100+ Selective Writing Test Topics & Practice Prompts

Your child can probably write a decent story at the kitchen table with no clock running. The Selective writing task is a different animal: one prompt, 30 minutes, typed straight onto the screen, worth a full quarter of the mark. The best way to get ready is volume and variety, practising lots of prompts across every text type until none of them throw your child on the day. That is what this page is for.

What the Selective writing task actually looks like

A prompt only helps if your child practises it under the real conditions. The NSW Department of Education states the writing component is one set task in 30 minutes, with every part of the test, including the writing, answered on a computer (education.nsw.gov.au). Since 2025 each of the four sections is worth 25%, so writing carries exactly the same weight as reading, mathematical reasoning or thinking skills. It is not optional polish.

The prompt is stimulus-based: your child responds to an image, a short quote, a sentence to continue or a scenario, in whatever form the prompt calls for. Trained markers read each piece, and the Department has every response marked independently by two markers, with a third if they differ too much. Drill one rule into a Year 5 or 6 head: the writing must be the child's own work, written on the day, on the topic given. A memorised piece bent to fit, or writing that drifts off-topic, risks scoring nothing.

The 5-minute plan that fits any prompt

Thirty minutes feels short, so most kids do the worst thing: start writing at second one and run out of story by minute twelve. Teach the opposite. Roughly five minutes planning, 22 writing, three checking. Rehearse this routine until it is automatic.

1. 1

   Box the job (30 sec)

   What text type is it, and who is the audience? Circle the key word. 'Convince your principal' is persuasive; 'a day you were brave' is narrative. Get this wrong and you risk zero for being off-topic.

2. 2

   Three ideas, pick one (1 min)

   Jot three directions, commit to the one your child can finish in 22 minutes. The best idea has a clear ending, not the most ambition.

3. 3

   Sketch the shape (2 min)

   Five bullets: beginning, two or three middle beats, and the ending. Knowing the last line before you start stops a piece trailing off.

4. 4

   Load two power moments (1 min)

   One strong image or line of dialogue, one specific detail to drop in. Planned sparkle beats waiting for inspiration at minute 20.

5. 5

   Leave the runway (30 sec)

   Promise to stop writing at the 27-minute mark, leaving three minutes to fix spelling, punctuation and any runaway sentence.

Use the generator below to practise the whole loop. Pick a text type or leave it on Surprise me, start the clock, and make your child plan before they write.

100+ Selective writing prompts by text type

Every prompt is original and pitched for a capable Year 5 or 6 writer. Under each type is a one-line plan: the single thing that genre most wants your child to nail. Work through them out of order, and repeat the ones that felt hard.

Narrative and creative

The plan that matters: decide your last line first, then write toward it.

• The door had been painted shut for years. This morning, it was open.
• Write a story in which a small, ordinary object turns out to matter enormously.
• Your character keeps a promise that costs them something. Tell that story.
• Write a story that ends with the line: and for the first time, the house was quiet.
• Two strangers are stuck in a lift for an hour. Write what happens.
• Write about the day a rule at your character's school was finally broken, and why.
• A photograph falls out of an old book. Write the story behind it.
• Write a story where the weather changes everything.
• Your character finds a note that was clearly meant for someone else.
• Write about a character who is brave in a quiet, unglamorous way.

Persuasive

The plan that matters: name your audience, then give three reasons in order, weakest to strongest.

• Your school is deciding whether to ban phones completely. Convince the principal of your view.
• Persuade your local council that your suburb needs one specific thing it lacks.
• Argue for or against giving every student a full hour for lunch.
• Convince your family to adopt a pet, or to wait another year.
• Persuade your class that a school camp is worth the cost, or that it is not.
• Argue that homework should be replaced with 30 minutes of reading a night.
• Persuade your principal to add one new subject to the timetable.
• Argue for or against school uniforms being optional on Fridays.
• Convince your community to protect a local park from being built on.

Discussion

The plan that matters: give both sides genuine weight before you land your own view.

• Some families think children should do paid chores; others disagree. Discuss both sides, then decide.
• Should students be allowed to choose all of their own subjects? Weigh it up.
• Is it better to be a big fish in a small pond, or the reverse? Discuss.
• Should young people be allowed to have social media accounts? Consider both views.
• Are competitions good or bad for children? Discuss and conclude.
• Should schools start later in the morning? Weigh the arguments.
• Is it fair for a whole class to be punished for one student's actions?
• Are zoos a force for good or a problem? Consider both sides.

News report

The plan that matters: lead with who, what, where, when in the first sentence, then add quotes.

• Write a news report about an unusual discovery during building work at a local school.
• Write a news report about a community event that did not go as planned.
• Report on a young person in your suburb who did something remarkable.
• Write a news report about a power outage that lasted a whole weekend.
• Report on the opening of an unusual new business in town.
• Write a news report about a lost pet that made an extraordinary journey home.
• Report on a school team that reached a final no one expected.
• Report on a group of students who solved a problem for their neighbourhood.

Letter

The plan that matters: match the greeting and tone to the reader, and end with a clear purpose.

• Write a letter to your future self, to be opened on your first day of high school.
• Write a letter to an author whose book changed how you see something.
• Write a letter to your local council asking them to fix one specific problem.
• Write a letter to a friend who has just moved far away.
• Write a letter of thanks to a teacher who never knew the difference they made.
• Write a letter to the editor about an issue you actually care about.
• Write a letter to a younger relative on the day they start school.
• Write a letter inviting someone to an event and making them want to come.

Diary entry

The plan that matters: write for one person, yourself, so it can sound honest and unguarded.

• Write a diary entry as someone who has just done something brave for the first time.
• Write a diary entry from the night before a day you have been dreading.
• Write a diary entry after a day when everything went wrong, then slightly right.
• Write a diary entry as an explorer on the first night of a long journey.
• Write a diary entry after making a decision you are not sure about.
• Write a diary entry as someone keeping a secret they want to tell.
• Write a diary entry on the last day of primary school.
• Write a diary entry as a character who has just moved to a new town.

Speech

The plan that matters: open with a hook and close with a line the audience will remember.

• Write a speech to welcome new students on their first day at your school.
• Write a speech arguing that failure is worth talking about, not hiding.
• Write a speech nominating someone for an award, real or invented.
• Write a speech to convince your year group to start one new tradition.
• Write a speech about a cause you would want other students to care about.
• Write a farewell speech for someone the whole school will miss.
• Write a speech to persuade your school to spend a prize on one thing.
• Write a speech about why kindness is harder, and better, than being clever.

Review

The plan that matters: give a clear verdict early, then back it with specific detail, not just opinion.

• Review a place in your suburb as if for visitors who have never been.
• Write a review of a meal that looked perfect and tasted like a mistake.
• Review a book you loved without giving away the ending.
• Write a review of a film for someone deciding whether to watch it.
• Review a game, sport or hobby you think more people should try.
• Write a review of an event you attended, the good and the disappointing.
• Review a gadget or invention and say who it is really for.
• Review the best and worst thing about your own school day.

Guide or how-to

The plan that matters: order the steps logically and picture a reader who knows nothing.

• Write a short guide teaching someone a skill you are genuinely good at.
• Write a guide for a new student on surviving their first week at your school.
• Write a how-to for making a friend when you are the new kid.
• Write a guide to staying calm before a big test.
• Write a how-to for a younger sibling learning to do something for themselves.
• Write a guide to spending a rainy day at home without screens.
• Write a how-to for looking after a pet you know well.
• Write a how-to for planning the perfect weekend on no budget.

Advice sheet

The plan that matters: sound warm and practical, and give advice a nervous reader can actually use.

• Write an advice sheet for a younger child nervous about starting a new sport.
• Write an advice sheet titled: What to do when you and your best friend disagree.
• Write an advice sheet for a student struggling to make friends.
• Write an advice sheet on handling nerves before performing in front of people.
• Write an advice sheet for someone about to start high school.
• Write an advice sheet on dealing with a mistake you feel embarrassed about.
• Write an advice sheet for a child who finds reading hard and boring.
• Write an advice sheet for a friend who is being left out.

Advertisement

The plan that matters: hook fast, name the benefit, and speak straight to the reader.

• Write an advertisement for an invention that solves a problem you actually have.
• Write an advertisement for a club you wish your school had.
• Write an advertisement for the most ordinary object in your house, made exciting.
• Write an advertisement for a holiday to somewhere completely imaginary.
• Write an advertisement recruiting volunteers for a good cause.
• Write an advertisement for a book you think everyone should read.
• Write an advertisement for a new food that should exist but does not.
• Write an advertisement for your own suburb, aimed at a family thinking of moving.

Stimulus-style prompts, the way the real test asks

The on-screen prompt usually hands your child a stimulus to respond to. Practising the three common shapes, an image described in words, a quote, and a scenario, stops the format from being a surprise. These do not name a text type: choosing the right form is part of the task.

Image-description prompts

• A single lit window in a dark, empty building. Write the story of who is inside.
• A pair of muddy boots left by an open back door. Explain how they got there.
• A crowded train platform where one person stands perfectly still. Write about them.
• An old key resting on a folded map. Write where it leads.

Quote prompts

• "It was the smallest decision I ever made, and the one that changed everything." Build a piece around this line.
• "Courage doesn't always roar," she said. Respond in any form you choose.
• "We were told the door was locked. Nobody said it was locked for a reason." Continue.
• "The best day of the holidays was the one nobody planned." Write about it.

Scenario prompts

• Your town has money for one thing: a library, a pool, or a park. Argue for one.
• You wake and every clock in the house has stopped at 3:07. Write what happens next.
• A new student joins your class who does not speak yet. Write a day from their point of view.
• You find a diary written by a child your age exactly 100 years ago. Write an entry to leave for a reader in 2126.

What about the topics that came up in recent years?

The honest answer helps more than a made-up list. The Department does not release past writing prompts, so every "recalled 2024 topic" on forums is one child's memory, unverified and often contradictory. We will not dress those up as fact. What is safe to say is the pattern: the task is stimulus-based, it can call for any text type, and it rewards a child who has practised widely. Prepare for the shape of the task, not a specific prompt, and no leaked list can rattle you.

One annotated excerpt, marked the way we mark

Here is the opening of a persuasive response to "Your school is deciding whether to ban phones completely. Convince the principal." It is a strong-but-imperfect Year 6 sample, so the feedback has somewhere to go, the kind our WritingHub returns on every piece.

Dear Ms Halloran, I know exactly what you are picturing: thirty students hunched over glowing screens, ignoring each other and their work. I pictured it too. But a total ban solves the wrong problem. The issue was never the phone in a bag at the bottom of a locker; it was the phone out during a lesson. Ban the behaviour, not the object, and here is why that will actually work...

• Set A (Content, Form, Organisation and Style): Strong. Direct address to a named principal nails audience, the opening concession is a mature move, and "ban the behaviour, not the object" is a genuine, quotable line. To push higher, the next paragraphs must deliver the promised reasons in order and hold that voice.
• Set B (Technical Accuracy): Clean so far, varied sentence lengths and a correctly punctuated semicolon. The risk over 30 minutes is control slipping as speed rises; the reserved three minutes at the end protect this mark.
• The one habit to build: the piece promises "here is why" early. High-scoring writing keeps that promise. Practise finishing the argument, not just starting well.

How to practise so 30 minutes stops being scary

Prompts are half of it; the other half is doing them on a screen, against a clock, then getting honest feedback. You do not have to spend anything to start: Test Academy's practice platform has a free-forever tier, so a child can sit full papers on the real interface and see where they stand before you pay. For volume with each piece marked against the criteria, the Selective Test Bundle adds criterion-by-criterion writing feedback as a one-off; families who prefer weekly structure and a tutor reading each draft use Selective Mastery. The routine is the same either way: real prompt, real clock, real feedback, repeated. For dates, sections and how placement works, start with our complete guide to the 2026 Selective test, and the 2025 test changes explain why typed writing now carries so much weight.

Selective writing test: quick questions