Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT)

Contact us

Australian Council for Educational Research

19 Prospect Hill Rd,
Camberwell, VIC, Australia 3124

T: 61 3 9277 5566
F: 61 3 9277 5757
E: stat@acer.edu.au

STAT F, STAT T and STAT Multiple Choice consist of 70 items, which are placed into Units. Units comprise either Verbal or Quantitative questions. Verbal and Quantitative units are interspersed throughout the test paper.

STAT questions are based on stimulus material drawn from a variety of common sources. All the information required to answer questions is contained in the Unit. So, for example, if the stimulus material is an historical document, the candidate's knowledge of history is NOT being assessed.

Verbal

The Verbal items in STAT focus on interpretation and understanding of ideas in language.

Some items will ask candidates to identify the main idea in a passage, whilst others will focus on interpreting specific words and phrases. Some items will ask for a paraphrase of what is stated and other questions will ask for inferred suggestions and deduced meanings.

Some Units test the comprehension of demanding and complex language with emphasis on analysing and understanding the stimulus material. Other Units test the understanding and processing of ideas presented in more elementary language with emphasis on manipulating information and solving problems.

The Verbal Units can also be classified by the extent to which they deal with objective or subjective material, or conceptual or argumentative issues. The aim of the test will be to give a balanced representation of a wide range of material and kinds of thinking.

Quantitative

The Quantitative items in STAT aim to test your comprehension and application of information presented in scientific and mathematical contexts. Items may present information in numeric, symbolic, spatial or graphical form.

Items do not require an in-depth knowledge of mathematical formulae or principles. Rather, they focus on your ability to interpret and apply information. Your ability to use this information for decision making and solving problems will be assessed.

Written English

The purpose of STAT Written English is to assess your ability to communicate effectively in writing.

Your responses to the essay prompts are written directly on the test paper. Working space is provided for you to plan your essays. You should write your essays neatly in pen. No extra paper is to be used. Only one test booklet is permitted per candidate.

Each piece of writing will be assessed by two independent markers.

Criteria for the assessment of STAT Written English

Thought and content (the quality of what is said in the piece of writing)

• what is made of and developed from the task
• the kinds of thought and feelings offered in response to the task

Structure and organisation (the quality of the structure and organisation developed to say something)

• the shape and form of the piece
• the sequence and cohesion of the piece

Expression, style and mechanics (the quality of the language used to organise and present what is said)

• the effectiveness and appropriateness of the language
• The expressiveness and fluency of the language
• the control of the mechanics of English