Find the answers to common questions about using the STAT to support your SATAC application. For questions about a STAT sitting, contact ACER.
There are no lower or upper age limits on sitting the STAT. You cannot use a STAT result for entry to undergraduate courses if you do not meet the minimum age requirement for the STAT pathway.
For entry to an undergraduate course starting in semester 1
You must be at least 18 years of age before 1 February in the year of entry to the course.
For entry to an undergraduate course starting in midyear or a later teaching period
You must be at least 18 years of age before 1 July in the year of entry to the course.
For entry to a TAFE SA higher education course
If you are applying for a higher education course offered by TAFE SA there is no age rule for using STAT results.
The dates for ACER's STAT testing windows can be found here. Please check that results from your STAT sitting will be available in time for you to be considered in scheduled offer rounds.
You can sit STAT once within a test window. There is no restriction on how many times you can sit STAT in a year (providing that they are different test windows). For more details, please refer to the STAT registration page. If you have done multiple STAT sittings across separate STAT years, SATAC will use your most competitive score in the assessment of your application.
There are different versions of the STAT. Candidates applying for courses through SATAC will require STAT Multiple Choice.
STAT Written English is not used for entry to undergraduate courses through SATAC. Interstate tertiary institutions may require it.
SATAC applicants who have sat STAT series A, STAT series D, STAT series F or STAT series T can use the results for entry to undergraduate courses offered through SATAC. STAT series E and STAT series G are not used.
STAT Multiple Choice is the version accepted by SATAC's participating institutions. It is a two-hour test containing 70 multiple-choice questions. Half the questions focus on verbal reasoning and half quantitative.
The questions assess the ability to think critically and to make sense of a variety of material. In the test, you might read and think about a prose passage, interpret a graph, use basic mathematical relationships or make inferences from a table of data.
The STAT does not meet prerequisite subject requirements for undergraduate courses. If the course you are applying to has subject prerequisites you will need to meet them with another qualification. Speak to the institution offering the course for advice.
STAT may meet Mathematics prerequisite requirements for some TAFE SA higher education courses. Ask TAFE SA for advice about your circumstances.
If you sit the STAT through ACER you will need to provide permission for ACER to release your results to SATAC.
If SATAC is unable to retrieve your results you will be asked to supply these to us.
If you previously sat the STAT Multiple Choice with SATAC we will access your results electronically.
There is no formal limit on the length of time a STAT score remains valid for applications through SATAC.
If you are applying to study interstate, check with the tertiary admissions centre or institution to which you apply.
You can contact SATAC to get a copy of your previous STAT results. You will need to provide identifying information such as:
- Your full name
- Date of birth
- The year and location in which you sat the test
If you need a reprint of your STAT certificate SATAC can provide an electronic copy of results for STAT sittings held in South Australia and the Northern Territory from 1996 onwards. A fee of $40 applies and you should allow up to 3 business days to process your request.
SATAC is unable to supply replacement STAT certificates for tests undertaken interstate, with ACER, or in SA/NT before 1996 or after March 2022.