STAT Frequently Asked Questions

There are no age limits for sitting the STAT. However, you cannot use a STAT result to apply for undergraduate courses if you do not meet the minimum age requirement for the STAT pathway.

Undergraduate courses starting in Semester 1

• You must be at least 18 years old by 1 February in the year you start the course.

Undergraduate courses starting mid-year or later

• You must be at least 18 years old by 1 July in the year you start the course.

TAFE SA higher education courses

• There is no age requirement for using STAT results when applying for higher education courses offered by TAFE SA.

You can find the dates for ACER’s STAT testing windows here. 

Make sure that the results from your STAT sitting will be available in time to be considered for the scheduled offer rounds.

You can sit the STAT once per test window. There is no limit to how many times you can sit the STAT in a year, as long as each attempt is in a different test window.

If you have completed multiple STAT sittings across different years, SATAC will use your most competitive score when assessing your application.

For more details, see the STAT registration page.

There are different versions of the STAT, but if you are applying for courses through SATAC, you will need to sit the STAT Multiple Choice (MC).

The STAT Written English is not used for entry to undergraduate courses through SATAC, though some interstate tertiary institutions may require it.

STAT Multiple Choice (MC) is the version accepted by SATAC’s participating institutions. It is a two-hour test, including reading time, with 70 multiple-choice questions. Half of the questions focus on verbal reasoning, and the other half focus on quantitative reasoning.

The test is designed to assess critical thinking, problem-solving, and general reasoning skills. It does not test academic knowledge and does not require in-depth understanding of any specific subject.

ACER provides helpful tools to prepare for the STAT MC test, which can be found here.

The STAT does not meet prerequisite subject requirements for undergraduate courses. If the course you are applying for has prerequisite subjects, you will need to meet them through another qualification. Contact the institution offering the course if you are unsure.

For some TAFE SA higher education courses, the STAT may meet Mathematics prerequisite requirements. Contact TAFE SA for advice about your specific circumstances.

You can find information on how ACER reports STAT results here. 

If you sit the STAT through ACER, you will need to give permission for ACER to release your results to SATAC.

If SATAC is unable to access your results electronically, you will be asked to provide them yourself.

If you have previously sat the STAT Multiple Choice (MC) through SATAC, your results will be accessed electronically.

There is no formal expiry for a STAT score when applying through SATAC – it can be used regardless of when you sat the test.

If you are applying to study interstate, check with the relevant tertiary admissions centre or institution to confirm their rules.

SATAC can access most STAT results through the ACER National Database. If your results cannot be retrieved, we will notify you by email with instructions on what to do next.