If your child is in Year 5 right now, the GATE clock has already started.

Applications for Western Australia’s 2028 Gifted and Talented intake are expected to open in mid-October 2026 – about three weeks into Term 4. The Academic Selective Entrance Test (ASET) itself follows in March 2027, when your child is in Year 6.

That sounds distant. It isn’t. Term 3 finishes on 25 September, and the window between now and application opening is the single most useful stretch of time you have – precisely because there’s no deadline pressure in it yet.

Here’s what the process actually involves, and what’s worth doing between now and March.

The 2028 GATE timeline at a glance

The Department of Education has confirmed that applications for the 2027 intake have closed, and families can now register their interest for the 2028 intake. Based on the pattern of previous cycles, the timeline looks like this:

Two things to note. First, these dates follow the previous cycle’s pattern – always confirm the exact dates on the Department of Education’s Gifted and Talented key dates page once they’re published. Second, the deadline in February is genuinely firm. Every year, WA families miss it and wait another twelve months.

The single most valuable thing you can do this week takes four minutes: register your interest on the Department’s website so the reminder emails come to you automatically.

What the ASET actually measures (and why it changes how you prepare)

This is where most preparation goes wrong.

The ASET is not a test of the Year 5 or Year 6 curriculum. It’s an ACER-designed reasoning test, and it runs as a single sitting of roughly two hours and forty-five minutes across four components:

• Reading Comprehension – inference, tone, and author intent, not just literal recall
• Writing – one extended response under tight time pressure
• Quantitative Reasoning – number sense and problem-solving, not computation drills
• Abstract Reasoning – pattern recognition in sequences of shapes, with no words at all

Each component contributes to a scaled Total Scaled Score (TSS), and it’s the TSS – not the raw mark – that schools use to rank applicants. Perth Modern School, the state’s only fully selective academic school, has historically required the highest score in WA.

Why does this matter for preparation? Because a child who has completed five hundred practice papers but has never been asked to explain why an answer works will hit a ceiling. Reasoning tests reward flexible thinking under time pressure. Repetition alone builds speed on familiar question types and almost nothing else.

The Department is refreshingly upfront about this: its own applicant guidelines note that a coached child who gains entry would most likely have been placed without coaching. That is worth sitting with. Preparation isn’t what gets a child in. What preparation does is remove the two things that cost capable children marks – unfamiliarity with the format, and panic at the clock.

A term-by-term plan from here to March

Term 3 2026 (now – 25 September): build the thinking

Nothing that looks like exam prep. This term is about reasoning as a habit.

• Fifteen to twenty minutes, three or four times a week. Consistency beats volume at this stage.
• Puzzles, logic problems, and abstract pattern work – genuinely enjoyable for most Year 5 students when there is no score attached.
• Reading above comfort level, with one question afterwards: what did the author want you to think?
• Maths that stretches sideways rather than forwards. Problems with more than one entry point, rather than the next chapter of the textbook.

If your child struggles to explain their reasoning aloud, that’s the thing to work on – not more questions.

Spring holidays (26 September – 11 October): one sample sitting

Have your child work through the Department’s free Practice ASET, untimed, at the kitchen table. The goal isn’t a score. It’s the conversation afterwards: which section felt strange, where did they run out of ideas, what surprised them.

Then put it away.

Term 4 2026 (12 October – 17 December): apply, then ease off

Applications open. Lodge yours early in the window, not in the last week – you’ll be choosing preferences, and rushing that decision is how families end up nominating schools that don’t suit their child.

Academically, Term 4 is a light term. Keep the reasoning habit ticking over and let your child finish Year 5 well.

January – February 2027: familiarisation

Now the format work earns its place. Timed sections, one at a time, so your child learns the pacing of each component – particularly Abstract Reasoning, which has the tightest time-per-question ratio of the four.

Writing deserves specific attention here. Twenty-five minutes to plan, write and check an extended response is unlike anything most Year 6 students have done at school.

March 2027: taper

Two weeks out, stop introducing anything new. Confirm venue, timing and what to bring. Sleep matters more than one final practice paper – and a child who walks in rested and calm will outperform a child who has been drilled into anxiety.

Four mistakes we see every cycle

Starting in January. Six weeks of intensive preparation produces stress and marginal gains. Eight months of light, regular reasoning work produces a genuinely different thinker.

Treating it as a maths test. Quantitative Reasoning is one of four components. Reading Comprehension and Writing carry equal weight, and they’re where strong maths students most often lose ground.

Making it the whole family’s project. Children absorb the stakes their parents attach to something. If GATE becomes the central topic of every dinner, a ten-year-old will interpret the result as a verdict on their worth.

Assuming GATE is the only good outcome. Roughly 225 Year 7 places exist at Perth Modern, with additional places across 24 participating schools. Excellent WA students miss out every year for reasons that have nothing to do with their ability. A strong local high school with the right support produces outstanding ATAR results – and the reasoning skills your child builds this year serve them regardless of where they land.

Frequently asked questions

Is the GATE test free?

Yes. The Department of Education charges no application or testing fee. Preparation materials and tutoring are separate costs you choose to take on.

Can my child sit the ASET if they attend a private school?

Yes. All eligible WA students can apply, regardless of whether they currently attend a government or non-government school. Participation is limited to children whose usual place of residence is Western Australia.

When do we need to decide on school preferences?

At the point of application, in the October-February window. You nominate up to three preferences, and your child will only be considered for programs they’ve completed testing for – so the choice shapes what testing they’re invited to.

What if my child has a diagnosed disability or chronic illness?

The Department offers adjusted testing conditions, applied for through the application process. This has its own deadline, earlier than you’d expect – check the guidelines carefully when applications open.

Is Year 6 too late to start?

No, but the earlier you start, the lighter the load can be. A child doing twenty minutes three times a week from July has done more total reasoning work by March than a child doing an hour daily in February – with none of the pressure.

Where EduLift fits

Our GATE and ASET preparation is built around reasoning, not repetition. Small groups, WA-based tutors, and a Term 3 start that gives your child the full eight months rather than a rushed summer.

We also publish a free Abstract Reasoning sample set with fully explained answers – a good way to see how your child responds to the question style before you commit to anything.

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