Scholarship and entrance testing

Scholarship and entrance tests are comprised of Ability tests and Achievement tests.

The Ability tests

Ability tests in Verbal and Numerical Reasoning are designed to measure a student's ability to think, reason and solve problems, without necessarily relying on prior knowledge. Ability generally predicts how quickly a student will be able to learn and the level of complexity they can comfortably deal with.

Verbal Reasoning Numerical Reasoning
30 minutes long
multiple-choice		 30 minutes long
multiple-choice
Measures the ability to think and reason using words and language. This includes vocabulary, word relationships, classification and deduction.
 Measures the ability to think and reason using numbers. This includes series, matrices, arithmetical reasoning and deduction.

The Achievement tests

Achievement tests in Reading Comprehension, Mathematics and Written Expression are designed to measure actual achievement or performance in some key academic areas. Achievement scores are influenced by a student's ability, as well as the application and practise of knowledge that has been learned.

Reading Comprehension Mathematics
30 minutes long
multiple-choice		 30 minutes long
multiple-choice
Measures the capacity to read and interpret meaning from written passages, as well as correct, complete and punctuate sentences.
 Measures year level appropriate mathematical knowledge, including items covering numbers, measurement, algebra, space and data.
Written Expression
15 minutes long - no planning or reading time
This test assesses the ability to convey ideas clearly in written form. Punctuation, creativity, construction, grammar, spelling and relevance to the task are assessed. Any of the following modes of writing may be assessed: creative, descriptive, narrative, persuasive, expository or informative.

Please note:
Students need to exercise care during the test process. They must:

Should a student discover, after the testing is completed, that they have lost their place, or entered answers on the multiple-choice answer sheet/s out of order, Edutest is not able to manually score the test or adjust the position of answers.

These items are not permitted to be brought to an Edutest test:

How results are calculated
Results are categorised into two sections: Ability and Achievement.

The Abilities tests (Verbal Reasoning and Numeral Reasoning) estimate a student's potential to learn, and apply reason and logic.

The Achievement tests (Reading Comprehension, Mathematics and Written Expression) give an indication of what has been learned and execution of learned skills.

The categorisation is based on a comparison to results returned by thousands of other students in the same year level across Australia. These results reflect the student's performance on that particular testing occasion only and are not necessarily prescriptive.
Please remember that students applying for scholarships are generally high achievers, and more than half of the students who take these tests will score on any one test in the 'average' or 'normal' range. Around one quarter of students will get scores higher than the average range and around one quarter will score lower than the average range. Keep in mind results can be affected by things such as fatigue, limited test-taking experience and anxiety.

All tests only reflect a student's performance at that moment in time, and it is possible that due to the factors listed above, a student’s true ability may be underestimated or they may not perform as well as they had hoped on the day. We are unable to retest a student if you believe this is the case.