The Hon Julie Bishop MP - Minister for Education, Science and Training, and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues

Home
Portfolio Responsibilities
Personal Profile
Media Centre
Photo Gallery
Links
Curtin Electorate

Media Centre

Media Release

Year 12 aptitude test to assist university entry

8 May 2007

BUDB 23/07

Around 20,000 Year 12 students per year will benefit from a new pilot programme encouraging the use of aptitude tests by universities as an alternative or supplementary assessment method to tertiary entrance scores for assessing prospective students.

Funding of $14.5 million over three years is being allocated to the Realising Our Potential – national student aptitude test for tertiary admission initiative announced as part of the 2007-08 Budget. The pilot will be available to around 15 per cent of Year 12 students from across Australia and will run from 2008 to 2010.

"While tertiary entrance scores will remain the primary selection tool for entrance to university, this initiative will enable tertiary institutions to incorporate aptitude test results as a broader indicator of a student’s ability to succeed at university," the Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon Julie Bishop MP, said.

The Australian Government will consult the school and higher education sectors to determine an appropriate existing test, such as uniTEST, currently being trialled by Monash University and the Australian National University, or the Special Tertiary Admissions Test, used for alternative entry into many Australian universities. It will also look at how best to introduce this option for senior school students.

Media Contacts
Minister Bishop’s Office:	Tory Vidler	0414 228 727
Dept of Education, Science & Training:	Virginia Cook	0412 971 323
Non-media queries:	1300 363 079

Supporting Information

Why is this important?

An aptitude test for tertiary admission provides an additional opportunity for students to exhibit their potential and gain a university place.

An aptitude test will also assist universities in selecting the students with the potential to succeed in tertiary studies who may have low tertiary entrance rankings.

Who will benefit?

Availability of an aptitude test will provide the greatest benefit to students whose tertiary entrance score does not represent their true potential.

Tertiary education providers will get a genuine basis for comparing students from different jurisdictions who have sat different final school certificate exams.

What funding is the Government committing to the initiative?

$14.5 million over three years to 2009-10.

What have we done in the past?

The two studies commissioned from ACER: Australian Certificate of Education: Exploring a way forward, released May 2006 and Year 12 Content and Achievement Standards, released in February 2007, found that it is currently not possible to compare Year 12 achievement across jurisdictions. Comparability is impeded by the lack of common curriculum content in some subjects such as English and the lack of common measurements of achievement. Aptitude tests act as an additional overlaying measure that will provide some consistency across jurisdictions.

This is a new initiative.

When will the initiative conclude?

The pilot will conclude in 2009-10.