Entrance exams for secondary school test five core areas: whole-number operations, fractions and decimals, geometry (angles, perimeter, area, and simple volume), word problems, and pattern or sequence reasoning. The scope is mainly end-of-Grade-5 material, with some Grade 6 overlap, and most exams run in October or November. Réussite A+ builds its prep plans around this exact scope, drawing from Quebec’s own curriculum documents and Alloprof’s guidance.
TL;DR:
- Most entrance exam questions require strong fluency in Grade 5 arithmetic, fractions, and geometric measurement, with some content extended from early Grade 6.
- Focused practice should start with foundational skills like multiplication, division, and fraction equivalence, since nearly all questions build on these.
- Preparing under timed conditions with a mix of multiple-choice, short-answer, and problem-solving questions helps develop test routine and reduce anxiety.
- A diagnostic assessment before formal preparation identifies the child’s specific gaps in fractions, word problems, or geometry to personalize study plans.
- Consistent short daily practice sessions are more effective for building automatic fluency than infrequent long cram sessions.
Table of Contents
- Entrance exam math topics by grade: the full checklist
- Building a study plan: two timelines that actually work
- What the questions actually look like, and how to practise them at home
- Why we built our prep method around this exact topic list
- Get a personalized diagnostic before you commit to a plan
- Sources
- FAQ
Entrance exam math topics by grade: the full checklist
Parents often ask us the same question first: “Is this Grade 5 material or Grade 6 material?” The honest answer is both, with Grade 5 doing most of the heavy lifting. Entrance exams test what a child should know by the end of Grade 5, but a good chunk of what shows up on test day gets reinforced or extended early in Grade 6, especially anything involving fractions, decimals, and multi-step problem solving.
Here’s how the Quebec Education Program’s elementary mathematics curriculum breaks down, mapped to what actually appears on entrance tests.
Foundational arithmetic (Grade 4-5 solid, tested every year):
- Operations with whole numbers: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, including multi-digit long division without a calculator
- Place value up to millions, and rounding for estimation
- Order of operations (the sequence that governs which calculation comes first in a mixed expression)
- Mental math speed: a child who can estimate $47 times $6 in their head before working the exact answer has a real edge on a timed test
Fractions and decimals (the section that trips up the most students):
- Finding equivalent fractions and comparing or ordering fraction sets
- Adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators
- Converting between fractions, decimals, and percentages
- Multiplying and dividing fractions in a word-problem context, not just as isolated drills
Geometry basics:
- Identifying and measuring angles (acute, obtuse, right, straight) using a protractor
- Calculating perimeter and area for rectangles, squares, and triangles
- Working out the volume of simple solids like cubes and rectangular prisms
- Some exams sneak in basic coordinate geometry or symmetry questions from Grade 6 material
Problem solving and logical reasoning:
- Multi-step word problems that require pulling out relevant numbers from a paragraph of information
- Number sequences and pattern recognition (what comes next in this series, and why)
- Visual and logical puzzles that test reasoning rather than pure calculation
Alloprof’s own guidance confirms this exact mix: fractions, decimals, angle measurement, area and volume, plus logical reasoning and situational problems, all drawn from material a child should have mastered by the end of Grade 5.
Most entrance exams mix formats deliberately. Expect a bank of multiple-choice questions for quick concept checks, alongside short-answer sections where your child has to show their work. A typical mini-example: “A rectangular garden is 8 metres long and 5 metres wide. If a fence costs $12 per metre, how much will it cost to fence the entire garden?” That single question quietly tests perimeter, multiplication, and real-world reasoning all at once, which is exactly the kind of layered problem entrance exams favour over a plain arithmetic drill.
Curious how math performance factors into the bigger admissions picture? Our breakdown of the role math plays in secondary admission covers how schools weigh this section against French and general aptitude.
Building a study plan: two timelines that actually work
Once you know the topics, the next question is timing. We recommend picking one of two templates depending on how much runway you have.
- The 8 to 12 week intensive plan. Week 1 starts with a diagnostic: give your child a short, timed set of 15 to 20 questions pulled evenly from arithmetic, fractions, geometry, and word problems. Don’t grade for a perfect score, grade for patterns. Where does the accuracy drop? Which question types eat the most time? Weeks 2 through 8 target the two or three weakest areas with focused daily practice, and the final weeks shift to full timed mock exams under real test conditions.
- The 4 to 6 month gentle plan. This works well if you’re starting in the fall of Grade 5 rather than scrambling in September of Grade 6. Set one weekly goal, such as “master fraction equivalence” or “get through 20 perimeter and area problems without a mistake,” and rotate through the topic list slowly enough that nothing feels rushed.
Whichever timeline you choose, prioritize in this order: arithmetic fluency and fractions first, because nearly every geometry and word problem question depends on comfortable number handling. Geometry and pure reasoning puzzles come second, since they build faster once the numeracy foundation is solid.
Tutoring earns its keep when you see specific warning signs: a child who consistently gets fraction questions wrong regardless of how they’re worded, one who freezes on multi-step word problems, or a family running short on time before a fixed exam date. A cadence of one to two focused sessions per week, paired with independent practice between sessions, tends to close gaps faster than either approach alone. For a fuller week-by-week breakdown, our entrance exam prep guide walks through a complete sample schedule.
Pro Tip: Use your tutor sessions as skill checks, not re-teaching time. Have your child do the learning independently through worksheets or Alloprof videos during the week, then use the 45 to 60 minute session to test what stuck and fix what didn’t. It’s a far more efficient use of tutoring hours than starting from zero every time.
What the questions actually look like, and how to practise them at home
Knowing the topic list only gets you halfway. The other half is knowing the shape of the questions, because entrance exams have a predictable format once you’ve seen a few. Expect four recurring types: multiple-choice concept checks, short numerical-answer questions, multi-step word problems, and sequence or visual-reasoning puzzles.
For multiple-choice questions, teach your child three simple habits: eliminate any answer that’s obviously the wrong order of magnitude, estimate before calculating so they can spot a trap answer, and always check whether the units match what the question actually asked for. A surprising number of wrong answers come from a child solving the problem correctly but answering in the wrong unit.
A few drills you can run at home without any special materials:
- Timed arithmetic sets: 20 mixed operations in 10 minutes, tracked over weeks to watch speed improve
- Fraction number lines: draw a blank line from 0 to 2 and have your child place unusual fractions like 5/8 or 11/6 correctly
- Geometry measurement practice: hand them a ruler and protractor and have them measure real objects around the house
- Pattern puzzles: simple sequence completion exercises, which build the same reasoning muscle the exam tests
On test day itself, the biggest lever isn’t more content, it’s routine. Practise under a real timer at least twice before the actual exam, keep the same breakfast and start time as test morning, and teach a simple calming technique like three slow breaths before starting a section. Anxious students lose more marks to rushed panic than to gaps in knowledge.
Pro Tip: Ten minutes a day beats one long weekend session. A short daily set of five arithmetic problems and one word problem builds the kind of quiet, automatic fluency that shows up under timed pressure. Pair this with resources like our Grade 5 study guide or a solid math workbook for structured daily sets.
Why we built our prep method around this exact topic list
Réussite A+ has spent many years watching which entrance exam topics actually separate a confident student from a stressed one, with fractions and multi-step word problems consistently among the most challenging. Our tutors are university-level specialists who build a personalized plan for each child rather than running a generic worksheet packet, and we track progress session to session so nothing slips between now and exam day.
That method has helped thousands of students, with a high rate of client satisfaction among the families we’ve worked with. Students who benefit most are the ones who are otherwise on track but need someone to catch the specific gap, whether that’s fraction conversion or geometry vocabulary, before it costs them marks in November.
— Réussite A+
Get a personalized diagnostic before you commit to a plan
Réussite A+ is the alternative to guessing which worksheets to buy or which topics deserve the most attention this month. Instead of a generic prep package, every student starts with a diagnostic that pinpoints exactly which of the five topic groups need work, then gets matched with a university-level tutor for online sessions that fit around your family’s actual schedule, not the other way around.
If your child is heading toward an October or November exam, the smartest move right now is a short diagnostic session rather than another round of random practice sheets. Our entrance exam preparation program is built exactly for this window, with flexible scheduling and a plan that adjusts as your child improves. Book a session and find out, this week, exactly where the gaps are before test season sneaks up on you.
Sources
- How to prepare for the high school entrance exam | Alloprof
- Elementary Mathematics Program | Gouvernement du Québec
- Admissions | Independent Schools Quebec
FAQ
What math topics are covered on a secondary entrance exam?
Entrance exams typically test whole-number operations, fractions and decimals, geometry (angles, perimeter, area, and simple volume), multi-step word problems, and pattern or logical reasoning, mostly drawn from end-of-Grade-5 curriculum.
Is entrance exam math based on Grade 5 or Grade 6 material?
The bulk of the content comes from material a child should master by the end of Grade 5, though some questions, especially around fractions and multi-step reasoning, overlap with early Grade 6 topics.
When do secondary school entrance exams usually happen?
Most exams take place in October or November, with registration commonly opening at the start of Grade 6 and an application fee of about $50 to open a file.
How long should we prepare before the exam?
An 8 to 12 week intensive plan works if you’re starting close to the exam date, while a 4 to 6 month gentle plan spreads the same topics into manageable weekly goals if you start earlier in Grade 5.
