What do clickbait headlines, e-scooters and Kraftwerk have in common?
All featured in the General Achievement Test, the first major exam this year for year 11 and 12 students, which ran for a marathon four hours, divided into two morning and afternoon sessions.
Aspiring lawyer Suha Shahzad said she felt as prepared as she could be for the looming year 12 exam period, but Wednesday’s test was taxing.
“It was test conditions the entire time, so you’re pretty keyed up all the way through it,” she said.
“But we’ve done SACs [school-assessed coursework], practice exams, actual exams, so it’s not too bad.”
The year 12 student at Box Hill High School said she enjoyed the problem-solving questions and an article on how students can beat procrastination.
She and her classmates were among almost 90,000 senior students who sat the revamped GAT on Wednesday.
Writing an instruction guide for e-scooter riders was among the tasks, as were assessing the importance of German band Kraftwerk, and analysing clickbait headlines for effectiveness.
The GAT will be used to assess students’ literacy, numeracy and general knowledge, and the stakes have been raised this year.
Though the test does not count towards a student’s overall grades, literacy and numeracy scores will be recorded on graduating certificates for the first time, giving prospective employers a better sense of students’ capabilities in reading and mathematics.