The Psychometric Entrance Test (PET) – commonly known in Hebrew as "ha-Psikhometri" (The Psychometric) – is a standardized test that serves as an entrance exam for institutions of higher education in Israel. The PET covers three areas: quantitative reasoning, verbal reasoning and proficiency in the English language. It is administered by the National Institute for Testing and Evaluation (NITE) and plays a considerable role in the admissions process. A score combining students' performance on the PET with the average score of their high school matriculation tests (aka Bagrut) has been found to be a highly predictive indicator of students' academic performance in their first year of higher education. The test may be taken in Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, French, or combined Hebrew/English. There are four test administration dates each year: April, July, September, and December (the dates vary depending on local holidays and on the start and end dates of the academic semester). It can be taken in Hebrew and Arabic on any of the four dates, and in Russian, French and combined Hebrew/English, on two of the four dates. The test results are valid for university admissions purposes for seven years.
Purpose According to NITE, the sole purpose of the PET is to predict candidates' chances of success in academic studies. The test is used to assess all candidates on a standard scale. This scale, combined with the high school matriculation test results, allows the various admissions departments to rank the candidates applying to their institution. Extensive research shows that the PET scores can predict success in higher education more accurately than any other single tool. In addition, it has been shown that the combination of the PET and matriculation results has better predictive power than any other combination of existing screening tools.
Structure The PET consists of nine sections, each of which belongs to one of the following domains: verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and English. The first section, part of the verbal reasoning domain, is the writing task. It is followed by eight sections of multiple-choice questions – two sections from each of the three domains and two "pilot sections." Pilot sections look like regular test sections but are not included in the computation of the PET score. These sections are used for equating and standardizing between different test administrations and for assessing the functioning of items that will be used in future tests. The sections are built in such a way that it is not possible to know which are for "pilot" purposes, therefore the examinees must give all sections equal attention. NITE states that every PET may contain sections or items that were used in previous tests, and that new types of questions may appear in any of the domains, along with changes in instructions for solving them, in the number of questions in a section, and in the time allotted.
Writing task The section that comprises the writing task is part of the verbal reasoning domain. Examinees taking the test in Hebrew have 30 minutes to complete this section and examinees taking the test in other languages have 35 minutes. Examinees are required to write an essay of at least 25 lines on a given topic. The essay should be written in an academic style with a clear and well-reasoned presentation and discussion of an argument. The writing task constitutes 25% of the verbal reasoning score and is rated on the basis of two dimensions – language and content. The score for each dimension ranges from 1 to 6. The score for content relates to the quality of the arguments presented, as well as the quality and complexity of critical thinking demonstrated. The score for the language dimension relates to wording, writing style, and language level. These components are the basis for good academic writing, and candidates who do not have a sufficient grasp of them will find it difficult to present their knowledge in written form. Each examinee's writing task is evaluated by two independent raters. The final score for the writing task is a weighting of the four scores given by the two reviewers. In the end, the examinees receive one score for the verbal reasoning domain, and it includes the weighted score for the writing task. Therefore, the examinees cannot know the score given to them for the writing task.
Verbal reasoning As of 2020, the verbal reasoning section in the Hebrew PET contains 23 questions (20, in other languages) and is allotted 20 minutes. The types of questions in the verbal section are:
Analogies – This type of item examines three components of verbal ability: vocabulary, the ability to recognize a relationship between two words or phrases, and the ability to identify that same relationship in another set of words or phrases. Critical Reading and Inference – These questions relate to various abilities: comprehension of a short text, inference (drawing conclusions from the text, identifying what argument weakens a conclusion presented in the text, and so forth), sentence completion, and more. Text Comprehension – A complex text (usually a synopsis of an academic article) is presented together with a number of reading comprehension questions. There is a gradual increase in the difficulty level in the order of the questions, except for the text comprehension questions (which are arranged in the order in which the question topic appears in the text). As mentioned, the verbal reasoning score obtained by the examinees is the weighting of the score given for the section of multiple-choice questions together with that given for the writing task section. It is not possible to know the exact score of each.
Quantitative reasoning As of 2020, the quantitative reasoning section contains 20 questions covering various areas of mathematics, such as geometry, algebra, percentages, averages, ratio questions, drawing conclusions from a diagram, and so on. The allotted time is 20 minutes. For the most part, the difficulty level of questions in the section increases – as the more difficult questions appear last. The mathematical knowledge required for the quantitative reasoning section is similar to that required for the high school matriculation examination in mathematics at the three-unit level – the minimum level required for obtaining a high school matriculation certificate and for admission to academic studies.
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