The General Achievement Test (GAT) is an Australian test of general knowledge and skills including communication, mathematics, science and technology, the arts, humanities and social sciences. From 2022, the GAT is delivered in two sections, held as two separate tests on the same day. Section A assesses literacy and numeracy. Section B assesses mathematics, science, technology, the arts and humanities. All senior secondary students in Victoria, including Senior VCAL students, sit Section A. All students enrolled in one or more VCE Unit 3–4 subject (including scored VCE VET) sit Sections A and B.https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/assessment/vce-assessment/general-achievement-test/Pages/WhattoExpect.aspx Section A is a two hour Literacy and Numeracy test with 15 minutes reading time. It includes 100 multiple choice questions (50 for Literacy and 50 for Numeracy), and two Literacy writing tasks. Section B is a 1.5 hour General Knowledge and Skills test with 15 minutes reading time. It includes 50 multiple choice questions and one writing task. Although the GAT is not a part of the graduation requirements and does not count towards a student's final VCE results or

ATAR Atar, Atash, or Azar ( ae, 𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭, translit=ātar) is the Zoroastrian concept of holy fire, sometimes described in abstract terms as "burning and unburning fire" or "visible and invisible fire" (Mirza, 1987:389). It is considered to b ...

, the GAT plays an important role in checking that a school's assessments and examinations have been accurately assessed. Year 12 Western Australian students sat the GAT for a short period. This test was introduced into

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

as a trial to provide schools with feedback on the standard of assessment used for the new

WACE Wace ( 1110 – after 1174), sometimes referred to as Robert Wace, was a Medieval Norman poet, who was born in Jersey and brought up in mainland Normandy (he tells us in the ''Roman de Rou'' that he was taken as a child to Caen), ending his care ...

courses. The GAT in Western Australia was however abandoned after the trial period and is no longer used. In 2007,

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

began taking the GAT into consideration for middle band students. It was initially for Victorian students who missed out on courses because their ATAR score was just below the cut-off score. Currently, it is only considered if two students have the same ATAR, prerequisite study scores and are trying to get into the same course. Their GAT score can then be used to differentiate between one getting in and the other not.

GATchphrase

In 2009, a student-organised movement headed by Lucas Shipsides and fuelled by

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

brought the GAT to the attention of the national press, by suggesting that students make as many references to actor

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by George Clooney, numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film A ...

as possible in their answers. This became known as 'Project Clooney '09'. Over 8,000 students are believed to have participated in the statewide prank/meme. After this level of participation was observed, it became customary, as a form of parody/protest, to incorporate GAT catch phrases, or GATchphrases in the test in following years. Each year, an event is started on

that gains popularity and is promoted to be used by students state-wide. Recent years have included '' Nic Nat in the GAT'' (2013),

Schapelle Corby Schapelle Leigh Corby (born 10 July 1977) is an Australian woman who was convicted of smuggling cannabis into Indonesia. She spent nine years imprisoned on the Indonesian island of Bali in Kerobokan Prison. Since her arrest Corby has publicly ...

(2014) and ''The Cat in the Hat in the GAT'' (2015). In late April 2016 a poll was held on the VCE Discussion Space Facebook group to choose the "Gatchphrase" for that year. Over 1,500 votes were cast, with the theme of ''

Shannon Noll Shannon Noll (born 16 September 1975) is an Australian singer-songwriter who first came to prominence as runner-up of the first season of ''Australian Idol'' in 2003, which led to him being signed to Sony BMG. He has released five top ten albu ...

was robbed of the 2003

Australian Idol ''Australian Idol'' is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the ''Idol'' franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program ''Pop Idol' ...

title'' winning with over 1,000 votes. A public Facebook event page was created for the theme, and by the date of the GAT it had an attendance of over 3,600 students.

References

External links

GAT
on the VCAA website {{Education in Australia, state=collapsed Education in Victoria (Australia) Education in Western Australia Standardised tests in Australia Australian Certificate of Education