General Scholastic Ability Test
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Structure and format
[edit]The General Scholastic Ability Test (GSAT) is organized by the College Entrance Examination Center (CEEC), and it's a major entrance exam for universities in Taiwan. It is conducted over two days, and each subject takes between 90 and 100 minutes.[1]This exam examines the content from the past two years of senior high school.
| Acronym | GSAT, 學測 |
|---|---|
| Type | Entrance exam |
| Administrator | College Entrance Examination Center |
| Skills tested | Multiple, Optional, Handwritten questions |
| Purpose | Applying to colleges |
| Year started | 1994 |
| Duration |
|
| Score range | 0～15 |
| Score validity | This school year |
| Regions | Taiwan |
| Languages | Chinese、English |
| Annual number of test takers |  116,465 (2022)[2] |
| Prerequisites | N/A |
| Fee |
|
| Used by | Every college[3] |
| Website | www |
The General Scholastic Ability Test (traditional Chinese: 學科能力測驗)[4] is the Taiwanese university entrance exam. The test is administered over two days and five subjects:
- Chinese language and literature
- English language
- Mathematics
- Social studies (including History, Geography, and Civics)
- Science (including Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Earth Science)
The materials cover the first two years of Taiwanese senior high school (10th and 11th grade).
Before GSAT
[edit]In 2002, the General Scholastic Ability Test (GSAT) replaced the Joint College Entrance Examination (JCEE), and changed Taiwan’s primary university admission test since the 1970s. The goal was to reduce the academic pressure by basing it only on JCEE to promote more diversified admission pathways. After these changes, the GSAT became the primary examination to connect with other selections, such as Recommendation and Screening, and Application Admission. It allows universities to consider broader abilities of students beyond only on exam performance. These changed Taiwan’s educational policy to multiple evaluation criteria.[5]
Student stress and test anxiety
[edit]The GSAT has heavy psychological pressure on high school students because of its role in shaping Taiwanese students' academic futures. The study by Chao, Sung, and Tseng found that Taiwanese students experience high levels of anxiety related to high-stakes testing.[6]Their research shows that the long preparation for the GSAT can affect students' motivation negatively. Many students spend years attending cram school programs to improve performance, and this causes a more serious competitive atmosphere.
Social and educational context
[edit]Besides individual pressure, the GSAT also shows the social and cultural inequalities in Taiwan's education system. Wang and Tai (2025) argue that the standardized testing often reinforces the advantages of students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds.[7] Families with better financial resources often can afford the higher expenses for tutoring, private schools, or additional test preparation, which shows unequal access to higher education opportunities. From the author's perspective while the GSAT's goal is to provide an objective measure of academic ability. However, it also reflects the social status of Taiwanese society.
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| Traditional Chinese | 學科能力測驗 | ||||||||||||||||||
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References
[edit]- ^ "首頁 | 大考中心". www.ceec.edu.tw. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ^ 學測平均每人選考4.92科 選考人數最多考科曝光. Ettoday 新聞雲. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
- ^ 111申請入學-校系分則查詢. College Admission Committee (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2022-03-08.
- ^ "General Scholastic Ability Test (GSAT)". 2019-08-27. Archived from the original on 27 August 2019. Retrieved 2022-04-06.
- ^ "Wayback Machine" (PDF). www.epa.ncnu.edu.tw. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-05-25. Retrieved 2025-10-31.
- ^ Chao, Tzu-Yang; Sung, Yao-Ting; Tseng, Fen-Lan (2024-12-31). "High-stakes test anxiety among Taiwanese adolescents: a longitudinal study". Cogent Education. 11 (1) 2321019. doi:10.1080/2331186X.2024.2321019.
- ^ Wang, Chi-Chung; Tai, Ting-Huang (2025-03-01). "Cultural capital, standardised testing and East Asian education: The transposition of disposition of Taiwanese elite students". The Sociological Review. 73 (2): 411–430. doi:10.1177/00380261241272317. ISSN 0038-0261.
External links
[edit]- (in Chinese) 大學招生委員會聯合會
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