All about the National Benchmark Tests 2024/2025
The National Benchmark Tests assess how ready you are for tertiary studies in South Africa. Here’s everything you need to know about the registrations, test schedules and deadlines.
THIS YEAR’S NATIONAL BENCHMARK TEST REGISTRATIONS OPEN ON 1 APRIL 2024.
What are the National Benchmark Tests?
The National Benchmark Tests were first introduced in 2005 by Universities South Africa (formerly HESA) and is an assessment to see how university-ready prospective first-year students are.
These tests have 3 purposes:
- To assess entry-level academic literacy and mathematics skills.
- To assess the relationship between entry-level skills and school-level exit results.
- To provide institutions with additional information in the admission and placement of entry-level students.
There are two tests that potentially need to be taken, depending on what your teen will be studying.
1. Academic and Quantitative Literacy (AQL) test
Also known as the AQL test, this is a multiple-choice test in a 3-hour morning session. A combination of academic literacy and quantitative literacy, it needs to be taken by all applicants regardless of what they’re planning to study.
The AQL test: R80.
2. Mathematics (MAT) test
This test, also known as MAT, is written by applicants to programmes for which maths is a requirement. It is also multiple-choice and the student has 3 hours to complete it.
AQL and MAT tests: R160
Benefits
- The results of these tests will help institutions build courses around your level of learning.
- It could give you the edge they may need to get into selective institutions.
- Many bursary awarders use the NBT results to help them make their decisions.
There is no pass mark for the NBTs, rather higher education institutions use the Benchmark levels or results in addition to other available information when processing applications and determining placements.
What is the difference between the NSC and the NBT?
The National Senior Certificate exams test how well you meet the Grade 12 curriculum expectations.
The National Benchmark Tests see how ready you are for tertiary studies.
When and where?
The tests, which can be taken in both English and Afrikaans, can only be written on selected Saturdays or Sundays, from 20 May 2024 to 6 January 2024, at specific test stations across each province. If you cannot travel to any of these stations, you may register as a remote writer.
Your NBT score will be released to the institutions 2 to 3 weeks after you sat the tests. Please note that each tertiary institution has their own deadlines for NBT results so ensure you book your session and write well in advance.
Both tests are written on one day: the AQL in the morning and the MAT in the afternoon.
To find out more about when and where you can write, see the test dates and sites section on the National Benchmark Tests website.
What are the National Benchmark Tests like?
There are no old exam papers available and teachers are not allowed to take the tests in order to help their learners prepare. The NBT website includes exemplar questions from each of the tests so you can test yourself and get a feel for the kind of questions that you’ll be faced with in the tests.
Claire Mathieson, who studied at the University of Cape Town, had this to say about taking the NBTs. “The tests were not particularly challenging or scary but were formatted differently and made you think a little more. There were familiar concepts but set out in a university style, meaning if you could handle a university exam, you could handle university. I was confused by the way certain questions were phrased, but I clearly worked it out.”
Image: National Benchmark Tests Project website
Results
Once you have registered with an institution and write the tests, it takes 4 weeks to get the full results. If the results aren’t what you were hoping for, the tests can be written a second time at an additional cost, and only if the institution agrees.
Even if your child has applied to more than one institution, they only have to write the tests once as the results can be accessed by anyone who has permission to see them.
So what are the benchmark levels? Your results will fall into one of these categories: proficient, intermediate or basic. The NBT website explains it as follows:
Proficient:
Test performance suggests that future academic performance will not be adversely affected (students may pass or fail at university, but this is highly unlikely to be attributable to strengths or weaknesses in the domains tested). If admitted, students may be placed into regular programmes of study.
Intermediate:
The challenges identified are such that it is predicted that academic progress will be adversely affected. If admitted, students’ educational needs should be met as deemed appropriate by the institution (e.g. extended or augmented programmes, special skills provision).
Basic:
Test performance reveals serious learning challenges: it is predicted that students will not cope with higher education study without extensive and long-term support, perhaps best provided through bridging programmes (i.e. non-credit preparatory courses, special skills provision) or Further Education and Training (FET) provision. Institutions admitting students performing at this level would need to provide such support themselves.
To see how your marks fit into the benchmark levels, click here.
Remarking
You could apply to have your test remarked (R250 fee). Ensure you apply for the remark within 30 days of receiving your test results.
How did you find the NBTs? Do you think these tests will boost your chances at getting accepted into your university of choice?