The University Selection Test ( or PSU) was a standardized test used for college admissions in Chile, made by the Department of Evaluation, Measurement and Educational Register (Departamento de Evaluación, Medición y Registro Educacional or DEMRE) by mandate of the Board of Chilean Universities' Headmasters (Consejo de Rectores de las Universidades Chilenas, or CRUCH). Since 2003, it had replaced the Prueba de Aptitud Académica (PAA) which had been in use since 1966, until its eventual termination in 2020. A temporary test (Prueba de Transición) was used while the Prueba de Admisión a la Educación Superior (PAES) was in development.
The PSU was given once a year, usually between November and December. It was necessary to take the test to apply to universities ascribed to the CRUCH, known as Traditional Universities. The only requirement to take this test was to have completed high school.
Format The PSU itself was a set of four separate tests, which were taken in two days. Out of these four:
Two were required (Reading Comprehension and Mathematics) Two were optional, yet it was required to choose one History and Social Studies Science: This test had a common module of Biology, Physics and Chemistry (referring to the curriculum of the first two years of secondary education) and three elective modules from which one is chosen (Biology, Physics or Chemistry - referring to the curriculum of the 3rd and 4th years of secondary education)
The maximum score was of 850 points, and the minimum, 150 points.
Stats +Admision Process (year)DatesStudentsEnrolledTookApplied2004December 15-16th159 249153 38366 9472005December 9-10th176 680169 37676 2922006December 5-6th (2005)182 761176 31477 7652007December 18-19th (2006)242 155211 26187 6172008December 3-4th (2007)240 851216 89281 9092009December 1-2nd (2008)277 420242 13092 1542010November 30th and December 1st (2009)285 325251 63487 8752011December 13-14th (2010)289 244250 75884 5122012December 12-13 (2011)271 862231 172106 7192013December 3-4th (2012)272 666233 302118 2082014December 2-3rd (2013)271 558232 861106 8042015December 1-2nd (2015)283 080247 291125 5882016November 30th and December 1st (2015)289 480252 333141 9062017November 28-29th (2016)290 612258 535145 1842018November 27-28th (2017)295 531265 113159 1322019November 26-27th (2018)294 176264 629124 4512020January 6-7th (2020) January 27-28th (2020) February 4-5th (2020)297 437
References From aptitude to achievement: How's that going? for Symposium: University admission testing in Chile: Current controversies and future directions, (.pptx), 2018 International Test Commission Conference, Montréal PSU : El Desafío del Cambio, (.pptx), Centro de Investigación Avanzada en Educación, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, diciembre 2016