1.2 Results, Year-Level Norms & How Schools Select
Key Takeaways
Edutest compares each student's results with thousands of other students in the same year level across Australia.
On any one Edutest test, more than half of students score in the average range, with about a quarter above it and a quarter below it.
Edutest has no pass mark; each school sets its own entrance criteria and is the sole decision maker when awarding places.
Edutest does not give results to parents; schools decide whether to release a parent report, and selection can take 3 to 8 weeks.
Under the results transfer process, a student sits once per testing period at the earliest-dated school, and results only transfer forward.
Results, Year-Level Norms & How Schools Select
Core Insight: Edutest results are comparative. Edutest says each student's results are "determined based on a comparison to results achieved by thousands of other students in the same year level across Australia". There is no pass mark: each school sets its own criteria and makes its own decisions.
Classroom tests are usually criterion-referenced: a mark shows how much of a defined body of content you demonstrated, so 42 out of 50 reads as 84%. Edutest scholarship and entrance results are norm-referenced: they describe where a performance sits compared with a reference group of students. A raw score that looks low on a hard paper can still compare well with other candidates.
What Edutest Says About Results
| Official point | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Results are compared with thousands of students in the same year level across Australia | A Year 6 candidate is compared with Year 6 students, not with older applicants. Edutest's pages do not describe adjustment by exact age |
| Results are grouped into Ability (Verbal and Numerical Reasoning) and Achievement (Reading Comprehension, Mathematics and Written Expression) | Schools can see whether a student's reasoning and learned skills tell the same story |
| More than half of the students who take these tests score on any one test in the average or normal range; around one quarter score above it and around one quarter below | Scoring in the average range is common, even for strong students, because the applicant pool is made up of high achievers |
| Most students get only about half the questions correct, and many do not finish | A paper that feels hard is normal. Do not panic in the middle of a test |
| Results reflect performance "on that particular testing occasion only" | Fatigue, inexperience and anxiety can affect a result. Edutest does not retest a student whose result seems too low |
Reading a norm-referenced report
Edutest does not provide results to parents. Schools may choose to give parents a report comparing the student's performance with other students at the same year level, and some schools choose not to. Edutest's public pages do not publish its score scale or band labels, so do not trust any website that claims a fixed "scholarship score".
If your school does share a report, these general terms help you read it:
- Raw score: the number of questions answered correctly on a test.
- Percentile rank: the percentage of the comparison group who scored at or below the student. A percentile rank of 75 means the student scored as well as or better than about 75% of the group.
- Average range: a middle band covering the typical results of the comparison group. Edutest's description, with more than half of students in the average range and about a quarter on each side, is a band like this.
- Stanine: a 1 to 9 scale used by some testing organisations, with 5 in the middle. Only interpret a stanine if it actually appears on your report, and read the report's own key.
Worked example: If a comparison group has 2,000 Year 6 students and 1,560 of them scored at or below Priya on Numerical Reasoning, her percentile rank is about . Priya did better than or as well as about 78% of the group, even if her raw mark was only about half the questions.
No Pass Mark: Schools Decide
Edutest states that schools "set their own criteria for entrance and are the sole decision maker when awarding places". Edutest supplies results to the client schools after testing and data analysis, and tells schools that results are delivered within seven working days. Each school's selection timeline then differs and can take 3 to 8 weeks from the testing date, or longer depending on applicant numbers and places available.
Many schools combine test results with other information, such as school reports, interviews or portfolios. Those requirements are school-specific, so read the school's registration information carefully. Because offers depend on the number of places and the strength of that year's applicants, the "cut-off" can change from year to year and from school to school.
Registration, Fees and the Results Transfer Process
| Topic | Official rule |
|---|---|
| How to register | Through the link on each school's website (or supplied by the school), using one Edutest parent account and the same email address for every application |
| Fees | Each school sets its own application fee, and a separate payment is required for every school, even when results are transferred |
| Refunds | Requests up to 7 days before a testing date are considered individually; approved withdrawals attract a 25% administration fee, and some schools' fees are non-refundable. No refunds within 7 days of the testing date |
| Results transfer | For participating schools, a student sits once in Terms 1 and 2, once in Term 3 and once in Term 4, at the school with the earliest testing date; results then go forward to later schools in that period |
| No back-transfer | Results cannot be transferred to a school whose testing date is earlier than the student's sitting, or into the next calendar year |
| Opt-out schools | Schools that state "There is no sharing or transferring of results" require their own sitting |
Worked example: Sam applies to School A (testing 28 February) and School B (testing 1 March). Both use the transfer process. Sam must sit on 28 February at School A, and Edutest sends the results to School B after its testing date. Sam cannot choose to sit at School B instead and send the results backwards.
Special Arrangements, Illness and Medical Conditions
- Special Testing Arrangements: For a student with a disability or chronic medical condition, requests must be made no later than 14 days before the testing date, supported by a report from a diagnosing or treating professional that is no more than 12 months old. The school decides what, if any, accommodations to approve.
- Serious ongoing medical conditions: Families of a student with a condition such as diabetes or anaphylaxis must email Edutest's registrar no later than 14 days before the testing date.
- Illness on the day: A medical certificate must reach Edutest by midday on the first working day after the testing. Providing one does not automatically give the student an alternative arrangement.
What This Means for Preparation
- Aim for broad strength. You do not know how a particular school weighs the Ability and Achievement results, so avoid leaving any test underprepared.
- Practise at your own year level first. Edutest recommends practice tests at the student's current year level, moving to the level above only after those are completed.
- Expect to leave some questions unsolved. With most students getting about half the questions right, the goal is to collect every mark you can reach and guess the rest.
- Keep perspective. A single sitting is one snapshot, and schools decide offers using their own criteria.
According to Edutest, who are a candidate's results compared with?
Only the other applicants who sat the test at the same school on the same day
A fixed national pass mark that has not changed since the test was introduced
Thousands of other students in the same year level across Australia
Students in the same calendar-age band, adjusted by exact date of birth
Edutest describes how scores spread on any one of its tests. Which statement matches that description?
More than half score in the average range, about a quarter above and a quarter below
Only the top 4% of students score above the average range on each test
Most students answer at least 80% of the questions correctly
Every student who finishes all the questions scores above the average range
A family asks why their child was not offered a scholarship after an Edutest sitting. Based on Edutest's published information, who decides offers?
Edutest, using a single national cut-off score
Each school, using its own entrance criteria as the sole decision maker
The state education department, for every independent school
The school, but only after Edutest retests students who were close to the cut-off
Mia applies to School A (testing on 28 February) and School B (testing on 1 March). Both schools use Edutest's results transfer process. What happens?
She must sit two separate tests, one at each school, on both dates
She may choose to sit only at School B and send the results back to School A
She skips testing and is assessed on her school reports alone
She sits on 28 February at School A; the results go to School B later
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.