The Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT) is a scholastic aptitude test, used for entry into undergraduate programs at Australian universities for people without a recent Australian Tertiary Admission Rank

Australian Tertiary Admission Rank

The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank is the primary criterion for entry into most undergraduate-entry university programs in Australia, it was gradually introduced during 2009 and 2010 to replace the Universities Admission Index, Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank and Tertiary Entrance...

 (ATAR).

The test is designed by the Australian Council for Educational Research

Australian Council for Educational Research

The Australian Council for Educational Research , established in 1930, is an independent educational research organisation based in Camberwell, Victoria and with offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Dubai and India...

, and administered separately by the central tertiary admissions centre in each state and territory

States and territories of Australia

The Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a...

 and the University of Tasmania

University of Tasmania

The University of Tasmania is a medium-sized public Australian university based in Tasmania, Australia. Officially founded on 1 January 1890, it was the fourth university to be established in nineteenth-century Australia...

. Some institutions require the STAT to be undertaken for all applicants for certain courses.

Consisting of two parts, the STAT assesses core competencies deemed necessary for university entrance, testing critical thinking and reasoning skills rather than knowledge. There are currently three types of STAT in use:

• The STAT Multiple Choice

The standard test used by tertiary admissions centres. Contains 70 questions, 35 of which are testing Verbal (humanities and social science) competencies and 35 Qualitative (mathematical and scientific) competencies. The test is two hours in duration.

• The STAT F - used by individual institutions

This test is used by some individual institutions to determine eligibility for entrance into specific courses. It also contains 70 questions, half of which are Verbal and half Quantitative, and is two hours in duration.

• The STAT Written English

This test is used by some tertiary admissions centres and institutions, in addition to either the STAT Multiple Choice or the STAT F. The test is a one-hour test of the candidate's ability to express themselves in writing.

The STAT score is reported as a numeric mark between 100 and 200 (200 being a perfect score). The score indicates the candidate's potential academic capacity in relation to past or potential candidates, as the questions are relative across years and test forms. STAT scores are then translated into ENTER scores for university admission through calculation of the percentile rank of the candidate in relation to the test-taking population for the previous six years.

The STAT Written English is required for international students to assess their English language skills. The STAT Multiple Choice is required for entry into a number of tertiary courses, for example Bachelor of Pharmacy

Bachelor of Pharmacy

A Bachelor of Pharmacy is an undergraduate academic degree in the field of pharmacy. The degree is the basic prerequisite for registration to practice as a pharmacist in many countries. In some countries, it has been superseded by the Master of Pharmacy and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees...

 at the University of Sydney

University of Sydney

The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...

.

See also

• Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test
  Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test
  The Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test is a test administered by the Australian Council for Educational Research in Australia and New Zealand to assist in the selection of students into certain health science courses including most medical and Dentistry courses, as well...
  
   (also created by ACER)
• GAMSAT
  GAMSAT
  The Graduate Australian Medical School Admissions Test is a test used to select candidates applying to study medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and veterinary science at Australian, British, and Irish universities for admission to their Graduate Entry Programmes The Graduate Australian Medical School...
  
   (also created by ACER)
• ACT Scaling Test
  ACT Scaling Test
  The ACT Scaling Test is a test of aptitude in studies for Year 12 students in the Australian Capital Territory set by the ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies and created by the Australian Council for Educational Research...
  
   (also created by ACER)
• SAT
  SAT
  The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still...
  
   (College admission test in the United States that is similar to the STAT)
• University admission
• Education in Australia
  Education in Australia
  Education in Australia is primarily the responsibility of the states and territories. Each state or territory government provides funding and regulates the public and private schools within its governing area. The federal government helps fund the public universities, but is not involved in setting...
  
  

External links

• ACER's STAT page
• NSW University Admissions Centre, which also covers entrance to ACT universities
• Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre
• SA Tertiary Admissions Centre, which also covers entrance to NT universities
• University of Tasmania application information
• Victorian Tertiary Admission Centre
• WA Tertiary Institutions Service Centre