ACER conducts standalone trials to validate new PAT assessment content, using statistical analysis and school feedback to select suitable items.
ACER uses standalone trials to validate newly developed content for PAT assessments.
The following topics are covered in this article
Overview of item trialling
ACER undertakes item trialling to determine whether newly developed test content is appropriate for inclusion in final assessments. Statistical analyses are carried out on the trial test data, and these along with feedback from schools, are used to determine what has ‘worked’, and can go into final assessments. We depend on the good will of schools to help us with this part of the test development process.
Most trials run for several weeks to obtain a sufficient sample of responses from students in a wide range of schools covering a range of student abilities to enable reliable and robust psychometric analysis of the items.
When a school decides to take part in a trial, ACER staff assign one of a variety of trial forms to each nominated student. Since the purpose of the trial test is to test the items, not the students, schools typically receive raw score reports only and should exercise caution in their interpretation. Not all items function well enough to be used in final assessments, or measure student skill as well as we would like. Not all test content is appropriate for the final assessment type and method of delivery.
ACER may be able to provide schools that participate in our trials with a period of complimentary access to an assessment upon its release, or other incentives as a thank-you for the school's time and effort in coordinating the item trialling.
A readable, more detailed overview of our trialling process for new test content can be found in the PAT insights article Spotlight on test item trialling.
Current standalone trials
PAT Maths and PAT Reading 2026 trial
Monday 1 June to Friday 30 July.
Open to the following students:
- PAT Reading: Years 2–3 & Years 5–10.
- PAT Maths: Years 3–6 & Year 8.
Recommended test time:
- PAT Reading: 40 minutes.
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PAT Maths:
- Primary students (Years 3–6): 30 minutes.
- Secondary students (Year 8): 40 minutes.
- ACER will assign the test forms to your participating students.
- Ensure all participating students’ details are correct and new students are added to your school's OARS account prior to Monday 25, May.
Our offer:
- The first 30 schools to complete at least 50 trial tests will receive complimentary access to selected assessment(s).