The National Benchmark Test Program (NBT) has four core objectives, which have remained a consistent thread in the evolution of the NBTP since inception:

To assess entry-level academic and quantitative literacy and mathematics proficiency of students;

To assess the relationship between higher education entry level proficiencies and school-level exit outcomes;

To provide a service to HE institutions requiring additional information to assist in placement of students in appropriate curricular routes;

To assist with curriculum development, particularly in relation to foundation courses.

The NBTs are designed to provide criterion-referenced information to supplement the National Senior Certificate (NSC), or equivalent qualification results, and to help institutions to meet the educational needs of their incoming students as effectively as possible.

The NBT’s consist of two tests, The Academic and Quantitative Literacy Test (AQL) and The Mathematics Test (MAT).