The use of an aptitude test in university entrance - a validity study

The NFER is carrying out a 5-year longitudinal study examining the use of an aptitude test, alongside A levels, in university entrance. The study is tracking a cohort of over 8000 young people that took the SAT Reasoning TestTM in 2005. Degree outcomes of those young people that attended HE will be collected in 2009 and 2010.

The project is co-funded by the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills, the Sutton Trust, NFER and the College Board .

Research Outline

There is considerable research underpinning this study, much of it summarised in a review undertaken by NFER for the Sutton Trust in 2001. The bulk of the research consists of validation, correlation and prediction studies conducted in the USA using the SAT® .

In the UK, the principal study preceding the current research is the pilot comparison of A levels with SAT® scores conducted by NFER for The Sutton Trust in 2000. SAT® scores were collected together with GCSE results, A level grades and a range of background information for students from a sample of high-attaining maintained schools, low-attaining maintained schools and selective independent schools. The study revealed that the SAT® was modestly associated with A level grades, and there was no evidence that the association differed according to background factors such as ethnicity, parental socio-economic status or overall achievement of the school. However, the modest association of SAT® scores with A level grades indicated that the SAT® assesses a distinct construct from A levels, which may add predictive strength. This study could not follow up students after their move to university.

Other selection tests are used by universities in the United Kingdom, but none of these is as well constructed or established as the SAT® .

In summary, a review of existing research indicates that the SAT® (or similar reasoning-type aptitude test) adds some predictive power to school / examination grades, but the extent of its value in this respect varies across studies. In the UK, it has been shown that the SAT® is an appropriate test to use and that it is modestly associated with A level grades whilst assessing a different construct. No recent study of the predictive power of SAT® results for university outcomes has been undertaken in the UK, and this proposal aims to provide such information.

A project of this type is likely to attract considerable political and educational attention and provides an opportunity of contributing to a major debate in British education, the best methods of selection of students for university in a time of considerable expansion.

Research Questions

This study aims to provide evidence on the ability of the SAT® alongside A levels to predict university outcomes. In so doing, it will also explore two questions:

  • Can the SAT® identify students with the potential to benefit from higher education whose ability is not adequately reflected in A level results because of their disadvantaged circumstances?
  • Can the SAT® distinguish helpfully between the most able applicants who get straight As at A level?

Impact and outcomes

The project will report in phases, as data becomes available and is analysed.
A report on the relationships between SAT® scores and attainment and findings from the questionnaire surveys was published in 2007. The 2008 report will examine the destinations of students in the sample, relating these to the previously-collected data. This report is currently awaiting publication.

The main report will follow the collection of degree outcomes from HEFCE. It will attempt to relate these to the SAT® scores and the A level outcomes, adjusting as far as possible for the loss of those not selected for university places.

Research and design methods

Phase 1 (2005/07) - completed
A sample of schools and colleges arranged for a large sample of A level students to be tested using a version of the US educational aptitude test, the SAT Reasoning TestTM. This test is owned by the College Board in the USA and developed for them by Educational Testing Service (ETS). The administrative and research aspects of the project were handled by NFER, which arranged the testing exercise, liaised with schools to organise the testing, collected the test papers and gathered background data. The scoring of the tests was arranged and funded by the College Board, who provided the results back to NFER for onward transmission to the schools. NFER also set up a database of the students involved to allow a longitudinal validity study to be conducted.

Following the administration of the SAT®, questionnaire surveys of participating students were undertaken in spring and autumn 2006. The first survey was administered by schools and colleges and the second was posted to students’ home addresses.

In early 2007 NFER obtained information from the National Pupil Dataset on the outcomes of the A-level examinations and examined the relationships between prior attainment (GCSEs), A levels and SAT  scores. In January 2008 NFER received 2006 HE entry data of students in the sample and carried out more complex investigations that included students' background characteristics and HE destinations.

Future phases of the research
The research is being undertaken in association with The Sutton Trust, who will provide support and liaison with universities and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). The exercise will principally be research into the validity of the SAT® alongside A levels to predict participation and performance in Higher Education. Information on the university destinations and degree outcomes will be provided by HEFCE.

Audience(s)

Higher education institutions, schools and further education colleges, participating students, as well as central government and other statutory and voluntary organisations involved with higher education.

Proposed time scale

September 2005 - June 2010

Research findings/reports




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