Provincial Achievement Tests (PATs)
Provincial Achievement Test (PATs) are administered annually to all Alberta students in grades 6 and 9. These tests are written in all four core subjects: Math, Language Arts, Science and Social Studies.
Why are PATs important?
Assessing student progress is an important part of learning and instruction. PATs measure knowledge and skills in language arts, mathematics, science and social studies and show a common provincial achievement standard for students in a grade. They are based on what students are expected to know and be able to do according to the Programs of Study. Knowledge about our students’ current level of achievement is essential for planning learning activities to meet the student’s learning needs.
The number of students who achieve the acceptable standard and the standard of excellence are reported to help understand local school results and to enable comparisons of these results to provincial and local school division targets. These are important for school and school division improvement.
For more information on PATs, visit the Alberta Government Provincial Achievement Tests webpage.
2023/2024 PAT Writing Session Information:
The current schedule for PATs with Vista Virtual School is:
IMPORTANT UPDATE – PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THE GRADE 6 ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS AND LITERATURE (ELAL) AND MATHEMATICS PATS WILL NOT BE ADMINISTERED IN THE 2023/24 SCHOOL YEAR
Grade 6
| PAT DATES |
|---|
| Grade 6 Français/French Language Arts Partie A - May 13, 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. Grade 6 Français/French Language Arts Partie B - June 11, 9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. Grade 6 Social Studies - June 19, 9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. Grade 6 Science - June 20, 9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. |
Grade 9
| PAT DATES |
|---|
| Grade 9 Français/French Language Arts Partie A - May 15, 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. Grade 9 Français/French Language Arts Partie B - June 11, 9:00 a.m.-10:15 a.m. Grade 9 English Language Arts Part A - May 13, 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. Grade 9 English Language Arts Part B - June 12, 9:00 a.m.-10:15 a.m. Grade 9 Mathematics Part(ie) A - June 13, 9:00 a.m.-9:30 a.m. Grade 9 Mathematics Part(ie) B - June 18, 9:00 a.m.-10:20 a.m. Grade 9 Social Studies - June 19, 9:00 a.m.-10:20 a.m. Grade 9 Science - June 20, 9:00 a.m.-10:15 a.m. |
Writing Locations
We offer two writing locations for PATs, one in Southern Alberta and one in Northern Alberta:
- The Southern Alberta location is at the Hotel Blackfoot in Calgary, specifically in the Sundance Room (5940 Blackfoot Trail SE, Calgary, AB).
- The Northern Alberta location is at the Strathcona County Community Centre in Sherwood Park (401 Festival Lane Sherwood Park, AB). We have secured Meeting Rooms 2, 3, and 4. To find out which meeting room your PAT is in, please click here. If you are driving to the Strathcona County Community Centre, you can click here to see parking options.
Registration is NOT required for PATs. Students will be notified of the specific location details via email closer to the writing dates. Updates regarding writing locations will also be provided on the PATs page of our website.
We do not expect students to travel hundreds of kilometers to write their PATs. If there is an extensive distance between your home and the writing location, you can ask a local school to supervise your PATs, but they are not required to do so.