opening page ornament

The Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success acknowledges Indigenous peoples across Australia as the Traditional Owners of the lands on which the nation’s campuses are situated. With a history spanning more than 60,000 years as the original educators, Indigenous peoples hold a unique place in our nation. We recognise the importance of their knowledge and culture, and reflect the principles of participation, equity, and cultural respect in our work. We pay our respects to Elders past, present, and future, and consider it an honour to learn from our Indigenous colleagues, partners, and friends.

You are reading: Can aptitude tests pick the ‘right’ students for university?

Written by Dr Tim Pitman for The Conversation

Since 2007, the Australian government has been evaluating a pilot aptitude test for future university students. The test is meant to help universities select students who might have the ability to undertake tertiary education but who got bad scores at the end of high school. The result is uniTEST which claims to evaluate quantitative, critical, verbal and plausible reasoning. Before looking at the results of the pilot, a quick explanation is required about supplementary tests and why universities use them.

Continue reading…