ICAS results explained: awards, percentiles and what to do next

The five certificates

ICAS gives every student a certificate, and the level depends on how their result ranks. The ranking is done for each subject and year level, separately in Australia and in New Zealand.

Added up, a Distinction places your child in the top 11%, a Credit in the top 36% and a Merit in the top 46%. More than half of all students receive a Participation certificate, so it is the most common result, not a poor one.

How the percentile works

The report also gives a percentile. A result in the 75th percentile means your child scored higher than 75% of students who sat that subject at their year level.

Both the certificate and the percentile compare your child with other students, not with a fixed pass mark. ICAS papers are built to stretch students well past their year level, so a raw score that looks low by school standards can still rank well.

What the report shows

There are two parts worth reading.

• The skill areas. The summary report shows how your child did in each key skill area of the paper, compared with students nationally.
• Every question. The question-by-question results show which questions your child got right or wrong, and how students across the country did on each one.

The skill areas follow how each paper is built. In Maths they include number, measurement, and space and geometry. In English they include reading comprehension, the writer's craft and vocabulary. In Science they follow scientific skills, such as interpreting data and predicting what an experiment will show.

The second part is the more useful of the two, because it tells you what to do next.

How to read the question-by-question results

Start with the questions most students answered correctly that your child missed. Those usually point to something specific: a topic not yet covered at school, a rule half-learnt, or a slip when time was short.

Then look at the questions few students got right. These are the stretch questions, and missing them is expected. A child who got one or two of them right has done something worth noticing.

Next, look for patterns rather than single questions. Three misses in the same skill area say more than one miss anywhere. If a run of questions near the end went wrong, pace may be the issue rather than content.

Finally, talk it through with your child. Ask them to explain one question they got right and one they missed. How they explain it will tell you whether the problem was the idea, the reading or the clock.

When results and certificates arrive

• Online results come first, usually within a few weeks of the last sitting day for the subject. Writing takes longer, because teachers mark it by hand.
• Parents who registered through the ICAS parent payment system get an email with their child's TAP-ID and PIN for the results portal. Otherwise, ask the school.
• Printed certificates go to schools about 10 to 13 weeks after results are released, and schools hand them out, often at an assembly.
• Medals go to the top results each year, and ICAS posts them to the winners' schools.

ICAS publishes the current year's timeframes on its website.

Getting ready for next year

ICAS names its papers by letter rather than by year level, starting with Paper A for Year 3. Our paper reference shows which paper each year level sits in each subject.

If this year's report showed gaps, work on those first, at your child's own level. A higher paper is worth trying only once your child is comfortable at the top of their own. Our ICAS-style practice papers for Years 3 to 8 are free, and each is marked the moment your child finishes, with a worked solution on every question.

Common questions

Is a Participation certificate a poor result?
No. More than half of all students receive one. It means your child's result was outside the top 46% for that subject and year level this time, and the report still shows exactly where the marks went.

Can I compare this year's result with last year's?
Only loosely. The percentile shows where your child stood among students who sat the same paper this year, and next year's paper is a level higher. The question-by-question report is a better guide to what has improved.

Does the school see the results?
Yes. ICAS releases results to schools first, and to parents about a week later.

Where the official information lives

ICAS Assessments publishes how results work, the award levels and the current timeframes on icasassessments.com. Your child's school handles entries, certificates and medals. If it isn't taking part, ICAS testing centres and partners take entries.

Meritly is an independent Australian service and is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the organisations that write or run the tests we cover.