The GAT: What VCE Students Need to Know

The General Achievement Test (GAT) is a pen-and-paper test of general knowledge and skills, set by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA), which runs the VCE. Students across Victoria sit it on the same day, and in 2027 that's Thursday 17 June. It isn't a subject, so it doesn't give you a study score.

You sit the whole GAT if you're doing at least one VCE subject at Units 3 and 4, or a scored VCE VET subject (a vocational subject that earns a study score). If you sat it in an earlier year, as students who start a Units 3 and 4 subject in Year 11 do, VCAA expects you to sit it again in Year 12.

Our guide to the 2027 VCE exam timetable shows where the GAT falls among the other statewide dates in the year.

VCAA's 2026 timetable shows what the day looked like.

Most of the GAT is multiple choice, and you don't lose marks for a wrong answer, so it's worth answering every question. If you're still on one part when its time is up, VCAA's advice is to move on to the next and come back to unfinished questions at the end.

VCAA uses your GAT results in three ways.

A final check on your exam scores

After the exams are marked, VCAA uses GAT results as part of a final check on exam scores, to make sure they've been marked fairly. Because of this check, an exam score can go up or stay the same, but it won't go down. In some subjects, VCAA also uses GAT results when it adjusts schools' SAC marks so they can be compared fairly across the state. SACs, short for school-assessed coursework, are the tests, essays and reports your school marks during the year.

A backup if illness affects an exam

If illness, injury or something serious stops you sitting an exam, or badly affects how you go in it, you can apply for a Derived Examination Score. That's a score VCAA works out for the exam from your other results in the subject, your school's estimate of your exam grade and your GAT results. If it's higher than the score you got on the exam, VCAA uses it instead. Your VCE coordinator can tell you how to apply if it ever comes to that.

Your literacy and numeracy result

Section A also shows whether you've met VCAA's literacy and numeracy standards: the reading, writing and numeracy skills expected of someone finishing secondary school. In December you'll get a GAT Statement of Results with the rest of your results. It says whether you met the standards, didn't meet them, or met them with excellence.

For the rest of the year around the GAT, our guide to starting Year 12 covers SACs, exams and the dates to know.

VCAA's answer is no: no additional study is required. The questions draw on what you've already learnt in subjects like English, maths, science and history, so your years of school are the preparation.

You can look through VCAA's latest Section A and B papers to see the layout and question types. Answers to the multiple-choice questions are included.

So on 17 June, you can turn up with your pens and calculator and answer every question you can. After that, the GAT does its work in the background while you get on with the rest of Year 12.

What can I bring?

VCAA's 2026 student information (PDF) lists:

• pens, pencils and an eraser
• a scientific calculator, which you can use in both sections
• a printed English or bilingual dictionary, if you'd like one (electronic dictionaries and thesauruses aren't allowed)

Phones, smartwatches and other electronic devices aren't allowed in the room.

Does the GAT count towards my ATAR?

Not directly, because your ATAR is based on your study scores. Your GAT results can still affect a study score indirectly, through the checks and the Derived Examination Score described above. Our guide to study scores, scaling and the ATAR explains how your study scores become an ATAR.

What if I'm unwell on the day, or need special arrangements?

You can talk to your VCE coordinator, who can apply to VCAA on your behalf. If an illness or disability affects how you sit tests, your school may already have arranged Special Examination Arrangements for the GAT. If you become sick or injured just before or on the day, the coordinator can apply for emergency arrangements to help you sit it. If you can't sit it at all, the school can apply for an exemption, which needs evidence from a professional such as a doctor. You can't get a Derived Examination Score for the GAT itself.

Do VCE Vocational Major students sit the GAT?

Usually Section A only. If all your Units 3 and 4 subjects are in the VCE Vocational Major, you're expected to sit Section A, unless you've already met the literacy and numeracy standards in an earlier year, in which case you can choose to sit it again. If you're also doing a VCE subject or a scored VCE VET subject at Units 3 and 4, you sit both sections.

What if I don't meet the literacy and numeracy standards?

You can sit another test the following year, once you've finished school. Your VCE coordinator can tell you what your result means for your plans after Year 12.

We checked these official sources on 6 November 2026.