ICAS Year 6 test

One of the main ways that ICAS was useful in my classrooms was by providing data on how my students were performing in a variety of skills. It helped to identify whether students for a class or year level were having trouble with particular skills like measurements or fractions, prompting me to revisit the concepts with current students and redesign my lessons for future classes.

Understand your students’ skill levels

ICAS provides you with rich insights into your students’ skills and knowledge, giving you the data you need to help plan your lessons.

The Year 6 competition is primarily run as a way to recognise and reward academic achievement – a potent motivator for students. And the insights provided to you help to paint a clear picture of their strengths and weaknesses, allowing you to anticipate and meet their needs in an inclusive way.

Every Year 6 test is created by experienced teachers, psychometricians and education measurement experts.

What you’ll be able to do with the Year 6 test results from ICAS

Identify your students’ strengths and weaknesses, marked with “S” and “W” for each skill area.

Determine if you need to create new gifted and talented classes or support classes.

Learn which direction your students’ performance is trending, and make adjustments.

Know whether your students’ skill level is below grade, on track, or above grade.

See how your students compare against the nation, the school, and their classmates.

Pinpoint which students may need a little extra help from yourself of your aide.

Year 6 test subjects

ICAS exam papers are unique for each year and country. To find out which paper you need for the Year 6 exam, checking out our exam papers by year level page.

English

The Year 6 test for ICAS English requires students to read a variety of texts and then complete a number of tasks, such as identifying, explaining, analysing, and evaluating the information.

These tasks cover four broader skills: text comprehension, writer’s craft, vocabulary, and syntax.

Mathematics

The Year 6 assessment for ICAS Mathematics covers five unique skill areas:

Number & arithmetic
Chance & data
Algebra & patterns
Measures & units
Space & geometry

Students may be tested with questions on round numbers, long multiplication, fraction, calculating areas of shapes, and more.

Science

ICAS Science for Year 6 tests the following skills:

Observing/measuring
Predicting/concluding
Interpreting
Investigating
Reasoning/problem solving

Students may need to complete tasks such as observing weather erosion, examining voltages, reading weather maps, distinguishing physical and chemical changes, and lots more.

Digital Technologies

The Year 6 exam for ICAS Digital Technologies aims to assess students’ knowledge around graphics & multimedia, internet & email, spreadsheet & databases, programming, word processing, as well as their general skills.

They may need to find and replace text in a document, use an online thesaurus, identify the conventions of web design, and more.

Writing

The Year 6 assessment for ICAS Writing revolves around two key areas:

Persuasive writing
Narrative writing

Students may need to write persuasive pieces such as reviews, council letters, advertisements, or opinion pieces, or narrative pieces like story complications, character descriptions, or story conclusions.

Spelling Bee

Spelling Bee for Year 6 tests the following types of knowledge, each related to spelling:

Visual
Phonological
Morphological
Etymological

Students will be assessed on a variety of words that tap into their knowledge, from easier words such as “believe” to tougher words like “synchronise.”

Get your Year 6 students prepared for ICAS with past papers

Want to help your students ace the ICAS exam? Past papers are one of the most authentic ways to do so.

All year levels for ICAS

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Year 7

Year 8

Year 9

Year 10

Year 11

Year 12

Want to start tapping into your students’ potential?

ICAS provides you with valuable insights that illustrate what your students know. These comprehensive results also help with report-writing and parent/teacher interviews.