A record 330 Canberra students are expected to temporarily abandon school holiday pursuits to sit an entry exam for the Australian National University tomorrow.
UniTEST is an alternative pathway to a degree at the ANU, with students undertaking a general aptitude test of 95 questions over 2.5 hours.
In its third year, uniTEST received a handful of applicants in its first year, with 70 applying last year.
A spokeswoman for the ANU said it was difficult to explain the huge jump in applications this year.
''It could be a number of things, such as the global financial crisis prompting more students to do a degree, it could be that more students know uniTEST is available, or that some are doing it as an insurance policy if they are worried they might miss out on their degree of choice by a couple of marks,'' she said.
Only students who estimate their Australian Tertiary Admission Rank due out next week will be 65 or above can sit the test and only those with an ATAR of 70 will be considered.
They must achieve 70 per cent on their exam for admittance.
The ANU is expected to have a minimum ATAR cut-off for a degree of 80.
Developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research in collaboration with Cambridge Assessment, uniTEST will be used by three universities across Australia.
The ANU will hold its uniTEST tomorrow, while Flinders University will hold its test today and Macquarie University will hold its on December 7.
Close to 700 candidates will take part.
This latest administration of uniTEST is taking place as part of stage two of the Federal Government's pilot National Student Aptitude Test for Tertiary Admission.
According to ACER's chief executive Professor Geoff Masters, the use of aptitude tests such as uniTEST assists universities gain a broader profile of the capability of university applicants by providing information that complements Year 12 academic results.
The ANU spokeswoman said the ANU would permanently offer uniTEST and those students who were accepted into a degree appeared to perform just as well as those students gaining entry through their ATAR although a full assessment of their progress would not be available until next year.
With the Federal Government announcing that by 2025, 40 per cent of Australian 25-34 year olds will have a bachelor level qualification or higher and that by 2020 a target of 20 per cent of higher education enrolments at undergraduate level should be from low socio-economic backgrounds, Professor Masters said the use of aptitude tests may assist universities in identifying students who have not been identified for university selection through standard processes.
Full national analysis of the academic performance of students accepted into university courses based on uniTEST results is due next year.
UniTEST may also be adopted as a national student aptitude test for tertiary admission.
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