Entrance exams are designed to assess your readiness for tertiary study and help you gain admission into a course that matches your skills and goals. They provide a flexible entry pathway for applicants who may not meet standard academic requirements to receive an offer.
uniTEST and Core Skills Profile for Adults (CSPA) are online tests and occur under exam conditions. The uniTEST and CSPA are open to applicants who haven’t met the entry requirements required to receive an offer for their preferred course at Avondale, including recent school leavers and mature-age applicants. The uniTEST and CSPA entrance exams are administered through the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER).
Avondale courses consider the STAT (Multiple Choice) administered by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), provided you obtained your STAT results within three years from admission.
uniTEST is a multiple-choice test designed to assess quantitative, critical, and verbal and plausible reasoning. You have two and a half hours to complete ninety-five questions.
The Core Skills Profile for Adults Tertiary (CSPA) online writing assessment is a self-timed, secure online test designed to assess the written communication skills of undergraduate and graduate students. The test aims to assess a student's ability to write effectively. Candidates have 5 minutes to read the test instructions and consider the writing tasks. They then have 20 minutes in
total to respond to the two writing tasks.
Click on the relevant link for more information, including sample questions and information about how to prepare for your tests.
The uniTEST and CSPA entrance exams are an ideal admission pathway if you:
Onshore international students are also eligible for the uniTEST and CSPA entrance exams.
Our Student Administration Services team will contact you to arrange a test date at our Lake Macquarie or Sydney campuses.
If you cannot sit the test at either Avondale campus, you will need to arrange for someone to supervise you while you sit the exam. The supervisor should be a person holding a position of significant responsibility – i.e. employed at a university, school, government department, or similar institution.
The supervisor must:
Avondale will liaise with your nominated supervisor concerning the date, time, and venue for sitting the uniTEST and CSPA entrance exams.
After completing the tests, you receive a score, which we use instead of your ATAR. The score you receive will either:
Avondale receives your test results from ACER and emails your results along with information detailing the next steps of your application. This process can take up to seven business days.
uniTEST Results
Test candidates receive a scale score (out of 100) for each of the three sections (quantitative reasoning, critical reasoning, verbal and plausible reasoning) and a total scale score and Australian percentile rank. The percentile rank indicates how you performed compared to other Australian candidates. For example, a total Australian percentile rank of 47 means that your total scale score is equal to or better than 47% of candidates. uniTEST results are valid for two years.
CSPA Results
There are two writing tasks, Task A (Report) and Task B (Argument), scored holistically. Results from the two tasks combined provide a more reliable picture of a candidates’ writing ability.
Before you apply to sit the uniTEST and CSPA entrance exams, you must make an application to study at Avondale.
If you intend to sit the tests remotely, your nominated supervisor will be required to sign a Supervisor Agreement before we arrange a test date.
SAS will provide you (and your supervisor, if applicable) with instructions before sitting the tests. If you do not adhere to the test instructions and fail to complete the tests, you will be required to pay AUD 25.00 for an additional login. Student Onboarding will contact you to arrange payment. You may also be required to finalise the tests at an alternative date and time.
In just a few hours of your time and successful completion of the uniTEST and Core Skills Profile for Adults (CSPA), you may gain entry into your degree.
Let’s get you into your preferred uni course!