AST Study Guide 2026

Everything you need to pass the AST exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.

📋 AST Exam Format at a Glance

60
Questions
55 min
Time Limit
70%
Passing Score

📚 AST Topics to Study (40)

✍️ Sample AST Questions & Answers

1. When an author gives hints about what will happen later in the story, this technique is called:
✓ Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing uses clues or hints to build anticipation for future events.

2. What is the role of a counterargument in a persuasive essay?
✓ To acknowledge opposing views and refute them, strengthening the writer's position

Addressing and refuting counterarguments shows the writer is aware of other perspectives and strengthens their own argument's credibility.

3. In a data set of 9 numbers sorted in ascending order, which position is the median?
✓ 5th

For n = 9, the median is at position (9+1)/2 = 5th.

4. What is the slope of a line perpendicular to y = 2x + 5?
✓ −½

Perpendicular slopes are negative reciprocals; the negative reciprocal of 2 is −½.

5. Identify the correctly spelled word in the context of academic writing.
✓ occurrence

'Occurrence' is spelled with double 'c' and double 'r' followed by '-ence.'

6. A bar chart shows average rainfall for four cities. City B's bar is twice the height of City A's. What does this indicate?
✓ City B receives twice as much rainfall as City A.

Bar height directly represents the measured quantity; double the height means double the rainfall.

🎯 Free AST Practice Tests

📖 AST Guides & Articles

Your AST Study Path
1. Learn with Flashcards → 2. Drill Practice Tests → 3. Take the Full Exam Simulation

What Practice Test Geeks adds beyond an AI chat for AST

An AI chatbot can quiz you, but it can't reproduce the exam conditions or keep your record. Here you get:

  • A timed, full-length AST mock exam — 60 questions in 55 minutes with a 70% pass mark, modeled on the official exam's question count and time limit, followed by a score report broken down by exam domain.
  • A fixed AST question bank: the same test every attempt, so your score is comparable from one try to the next instead of changing with every regenerated quiz.
  • Progress saved on your device: completed tests, scores and missed questions stay in My Progress, so you can retake only what you got wrong.
  • A printable AST cheat sheet you can print or save as a PDF.
  • AST flashcards built from the same question bank.
  • Free AST practice tests with the correct answer shown after each question.
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How this page was made: written with AI tools. Exam facts are checked against the official sources listed below. Not reviewed by a subject-matter expert. Editorial policy

Sources & references

Exam facts on this page (fees, format, dates, passing scores) are checked against these official sources; the date is our last check. Editorial policy

  1. bsss.act.edu.au — Eligibility, exam format, passing score · verified Oct 2026
  2. bsss.act.edu.au — Test delivery, late registration, retake policy · verified Oct 2026