10 countries that conduct mandatory university admission tests

By , K24 Digital
On Sat, 28 Jan, 2023 06:00 | 2 mins read
Students in India sitting for an admission test. PHOTO/Courtesy
Students in India sitting for an admission test. PHOTO/Courtesy

Admissions tests (also referred to as 'entry tests') are another way to help universities distinguish the top applicants, particularly for competitive courses, in many countries in the world.

This is a list of countries and standardized tests students take for college or university admissions.

Australia

In Australia, there are different types of admission tests that students take before joining universities. The tests include;
STAT – Special Tertiary Admissions Test, aptitude test for non–school leavers.
UCAT – University Clinical Aptitude Test, required for undergraduate entry to many Australian and New Zealand undergraduate-entry medical and dental schools.
GAMSAT – Graduate Australian Medical School Admissions Test, required for graduate entry to many Australian graduate–entry medical and dental schools.

Canada

GED – High School Diploma Equivalent.
CAEL – Canadian Academic English Language Assessment.

France

Baccalauréat (or Bac) – Test for all undergraduate students looking to enter a university in France.

Germany

Abitur – Test for German students who want to apply to a university in Germany.

India

Admission procedures and entry tests vary widely across states and universities/institutes in India.

Usually, admission to a university in a state is based on the performance of the candidates in the statewide Higher Secondary Examinations.

These are usually given after completion of the twelfth standard/grade, for example, the HSC examinations of Maharashtra.

Admission into federally established institutes like the Indian Institutes of Technology and the National Institutes of Technology is usually based on a combination of performance in nationwide exams such as the Joint Entrance Examination and the state–level Higher Secondary examinations.

Israel

Psychometric Entrance Test – Required for undergraduate entry to most universities in Israel.

Nigeria

Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) – Mandatory computer-based test for all candidates (including non-Nigerians) applying to study at any Nigerian university.

Russia

Unified State Exam – every student must pass after graduation from school to enter a university or a professional college.

United Kingdom

Most applicants to universities in the UK take national examinations such as A-levels or Scottish Highers.

Separate admissions tests are used by a small number of universities for specific subjects (particularly Law, Mathematics and Medicine, and courses at Oxford and Cambridge).

United States

Applicants to universities in the United States take standardized tests like;

SAT – formerly Scholastic Aptitude Test, now Scholastic Assessment Test.
SAT Subject Tests (discontinued in 2021).
ACT – formerly American College Testing Program or American College Test.
Advanced Placement (AP).
CLT
– Classic Learning Test.
THEA – Texas Higher Education Assessment.
GED – HSE or High School Diploma Equivalent; GED, HiSET, or TASC brand of tests, depending on the State.
PERT – Replaced Accuplacer as the standard college placement test in Florida.

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