When should GATE preparation start: Year 4, Year 5 or Year 6?
Year 6 students sit ASET in March, so Year 5 is the year that does the work and Year 4 is the year that makes it easier. Everest Tutoring runs weekly GATE classes from Year 4 at $600 per term and Year 5 and 6 at $750, capped at 10 students, with a free full-length mock for new students.
Written by Hari Ravichandran, Founder and Principal Tutor. Updated 13 September 2026
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The timeline, year by year
The test sits in March of the sitting year, which means the last real term of preparation is the summer before it. Everything in the table below is built backwards from that date.
| Year level | What this year is for | Class at Everest | Term fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 4 | Build reading volume and meet Abstract Reasoning for the first time, with no deadline pressure. Writing starts here because it improves slowest. | 2-hour weekly class | $600 |
| Year 5 | The main preparation year: all four components every week, two marked writing pieces a week, and timed mocks each term. | 2.5-hour weekly class | $750 |
| Year 6 (sitting year) | Timed papers and error-fixing through Term 4 and the summer, then the test in March. Content-learning is over; pacing and accuracy are the job. | 2.5-hour weekly class | $750 |
| Year 8 (Year 9 entry round) | A separate, smaller round for entry in Year 9, sat the day after the Year 7 entry test. | Year 8 GATE class | See the Year 8 GATE page |
If you are starting late
A student starting in Term 4 of Year 5 can still do well, because the two components that move fastest under teaching, Abstract Reasoning and Writing, are exactly the two most students have never been taught.
What a late start cannot fix is reading. If comprehension is the weak component and the test is four months away, the return on more worksheets is low and the return on harder reading every night is high.
Start with a mock, not a program
Everest Tutoring gives new Year 4 and 5 students a free full-length GATE mock at Harrisdale, Willetton and Perth Modern, marked, with a written report inside a week showing the score by component.
That report is worth more than any advice on this page, because it tells you which of the four components to spend the next term on.
Sources: WA Department of Education, gifted and talented programs · Everest GATE results 2026 method
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