STAT has been developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to assess a range of competencies commonly considered important for success in tertiary study.

STAT Multiple Choice, which is the version accepted by Charles Darwin University, is a two-hour test under exam conditions containing 70 multiple-choice questions, half of which are ‘verbal reasoning’ and half ‘quantitative’. The questions are designed to assess the ability to think critically and to make sense of a variety of material.

For instance, applicants may be required to read and think about a prose passage, interpret a graph, use basic mathematical relationships or make inferences from a table of data.

If you are applying for a CDU course that accepts special entry you may choose to sit the STAT or be considered on the basis of your previous STAT result.

The UniWeb application instructions will tell you about how to have a previous STAT result considered, including information on how to complete the relevant item of the UniWeb application.

Are you eligible to sit the STAT?

To be eligible to use the STAT as the basis for admission for Charles Darwin University courses:

• You must be 19 years or over before January 1, 2012 for entry in Semester 1, 2012
• You must not hold a completed higher education level award
• If you were last enrolled in a course leading to a higher education level award in 2008, 2009 or 2010, you must not have completed more than the equivalent of one full-time year of study in that course.

How to book a sitting

When you apply through SATAC, UniWeb, you will be asked if you want to sit the STAT. Depending on when you apply you will be given a choice of venues and dates.

Your booking will be confirmed when you pay the fees owing for the STAT. SATAC does not conduct tests outside SA or NT but can assist you in making arrangements to do so.

Before completing section eight of your UniWeb application, contact SATAC staff who will explain the necessary procedures. If you wish to sit the STAT overseas, this must be arranged with the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). ACER manages sittings in 38 centres around the world.

You can register online for an overseas sitting of STAT.

Please note that the costs incurred by overseas testing are often quite high.

Summer Semester 2011 STAT locations

Places are limited and first to apply and pay early will be scheduled in the sittings below:

Casuarina and Alice Springs campus

• Friday, 7 October at 8.45am

Semester 1,  2012 STAT locations

Casuarina and Alice Springs campus

• Friday, 18 November at 8.45am
• Friday, 9 December at 8.45am
• Friday, 20 January at 8.45am

Alternative test site

If you are unable to attend any of the organised sittings listed above, contact SATAC to make alternative testing arrangements.

The STAT coordinator at SATAC will contact you by letter or phone to advise you of the test arrangements.

Note that if your application is very late and/or you are unable to sit the STAT before late December, your STAT results may not be available to SATAC in time for the January offer round.

Help with preparation

Sample questions and answers:

If you apply to sit the STAT, you will be sent the STAT Candidate Information Booklet, which contains sample questions and answers.

An electronic copy of this booklet can be free of charge prior to booking the exam by visiting the ACER website.

Past question papers are not available.
Additional sample questions and answers are provided in the STAT Sample Collection of Questions.

The STAT Sample Collection of Questions is an extra resource which is available for purchase from ACER.

It is designed to reflect a real test.

It has 70 questions, half Verbal Reasoning, half Quantitative Reasoning, and a similar range of difficulty levels as a real test. There is a charge of $25.00 for this booklet and instructions on how to obtain one of these booklets is given on the ACER website.

STAT fees

The cost for a normal sitting of STAT is $93.00. 

A STAT alternative sitting costs and additional $60.00. 

These fees can be paid along with your application fees when you apply on UniWeb. All applicants who wish to sit the STAT must pay:

• Application Processing Fee: $47.00
• STAT Fee: $93.00
• Total: $140.00

Confirmation of testing arrangements

A minimum of ten days before your scheduled test, SATAC will send you a letter confirming your test venue, date and time, together with a candidate information bulletin and a sample question booklet.

You should read the candidate information bulletin carefully, especially the terms and conditions.

Notification of your STAT results

STAT results are sent to SATAC from ACER about four weeks after you have sat the test. Results can be accessed on UniWeb. Go to UniWeb, click on the blue undergraduate Semester 1, 2012 button, then select ‘Services for current applicants’

Contact details

If you would like more information on the Special Tertiary Admissions Test please contact: SATAC or the Charles Darwin University Admissions Team on 08 8946 6442, or email your enquiry to admissions@cdu.edu.au or go to www.satac.edu.au