Applying for Scholarships at Multiple Schools? How to Prepare for Different Exam Providers
Applying for an academic scholarship at more than one school is common, but it can make exam preparation feel surprisingly complicated.
A family might shortlist three or four schools, only to discover that one uses Edutest, another uses Academic Assessment Services (AAS), and another uses ACER.
That raises an obvious question:
Does my child need to prepare separately for every scholarship exam?
Usually, the answer isn't as simple as choosing three completely separate preparation programs. There can be significant overlap in the skills being assessed, but the exam providers don't necessarily assess students in exactly the same way.
The key is to understand what the exams have in common, where they differ, and which parts of your child's preparation need to be provider-specific.
The first step: find out who provides each school's scholarship exam
Before deciding how your child should prepare, make a list of every school they are considering and confirm:
the scholarship being applied for
the year level of entry
the current exam provider
the examination date
any additional application requirements
registration and application deadlines
This may sound obvious, but don't assume that because a school used a particular provider last year, it will use the same provider again.
Who are the main scholarship exam providers?
Three of the providers families frequently encounter are ACER, Edutest and Academic Assessment Services.
They are not simply different names for the same examination.
ACER
ACER describes its scholarship tests as assessments designed to identify academically able students and differentiate performance at the higher end of the cohort. It emphasises critical thinking, higher-order thinking and problem-solving. At secondary levels, its published test structure includes Written Expression, Humanities and Mathematics; primary scholarship testing includes Reading and Viewing, Mathematics and Writing.
Edutest
Edutest is an independent scholarship and entrance-testing organisation used by schools around Australia. Its parent information also makes an important point for families applying to several schools: many schools participate in a results-transfer process, meaning a student may not necessarily sit a separate Edutest test for every school they apply to. Some schools do not share results, however, and students may then be required to sit multiple tests within the testing cycle.
AAS
Academic Assessment Services describes its scholarship testing as covering Writing, Reading Comprehension, Mathematics and Reasoning. Within Reasoning it identifies verbal, mathematical, figural and spatial reasoning skills.
Immediately, you can see why preparing for several scholarship exams isn't simply a matter of repeating exactly the same test several times.
But there is considerable overlap
The good news is that preparing for multiple scholarship exams doesn't necessarily mean starting from scratch for each provider.
Many of the fundamental academic skills transfer.
For example, reading comprehension, mathematical skills, written communication and reasoning can appear across scholarship preparation, even though the way those skills are presented or assessed may vary.
The practical implication is important. Don't think, "three schools = three completely separate programs." Instead think, "What preparation do these examinations share, and what needs to be added for each provider?"
Start with the broadest relevant preparation pathway
When Hendersons plans preparation for a child sitting exams from several providers, we first look at the full group of schools and examinations rather than treating each application in isolation.
For example, a family applying to three different schools may find that one currently uses AAS, another Edutest and another ACER. In this situation, we wouldn't normally recommend duplicating every area of preparation three times.
Our advice in this situation is not to complete three separate exam preparation programs, but to look at which Program addresses most overlaps, and then add in workshops or practice exams to fill the gaps.
Depending on the schools and current exam requirements, one approach may be to use an AAS Exam Preparation Program as the core preparation, then add ACER and Edutest practice exams where relevant. The appropriate combination will depend on the schools your child is applying to and their current testing arrangements.
Why provider-specific practice exams still matter
If the academic preparation overlaps, parents sometimes ask:
Why not just complete one type of practice exam?
Because familiarity with the underlying subject isn't the only thing students are dealing with on exam day. Providers structure and describe their assessments differently.
Timing is one obvious difference. Edutest currently allows 15 minutes for Written Expression, with no separate planning or reading time, while AAS describes its Written Expression examination as 25–30 minutes. A student therefore needs to be comfortable adapting the way they plan, write and manage their time to the exam they are sitting.
The structure of the assessments also differs. For example, Edutest identifies separate 30-minute Verbal Reasoning and Numerical Reasoning tests, with Numerical Reasoning including series, matrices, arithmetical reasoning and deduction. AAS groups its published scholarship reasoning skills across verbal, mathematical, figural and spatial reasoning. These differences are one reason provider-specific practice can be useful even when much of the underlying academic preparation overlaps.
Hendersons' approach is therefore to use provider-specific practice exams where relevant, so the child isn't encountering that particular assessment experience for the first time in their real scholarship exam.
The goal isn't to make preparation bigger for the sake of it. It's to avoid unnecessarily duplicating what overlaps while still accounting for the differences that matter.
Watch your exam dates
Applying to several schools means there is another practical issue to manage: the calendar.
Before committing to multiple applications, map out each school's:
application closing date
test date
testing provider
entry year
additional documentation
interview or portfolio requirements where applicable
For ACER, this is particularly important if looking at alternative-date schools. ACER advises parents to check whether alternative-date schools are testing on the same day because a candidate can only choose one school on that date to register and sit for.
This is also a good reason not to leave scholarship planning until the last minute.
Will my child actually need to sit an exam for every school?
Not necessarily. The answer depends on the provider and the schools involved.
Edutest advises that most of its schools participate in a results-transfer process. Where a student has applied to multiple participating schools, they will generally sit at the school with the first or earliest test date, with results transferred to subsequent schools within that testing cycle. Some schools don't participate in results sharing, so additional sittings may still be required.
ACER also operates cooperative scholarship testing. Within its cooperative program, candidates may register for up to six schools, sit the test once at their first-preference school, and have their results reported to the other participating schools they've applied to. Alternative-date schools operate differently.
So don't assume that applying to four schools automatically means sitting four separate scholarship exams. Check the arrangements for each school before building your preparation calendar.
Be prepared for schools to change their arrangements
Over more than 30 years of supporting families with school entrance preparation, we've seen schools change testing arrangements from year to year.
For example, in September 2026, Hendersons was advised that Huntingtower would change its academic scholarship testing provider for 2028 entry from ACER to Edutest. We contacted affected families and reviewed preparation schedules, including relevant practice exam bookings.
Does applying to more schools mean more preparation?
Not necessarily.
There is an important difference between broadening the number of applications and duplicating preparation.
If several schools use the same provider, there may be substantial commonality. In some provider arrangements, one test result can even be used for multiple participating schools.
When different providers are involved, the most efficient approach is generally to:
build strong underlying academic skills → cover genuine provider-specific gaps → practise the relevant exam formats.
The aim should not be to make a child's preparation workload three times larger just because they're applying to three schools.
It should be to make sure the preparation they are already doing is relevant to all of the exams they actually intend to sit.
A smarter approach to multiple scholarship exams
Applying to several schools doesn't have to mean multiplying your child's preparation workload. Start by confirming the current exam provider and requirements for each school, identify the preparation that overlaps, then add provider-specific preparation and practice where it genuinely serves a purpose.
The aim isn't to prepare more. It's to prepare more strategically.
Not sure which preparation pathway covers the schools on your shortlist?
Our team can help you review the schools your child is considering and identify where preparation overlaps and where additional exam-specific preparation may be useful.
