Native name | نیشنل ٹیسٹنگ سروس |
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Company type | Public |
Founded | 2006 |
Headquarters | Plot 96, Street 4, H-8/1, Islamabad |
Key people |
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Products |
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Services | Standardized testing |
Revenue |
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Total assets |
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Website | nts |
National Testing Service - Pakistan (NTS) is a nonprofit organization in Pakistan that administers academic performance evaluation tests. It is similar to Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the United States. NTS is a member of the International Association for Educational Assessment.[1] It is also recognized by the Higher Education Commission.
NTS offers two main types of tests, the National Aptitude Test (NAT) and the Graduate Assessment Test (GAT). NAT is aimed at students seeking admission to colleges and universities, whereas GAT is aimed at graduates seeking admission to postgraduate education. NTS exams are also used to determine qualifications of students seeking advanced study abroad.[2]
NTS was formed to ensure quality educational standards in Pakistan and to "provide a national scale for comparative grading between institutes",[3] consolidating examination boards under one administrating body.[4] According to Shahid Siddiqui, director of The Centre for Humanities and Social Sciences at the Lahore School of Economics, tests implemented prior to the development of the NTS were criticized as not accommodating socio-cultural differences, resulting in a need for "an indigenous testing service that should design and develop testing materials within an indigenous context".[5] Prominent Pakistani institutions like COMSATS University (CU), Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU), Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences (BUITEMS), Center for Advanced Studies in Engineering (CASE) and the Islamia University of Bahawalpur (IUB) have made it compulsory for students seeking admission to have cleared tests conducted by NTS.[6][7]