When Do High School Entrance Exams Happen in Montreal? A Grade 6 Parent’s Timeline

It’s September, and somewhere between school supply lists and soccer registration, a thought creeps in: wait, isn’t this the year we’re supposed to be doing something about high school?

If you have a child in Grade 6, you’re not imagining it. September and October are when Montreal’s high school admissions season quietly gets underway, and the schools that move first are the ones a lot of parents don’t expect.

The High School Entrance Exam Timeline in Montreal

Here’s what tends to surprise parents most: the public school board’s selective programs are often first out of the gate, not last. Schools like Royal West Academy and Vincent Massey typically hold their entrance exams in the last week of September, which means the window to prepare is a lot shorter than it feels in early fall. Many private schools follow later, often from October into early November, though exact dates shift from year to year and school to school, so it’s worth confirming directly with each school’s admissions office.

The pattern we see with families at Strategic Learning Clinic is this: parents start paying attention once the exam is a few days away, when in reality the best preparation starts weeks before. If your child is applying anywhere this fall, now, not late September, is the moment to find out that school’s exact exam date and registration deadline.

Montreal High School Entrance Exam Timeline at a Glance

September: Some selective public-school programs begin their entrance exam and admissions process.

October to early November: Many private schools hold entrance exams and other admissions activities during this period.

Before the exam: Parents should confirm the application deadline, entrance exam date, testing requirements and interview process directly with each school, as requirements and dates can vary.

What’s Actually on a High School Entrance Exam

High school entrance exams can vary by school, but students may encounter timed multiple-choice questions, cognitive or reasoning exercises, and an interview as part of the admissions process. The challenge is often not only knowing the material, but also being comfortable with an unfamiliar format and working within a time limit.

Entrance exams for Montreal high schools aren’t like a regular school test, and that’s exactly why they catch kids off guard. Most combine:

• Timed, multiple-choice sections that reward strategy as much as knowledge, knowing how to pace yourself and when to skip a question matters as much as the content itself.
• Cognitive-style questions pattern recognition, logic, and reasoning questions that look nothing like classroom worksheets, because they’re designed to measure how a child thinks, not just what they’ve memorized.
• An interview component, often required alongside the written exam, where a child is asked about their interests, accomplishments, and why they’ve chosen that school.

Much of this format may be unfamiliar to Grade 6 students because entrance-exam strategy, cognitive-style testing and interview preparation aren’t typically part of regular classroom test preparation. A child can be a strong student and still walk into an entrance exam feeling unprepared for the format itself.

How Should Grade 6 Students Prepare for a High School Entrance Exam?

High school entrance exam preparation should be about more than completing practice questions. Grade 6 students can benefit from becoming familiar with the exam format, practicing under timed conditions, learning multiple-choice strategies, working through logic and reasoning questions, and preparing for the interview process.

Starting before the final few days also gives a child time to understand what to expect. The goal isn’t to overload them with additional schoolwork, but to make the entrance exam process feel familiar before the actual test day.

For parents preparing their child for high school, it can help to focus on four areas: understanding the school’s specific admissions process, becoming familiar with the types of questions that may appear, practicing time management, and helping the child feel comfortable discussing their interests and accomplishments in an interview setting.

The Part Nobody Talks About: Exam-Day Nerves

Here’s the piece that’s easy to overlook when you’re focused on content and format: even a well-prepared child can freeze on the day if the unknown is what’s stressing them out  the room, the clock, the strangers asking questions. Test anxiety isn’t a character flaw or a sign a child isn’t ready; it’s what happens when the format itself is unfamiliar. The single most effective thing you can do for your child before an entrance exam isn’t more practice questions it’s making sure nothing about exam day is a surprise.

High School Entrance Exam and Interview Preparation Workshop
Each September, we run a High School Entrance Exam and Interview Preparation Workshop for students heading into these exams. It’s not tutoring, and it’s not an evaluation, it’s a condensed, hands-on run-through of the entire process, so your child has already done this once before the real thing.

In the workshop, students work through:

• Exam structure and multiple-choice strategy
• Cognitive-style question practice the kind schools ask but classrooms don’t teach
• Interview preparation, including a one-on-one practice interview
• A brief talk about their high school of choice, and how to speak about their own accomplishments
• Stress and test anxiety management
• A full practice exam in condensed format

Families who’ve been through it tell us the same thing: their child left the workshop calmer and more confident, not because the exam got easier, but because it stopped being unknown. Our success rate in getting students into their first-choice school has stayed high year after year.

This year’s workshop:
Sunday, September 20, 2026
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Small group format: spots are limited and fill quickly

Reserve Your Spot Today

Can’t make this session, or reading this after September 20? Reach out ; depending on demand, we sometimes schedule an additional session later in the fall.