General Aptitude Test (GAT)

Introduction:​

The GAT is a test that targets secondary school graduates who wish to pursue their studies in institutions of higher education. It measures several aspects that are related to the educational process, such as a student's analytical and deductive skills. The test is composed of two sections: verbal (language-related) and quantitative (mathematic).​

About the test
GAT measures analytical and deductive skills. It focuses on testing the general  ability for learning regardless of any specific skill in a certain subject or topic. The test is offered in Arabic.The weight allocated to GAT as an admission requirement varies from one university to another. It typically ranges between 30% and 40%, while the remaining percentage is distributed between high school GPA and SAAT, if applicable.​​
GAT Objectives:
This test aims to measure a student's analytical and deductive skills. It focuses on testing a student's general  ability for learning through measuring the following:reading comprehension ability.ability to recognize logical relations.ability to solve problems based on basic mathematical concepts.inference abilitymeasuring ability.GAT Sections:The test is divided into two sections: verbal and quantitative.First: The verbal section which includes the following.Reading comprehension: Ability to read, comprehend and analyze texts through answering questions based on the content of such texts.    .Sentence completion: Ability to fill in the missing parts of short texts to make complete meaningful sentences using deductive and analytical abilities..Verbal analogy: Ability to identify the relation between a pair of words given at the beginning of the test item against  a set of pairs given in the choices and determine the matching pair.Contextual error: Ability to understand the general meaning of a sentence, and then identify the word whose meaning is not consistent with the context of the general meaning.Relationship and difference: Ability to understand the relationship that links three choices to each other and determine the different choice, or identify the most relevant relationship from the given choices that can be linked to the beginning of the test item.Second: The quantitative section which includes mathematical problems appropriate for the aptitude test according to high school major (science / arts). It focuses on assessment, inference and problem solving skills and requires only basic knowledge. For the science major, the test items are divided as follows :Arithmetic questions  36 %Geometry questions 18 %Algebra questions 10 %Statistical and analytical questions 18 %Comparison questions 18%For the arts major students, the test  includes items on basic arithmetic, geometry and mathematical analysis. The percentage of such items is lower than that for the science major.More information:Some trial questions are included in both the verbal and the quantitative sections but they do not calculate towards the final score.​Questions alternate between the verbal type and the quantitative type in all test parts. A 25-minute period is allocated for each part.The number of items is fixed in all tests and so are the sections, parts and time duration. Items, however, vary although the same difficulty standard is maintained. To ensure the validity and reliability of the test , test scores are compared to those of the previous tests.Questions are arranged in order of difficulty from the easiest to the more difficult in each section. Students should answer questions fast enough to cover them all within the limits of the required time.(25minutes per section)A student should not leave any question unanswered.Guessing by elimination is one strategy that can be followed while answering questions.​