Designed and standardised in Australia
Higher Ability
Selection Test
Ensure your students are appropriately challenged
HAST provides a reliable assessment to help schools effectively identify high-ability students for selective entry and for extension throughout their schooling in gifted and talented programs.
An assessment tool for measuring higher-order reasoning ability and academic aptitude
HAST is trusted by schools across Australia to assist in measuring and finely distinguishing between high-ability students to further their learning progress.
For more than 50 years, schools around Australia have been using ACER academic reasoning tests to identify academically gifted students for the award of a scholarship or selection into a high-ability class or program
Reliable testing to identify academically gifted students
HAST offers testing at the Primary level, as well as 3 levels for Secondary students: Junior, Middle and Senior.
Primary
Designed for entry into years 5 & 6
- Mathematical Reasoning
- Abstract Reasoning
- Reading Comprehension
- Written Expression
Secondary
Designed for entry into years 7 to 11
- Mathematical & Scientific Reasoning
- Abstract Reasoning
- Reading Comprehension
- Written Expression
All assessments are paper-only
Reporting
Multiple-choice tests are finely analysed using machine scoring, while qualified human markers assess the written expression test.
Schools receive both individual student reports and a school report that provides a clear ranking of students across the testing areas.
ACER provides complimentary assistance in interpreting results, with customised analysis and reporting available on request.
Testing for selective entry, accelerated classes and gifted programs
- Schools choose from a range of test packages to meet their particular educational needs.
- Schools choose the test date.
- ACER delivers the test package, including test booklets, answer booklets, candidate information bulletin and test administration guidelines.
- ACER provides a 10-working-day turnaround between receipt of the completed tests and provision of results.
Free guide to identifying high-ability students
When identifying high-ability students, it is important that your processes are rigorous and defensible. Read our free guide to identifying these students – based on our 50 years of experience in developing academic selection tests.
The guide covers:
- Assessing higher order, cross-curricular reasoning skills that are characteristic of gifted students.
- The importance of data triangulation for obtaining a comprehensive picture of student ability.
- General population tests versus evidence-based reasoning assessments.
HAST tests skills, not retrieved knowledge
Aptitude testing is designed to measure ability and academic potential, unlike curriculum-based tests that typically identify what a student has already learned.
Using HAST results to identify top performers
Students of high ability deserve to be appropriately challenged and too often are not identified because of ineffective assessment tools.
While some population-testing instruments claim to identify the full range of student ability, they often are unable to distinguish high-ability students from other test takers. A test that has few appropriately difficult test items can create what is known as a ’test ceiling effect’ where a significant proportion of students will achieve near-perfect scores. This can result in an inability to distinguish among the highest performers and make accurate selection decisions where it is most required. HAST is designed to finely differentiate these top performers to make entrance screening and classroom planning easier for teachers and school leaders.
The typical testing cycle
Need help getting started?
Our expert support team is ready to assist.
Parents of students, please contact your school for more information.
+61 3 9007 2037