It is administered by the National Institute for Testing and Evaluation (NITE) and plays a considerable role in the admissions process.
A score combining students' performance on the PET with the average score of their high school matriculation tests (aka Bagrut) has been found to be a highly predictive indicator of students' academic performance in their first year of higher education.
[2][3] According to NITE, the sole purpose of the PET is to predict candidates' chances of success in academic studies.
This scale, combined with the high school matriculation test results, allows the various admissions departments to rank the candidates applying to their institution.
Extensive research shows that the PET scores can predict success in higher education more accurately than any other single tool.
The essay should be written in an academic style with a clear and well-reasoned presentation and discussion of an argument.
[4] The writing task constitutes 25% of the verbal reasoning score and is rated on the basis of two dimensions – language and content.
These components are the basis for good academic writing, and candidates who do not have a sufficient grasp of them will find it difficult to present their knowledge in written form.
[5] As of 2020, the verbal reasoning section in the Hebrew PET contains 23 questions (20, in other languages) and is allotted 20 minutes.
The purpose of these calculations is to ensure the score is not affected by the test administration date chosen.
This phenomenon has several possible explanations, and does not prove that retaking the test necessarily leads to an improved score.
Most institutions of higher education in Israel require a YAEL score as part of the entrance procedure for examinees who have taken the PET in a language other than Hebrew; or who were not required to take the PET and took high school matriculation tests (Bagrut) in a language other than Hebrew.
Opposition to the PET as an admissions requirement is voiced by some who argue that examinees of certain socio-cultural backgrounds tend to be more successful than others.
This argument in any case holds less weight, given that there is now a free online preparatory course for the PET.
However, because of opposition from university deans (based on doubts regarding the soundness and reliability of matriculation results), the PET was not canceled and continues to be one of the major assessment tools in higher education admissions in Israel.
In 2016, higher education institutions in Israel began publicizing the possibility of admissions without the PET requirement.
In some institutions, it was decided that admissions would be based on a candidate's achievements on online courses, weighed together with their matriculation scores.