Initial Assessment Tests (IATs) are administered amongst Level 1 and Level 2 courses’ applicants with the main aim being to better understand if the applicant will as  a student require particular assistance – according to the nature of the instance.  This is an important formative assessment, and whoever is informed via email to attend the IAT session, is expected to do so accordingly….. otherwise the application will no longer be processed any further.

These particular IATs do not apply for applicants interested in doing Level 1 programmes at the Institute for the Trades or the Centre for Learning and Employability.

The dates for the Initial Assessment Tests will be any of the following, depending on the date applicants will be assigned, if  they need to sit for the IAT (unless otherwise communicated):

  • Tuesday 09 till Friday 12 September 2025 (only one date depending on the date the applicant will be assigned for and will receive in the communication sent to him/her giving information about the IAT sitting).  IATs are held at the MCAST Paola Main Campus (or MCAST Gozo Campus). Applicants sitting for IATs are asked to be at the test venue by not later than 0845h.  The whole IAT session on the day finishes at around 1430h.

    Applicants who will be expected to sit for an IAT will be receiving an email by the end of August 2025, and are to ensure that they will attend for the IAT on the date and time which will be communicated to them

  • Applicants having an unrated SSC&P will be required to sit for the Initial Assessment Tests in Maltese, English Language and Mathematics.
  • Applicants who last year, or in any previous year, have already sat for an IAT at MCAST, will still be expected to sit for an IAT this year, in preparation for Admissions into academic year  2025/26…. please remember that this is a formative assessment and so one would need to consider any developments or otherwise from last time one would have sat for the IATs.
  • Applicants with SEC/O-Levels at grades 6 or 7 in at least two subjects from Maltese, English Language and Mathematics or an SSC&P with an overall rating of Level 1 or Level 2 will be exempted from the Initial Assessment Tests and will start directly at Level 2.
  • Applicants found to require significant support will be guided to join the Level 1 Introductory Certificate course (instead of the Level 2 course application they would have submitted).
  • Applicants who will be asked to sit for one or more IATs,  will be selected for the Level 1 or Level 2 course based on the results obtained following the Initial Assessment Tests in cases where the SSC&P is not available or is unrated.
  • Applicants who would be expected to sit for an IAT (or more) but would not show up on the set date of the Initial Assessment Test/s will be considered as no longer interested in being considered for the course they would have applied for and therefore failing their IAT.  Should they have applied for a Level 2 programme, they will be set to start on a Level 1 course (given the absence from the IAT session as scheduled for them).

Following the results of the IATs, applicants found to require significant support will be guided to join the Level 1 Introductory Certificate course. Applicants are selected for a Level 1 or a Level 2 course, based on….

  • The results achieved in their SSC&P or in their SEC results (in this case only, grades 6 and 7 are given consideration);
    OR
  • on the results achieved during the Initial Assessment Tests in cases where the SSC&P is not available, not rated, OR does not meet the minimum mark for an application to be processed as eligible without the need for an IAT.
  • Emails regarding IATs (whether one would need to sit for IATs and the date in which s/he is expected to sit for it) are typically communicated by the end of August – a few days before the set IAT dates as being published earlier in this section.

The following are samples of past Initial Assessment Tests (IATs) intended to act as an indication of what one would be expecting when sitting for these IATs – obviously, content will change.  The IATs being administered in September 2024, are Computer Based.

(Last updated: 15th June 2025)