SAT® validity study
From 2005 to 2010, NFER evaluated the potential use of general university admissions test for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). NFER tracked the progress of over 8000 A level students and compared their results on the test taken in 2005 with the degrees they achieved in 2009.
In 2005, over 8000 A level students took the SAT® Reasoning Test. It was hoped that if students with high SAT® scores went on to achieve better degrees than those with low SAT® scores and vice versa, the test might be useful as an additional HE admissions tool.
The results of the evaluation showed that the SAT® added very little information to that already provided by A levels and GSCEs and therefore developing a standardised general admissions test would not be a worthwhile investment.
For more information on our assessment evaluation work, please contact:
Catherine Kirkup, Assessment Research Director
Assessment-related publications | More about our work in assessment | Assessment home