this sentence, the word “grasp” most nearly means:
Choose an answer to see how it’s worked out.That’s it.
Close — think about what is being grasped.
“Grasp” can mean to hold something in your hand, but here a student is grasping an explanation, so it means understand. The clue is the context — a clear explanation a student could follow.
“By the time Sara reached the bus stop, the road was empty and the timetable on the pole was wet with rain. She sighed, pulled her hood up, and began the long walk to school.”What can we most reasonably infer from the passage?
Choose an answer to see how it’s worked out.That’s it.
Close — read the clues the writer leaves.
The empty road, Sara’s sigh, and her setting off on the “long walk to school” instead of waiting all point to the bus having already gone. Nothing says she planned to walk, and the wet timetable shows rain, not sun. Inference means reading the clues, not just the stated words.
A baker makes 6 trays of muffins. Each tray holds 8 muffins. She sells 34 muffins in the morning. How many muffins are left?
Choose an answer to see how it’s worked out.That’s it.
Close — find the total before you subtract.
First find how many muffins there are: 6 trays × 8 = 48. Then take away what was sold: 48 − 34 = 14 left. The trap answer 82 comes from adding 48 and 34; do the multiplication first, then the subtraction.
Leo buys a book for $12 and a pen for $3.50. He pays with a $20 note. How much change should he receive?
Choose an answer to see how it’s worked out.That’s it.
Close — add both items before taking the change.
Add the two prices first: $12 + $3.50 = $15.50. Then subtract from the $20 note: $20 − $15.50 = $4.50 change. Adding both items before you subtract avoids the common slip of paying for only one.
A pizza is cut into 8 equal slices. Maya eats 3 slices and her brother eats 2 slices. What fraction of the pizza is left?
Choose an answer to see how it’s worked out.That’s it.
Close — the question asks what is left, not what was eaten.
Together they eat 3 + 2 = 5 slices out of 8, so 5/8 is gone. That leaves 8 − 5 = 3 slices, which is 3/8 of the pizza. The trap answer 5/8 is the part eaten, not the part left.
A film starts at 2:45 pm and runs for 1 hour and 40 minutes. What time does it finish?
Choose an answer to see how it’s worked out.That’s it.
Close — add the hour and the minutes in two steps.
Add the hour first: 2:45 → 3:45. Then add the 40 minutes: 15 minutes reaches 4:00, and 25 more makes 4:25 pm. Splitting the time into the hour and the minutes keeps it simple.
In a car park there are only motorbikes and cars. Altogether there are 7 vehicles and 22 wheels. A motorbike has 2 wheels and a car has 4 wheels. How many cars are there?
Choose an answer to see how it’s worked out.That’s it.
Close — start by imagining they were all the same.
If all 7 vehicles were motorbikes, that would be 7 × 2 = 14 wheels — but there are 22, which is 8 extra. Each car has 2 wheels more than a motorbike, so 8 ÷ 2 = 4 cars. Check: 4 cars and 3 motorbikes give 16 + 6 = 22 wheels.
Three identical books weigh 900 grams altogether. How much would 5 of the same books weigh?
Choose an answer to see how it’s worked out.That’s it.
Close — find one book first, then scale up.
Find the weight of one book: 900 ÷ 3 = 300 grams each. Then 5 books weigh 5 × 300 = 1500 grams. Working out the single value before multiplying is the key step.
Four runners finished a race: Kim, Lena, Mo and Sam. Kim finished before Lena. Sam finished after Lena. Mo finished before Kim. In what order did they finish, first to last?
Choose an answer to see how it’s worked out.That’s it.
Close — chain the clues into one line before choosing.
“Mo before Kim” and “Kim before Lena” give Mo, Kim, Lena in that order. “Sam after Lena” puts Sam last. Joined up, the finish order is Mo, Kim, Lena, Sam. Lining every clue up before you answer is what these puzzles reward.
In Mr Roy’s class, every child who plays chess also plays the violin. Dev does not play the violin. Which statement must be true?
Choose an answer to see how it’s worked out.That’s it.
Close — follow the rule, don’t add to it.
If every chess player also plays the violin, then anyone who does not play the violin cannot be a chess player. Dev does not play the violin, so Dev cannot play chess. The other options add facts the statements never give.
Anya, Bo and Cara each have a different pet: a cat, a dog or a fish. Anya is allergic to fur, so she has neither the cat nor the dog. Bo takes his pet for walks. Which pet does Cara have?
Choose an answer to see how it’s worked out.That’s it.
Close — settle the pets you can be sure of first.
Anya can’t have fur, so she has the fish. Bo takes his pet for walks, so Bo has the dog (the fish is taken, and you don’t walk a cat). That leaves the cat for Cara. Fixing the certain pets first leaves the last one by elimination.
A poster reads: “Drink FizzyBerry — the most popular fizzy drink at Sunfield School!” The poster wants you to believe FizzyBerry is a good choice. Which assumption does the poster rely on?
Choose an answer to see how it’s worked out.That’s it.
Close — find the missing link in the argument.
The poster jumps from “most popular” to “good choice”. That only works if being popular actually makes something a good choice — the unstated assumption. The other options may be true, but the argument doesn’t depend on them.
Ravi says his new running shoes made him faster, because he ran his best-ever time the first day he wore them. Which statement, if true, would most weaken Ravi’s claim?
Choose an answer to see how it’s worked out.That’s it.
Close — look for another cause of the fast time.
Ravi assumes the shoes caused his fast time. If a tailwind pushed him the whole way, that — not the shoes — could explain the best time. Pointing to another likely cause is the strongest way to weaken a “this caused that” claim.
Look at the number pattern: 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, … What is the next number?
Choose an answer to see how it’s worked out.That’s it.
Close — look at how the gaps grow.
Each number is a square: 1×1, 2×2, 3×3, 4×4, 5×5, so the next is 6×6 = 36. You can also see the gaps grow by 2 each time (+3, +5, +7, +9, then +11), and 25 + 11 = 36.
How to get the most from practice
A calm, honest approach beats cramming every time.
Little and often. Short, regular practice — ten focused minutes a day — builds more than a rushed weekend. Steady beats frantic.
Understanding over tricks. After each question, ask your child to explain why the answer is right. If they can say why, the skill carries to questions they’ve never seen.
Read the question twice. Most slips come from a missed word — ‘not’, ‘only’, ‘left’, ‘each’. Teach your child to read carefully before choosing.
Mix the sections. Move between Reading, Mathematical Reasoning and Thinking Skills so practice mirrors the real test rather than one skill at a time.
Talk it through. Board games, puzzles and ‘how do you know?’ conversations build the same reasoning the test rewards, no worksheet required.
Start from the truth. A free assessment shows your child’s real level in each section, so time goes to the gaps that matter — not what they can already do.
An honest note
There are no real OC past papers for sale — the NSW Department of Education does not release them, so be wary of anyone claiming otherwise. Every question here is written by educators in the current OC format. Practice like this builds familiarity and confidence with the question styles; it can’t promise a place, and no program can. Hootbrook is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NSW Department of Education.
Keep going
Free guides and practice for every part of selective-school preparation.
Free OC practice test — frequently asked
Is this OC practice test really free?
Yes — completely free, with no sign-up and no payment. You can try every question on this page right now. The free assessment is free too; a paid plan is optional if you later want a full guided program.
Are these real OC past papers?
No. The NSW Department of Education does not release OC test papers, so genuine past papers are not available anywhere. Every question here is an exemplar written by educators in the current OC format and checked before it is used.
What year is the OC test for?
The OC placement test is sat in Year 4, for entry to an Opportunity Class in Year 5. The practice on this page is pitched at that Year 4 level.
How many practice questions are on this page?
Eighteen — six Reading, six Mathematical Reasoning and six Thinking Skills — each with a worked explanation. The free assessment and full program include many more.
Does practice actually help?
Practice builds familiarity with the question styles and the confidence that comes from recognising them, which can help a child do themselves justice on the day. It cannot guarantee a place — no program can — and the OC test is designed to identify ability, not reward coaching. The honest goal is a calm, well-prepared child.
How should my child use these questions?
A few at a time, unhurried. Read each question carefully, choose an answer, then read the explanation together — the aim is to understand why an answer is right, not to memorise it. Little and often works far better than one long session.
See where your child stands today
Start with the free assessment. It finds your child’s real level across Reading, Mathematical Reasoning and Thinking Skills — so practice begins from the truth, not a guess.