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Preparation for ISAT

The purpose of ISAT is to assess your abilities in a range of cross-curricular skills. ISAT measures skills acquired over a period of time, including the ability to reason, make logical deductions and form judgements. The test does not draw on any particular subject knowledge. There would therefore be little benefit to be gained by ‘cramming’ or coaching. Your best preparation may be to read widely and to think critically about what you read. However, some familiarity with the question types typically presented in ISAT is an advantage. For this reason, some sample questions are provided on this site.

Candidates should note that ACER does not endorse any commercially available courses claiming to offer ISAT preparation.

Download ISAT Sample Questions

Test taking strategy

  • It is not advisable to spend too much time on any one question.
  • Read the stimulus material for a unit several times before starting the questions.
  • Read through all the alternative answers to a question, even if you think the first one is correct, before marking your chosen response. See if there are any options you can discard immediately because they are obviously wrong.
  • If you think you know the answer to a question, mark it, even if you are not certain. Go on to the next question and come back later if you have time. This will prevent you from getting your answers out of sequence with the actual questions, and will give you some chance if you run out of time.
  • Be careful not to spend too much time using your bilingual dictionary to look up the translation of every word that you are uncertain about.

Points to note

  • Answers should be marked directly onto the answer sheet, not on the test booklet.
  • You may do draft work in the margins of your test book. Scrap paper is not allowed.
  • All questions have the same value. It is recommended that you attempt as many questions as possible in order to maximise your score.
  • No marks will be deducted for a wrong answer.
  • If you mark more than one answer to a question it will be considered wrong.
  • Use only grey lead pencil (HB, B or 2B) to mark your answers.

Download Sample Answer Sheet

View Guide to complete the Answer Sheet