What is SEAL/SEALP? Find out more about the benefits of this special learning program.

Select Entry Accelerated Learning Programs (SEAL or SEALP) are enrichment programs designed for academically gifted and talented students who can work at a much faster pace than their peers. SEAL/SEALP allows high achievers to accelerate their academic studies and because of this, offers a more engaging and challenging learning environment compared to a standard classroom.

Here are some of the benefits of the SEAL program:

• SEAL programs offer much more flexibility for students in their senior years. Your child can complete Years 7-10 in 3 years and get a chance to take on a university-level subject in their final year.
• SEALP gives your child a unique chance to learn alongside like-minded peers of a similar level. Everyone in the class is motivated and eager to learn.
• Your child will learn more in-depth content in such areas as Maths, Science, English, and Humanities with an emphasis on high-order thinking skills and independent learning.
• Thanks to the skills gained during the program, SEAL program students generally perform well achieving ATAR scores of 90 or above.
• SEAL programs run in public schools, which means that your child gets an outstanding education entirely free of charge (in most cases).

SEAL programs are generally available across 39 public high schools in Victoria and many start from Year 7.

To learn more about the difference between SEAL/SEALP, selective schools and scholarships, check out the information here.

Will my child qualify for the SEAL program?

The SEAL program can be extremely rewarding for students who perform much higher than their peers in a variety of subjects.

Have you noticed that your child:

• is quick to understand new concepts?
• gets top marks at school tests and finds homework easy?
• is mature and independent for their age?
• displays high motivation and curiosity for learning new things?
• manages to keep up with a variety of interests and hobbies?

In such a case, you should consider applying for a SEAL program.

How to get a SEAL program or SEALP offer in 2020 when sitting an ACER HAST: Requirements & challenges

Getting into a select entry accelerated learning program is getting harder every year.

Not only does the Department of Education set limitations on student capacity, but as more and more parents discover the benefits of a SEAL program/SEALP, the competition gets tougher.

As a result, some schools have either stopped the SEAL program intakes or devised stricter rules for the applicants. Keilor Downs College, for example, now only accepts applications from students living within a 5km radius from the school.

Due to limited spots and stiff competition, your child needs to show excellent NAPLAN grades and participate in a range of extracurricular activities. Plus, it's no longer enough to do great in the SEAL ACER Higher Ability Selection Test.

Your child needs to ACE it.

If you've decided to apply for a select-entry accelerated learning program, be sure to check schools that offer SEAL/SEALP spots and their requirements for entry. You can see the list of schools providing SEAL/SEALP programs here (for your convenience, we've categorized them according to the exam body) or through the official website of The Academy of Accredited SEAL Schools (TAASS).

What score do you need in order to pass the SEAL ACER HAST exam & get a spot in your dream school?

With gifted and talented exams, the cut-off marks vary from year to year. This is because your child's performance is compared against other applicants.

Below are diagrams of REAL students that show how competitive your child's test performance should be in each of the subtests of the ACER HAST exam to get a SEAL /SEALP offer.

You'll see that your child's performance needs to be in the top 15% or better in ALL subtests in order to feel more confident of receiving a school offer.

A few things to note:

• It's not enough to get an exceptional mark in one subtest but lag behind in the other. Your child needs to score in the top 15% range with at least one subject in the top 10%.
• Writing is as important as other parts of the test. Even if your child got a "superior" grade in other areas, they are highly unlikely to get a SEAL/SEALP offer with a poor score in writing.
• To get the SEAl/SEALP spot, your child needs to perform better than other applicants. Effective preparation for the ACER HAST exam can be a decisive factor in whether your child gets the offer or not.

What's in a SEAL/SEALP (ACER HAST) Year 7 exam? See test format, number of questions, and time limit.

The ACER Higher Ability Selection Test (HAST) for the SEAL program consists of 4 parts: mathematical reasoning, reading comprehension, abstract reasoning, and written expression.

Unlike the SEAL Edutest exam (are you sitting an Edutest exam instead of ACER HAST? If so, go to the Edutest SEAL/SEALP page), ACER HAST heavily relies on reasoning skills. Its aim is to test your child's innate abilities and future potential rather than check what they've learned at school.

ACER has previously stated that questions may differ from the traditional school curriculum. And… from our students’ experiences, the difficulty level is much higher (about 1 - 2 grade levels higher) than your child's current year level.

Here is an outline of each part of the ACER HAST exam along with the number of questions and the time limit.

*The number of questions and time limit have been estimated from the ACER HAST Candidate Information Bulletin and other publicly available information. Please note that the authoritative body can change the number of questions and time limits from year to year so please refer to their websites for the most up to date information. Time per question is calculated by taking the time limit divided by the number of questions.

Help your child tackle even the hardest ACER HAST questions with ease.

There are a few sample questions by ACER that you can download from the ACER website. However, the problem that many students and parents have found out later is that the questions that ACER may provide as practice are much easier than the ones in the real exam (it makes sense, they produce exam questions so they're not going to give you the same ones they get paid to produce by schools!).

Most importantly, they don't give you the secret recipe on 'how to answer the question'.

But... we do!

Every test bank question comes with an expert video solution that takes you step-by-step on how to answer the question in 5 steps or less. And, our courses and programs are designed for your child to understand the strategy behind answering questions successfully.

See the available test prep designed for your child’s success now.