The composition of the test

The psychometric test does not fit everyone – there can always be found suitable candidates which do not succeed the test. However, the test usually predicts well the chances to succeed in an academic education. As mentioned, the psychometric test is used as a sorting tool for higher education candidates; it consists of different parts, when each part examines different skills that are required for higher educational studies. In other words, the psychometric test allows to score the candidates according to their success chances in higher education.

The number of studying places is lower than the number of candidates, so there has aroused the need of an effective sorting tool which will allow to choose the candidates with the higher chances to succeed. Such tool is required to be fair, so that it will offer an equal examination opportunity for all examinees, as well as predict, in the most effective way, the candidates’ chances to succeed. Many studies show the connection between succeeding the psychometric test and succeeding higher educational studies. Thus, usually, the higher the psychometric score – the higher the chances to finish the academic studies successfully.

The psychometric test changes sometimes; one of the biggest reforms was in 2011, when not only the method of evaluation correlation changed, but also the composition of the test. Starting from 2018, the psychometric test is given 4 times a year – on April*, July, October* and December. Note that April’s date depends on Passover’s dates (sometimes the test is given at the end of March) and October’s date depends on Tishrei Holidays (sometimes the test is given in September), we always recommend to check the exact dates at NITE’s site: www.nite.org.il

According to the new rules (2017), you can take the psychometric test on all given dates in a row if needed and there is no limitation on the total amount of times you can it. According to NITE, out of all examinees at a certain date – 62% take the test for the first time, 24% for the second time, 9% for the third time and 2% have taken the test more than 5 times on average.

The psychometric test is composed of three parts: quantitative reasoning, verbal reasoning and English. Lately has been added another part – a writing assignment (essay), which appears at the beginning of the test and is not in the form of the multiple-choice questions.

The multiple-choice questions of the quantitative reasoning part are composed of question in algebra, geometry and chart comprehension. The verbal reasoning is composed of analogies, sentence completion, logic (this part has been developed in the past few years, so along with restatement questions, was developed a new category of comprehension and inference questions) and reading comprehension. The English part is composed of sentence completion, restatement and reading comprehension. Note that vocabulary questions that in the past appeared at the beginning of each verbal reasoning part, were taken out of the test and no longer appear in it.

The amount of questions in each part ranges from 20 to 23. The time given for each part of multiple-choice questions is 20 minutes and 30 minutes for the writing assignment.

The new test’s scoring is divided into three parts:

1. General score: 40% quantitative reasoning, 40% verbal reasoning and 20% English.
2. Verbal score: 20% quantitative reasoning, 60% verbal reasoning and 20% English.
3. Quantitative score: 60% quantitative reasoning, 20% verbal reasoning and 20% English.

The weight of the writing assignment is 25% of the verbal reasoning part.

The English part has a weight of only 20% in all scores, because its aim is only to sort examinees according to the number of English courses which they will be required to take at the academic institution they will be accepted to.

The general score ranges between 200 to 800, when the average is 531.

The psychometric test can be taken in different languages: Hebrew (50,000 examinees per year), Arabic (20,000 examinees), Russian (750), combined – English (900), French (350) and Spanish (120). It is important to understand that there is no difference between the tests; the general composition as well as the level are the same in all languages and all dates.

The registration for the test is done online on NITE’s site or with a registration form via the bank. Discharged soldiers can also pay for the registration using Pikadon.

The psychometric scores are automatically reported to all known academic institutions in Israel (and other institutions which were chosen by the examinee at the registration stage) within 45 days of the test day. The examinees also receive their score at the same time, via email, NITE’s site or the post office (according to the reporting method that were chosen at the registration).

In case of suspicion of copying, NITE can summon examinees for a retest. Sometimes, a significant score improvement will lead to summoning for a retest, however if the improvement happened due to honest studying and preparation (and not copying), usually there is no difficulty to prove that the new score is true.

In conclusion, the psychometric test is quite predictable and clear. Although its difficulty, it is not the most difficult test that an average student will be required to take in his academic journey.

GOOD LUCK!