ICFES examination
The ICFES examination, or Saber 11, is a high school exit examination administered annually in grade 11 in Colombian high schools. The exam is standardized, similar to the SAT and ACT examinations taken by high school students in the United States. The purpose of the exam is to evaluate students' aptitude in five subjects: critical reading, mathematics, social studies, science, and English. Each exam question has four multiple-choice answers, except for the English section which provides between three and eight possible answers for each question.
| Type | High school exit examination |
|---|---|
| Developer / administrator | ICFES, Ministry of Education |
| Knowledge / skills tested | Critical reading, mathematics, social studies, science, English proficiency |
| Purpose | Admission to undergraduate programs of universities |
| Year started | 1966 |
| Duration | 9 hours, two 4 1/2 hour sessions |
| Score / grade range | 0-500; each subject scores on scale of 0-100 |
| Offered | March and August |
| Countries / regions | Colombia |
| Languages | Spanish |
| Annual number of test takers | 670,000 high school graduates in the second semester of 2019 |
| Prerequisites / eligibility criteria | Must be in senior year or have a high school diploma. |
| Scores / grades used by | Private and public universities offering undergraduate programs in Colombia |
| Website | www |
Although the ICFES provides several tests for different academic purposes, the Saber 11 is nationally recognized as the most important test because it evaluates students' academic readiness for admission into institutions of higher learning.