An academic competition that asks children to think, not to remember.
Since 1981, more than 10 million students in 16,000 schools across 41 countries have taken ICAS. Five subjects, Standard 2 to Upper 6, taken online at school.
What makes ICAS different
Most tests ask a student what they know. ICAS asks what they can do with it — the higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) that Malaysian classrooms are already working towards.
Apply
Use an idea in a situation they haven't seen before.
Analyse
Break a problem apart and work out what actually matters.
Evaluate
Weigh the options, choose, and be able to say why.
These are the top three levels of Bloom's taxonomy. Every ICAS question is written to test them, and a fresh set is written each year.
ICAS is built against each subject's curriculum, then asks more of a student than the syllabus does. That is why a child who does well at school may still find ICAS hard — and why the result tells a teacher something a school test cannot.
Five subjects
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English
Reading and language challenges
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Mathematics
Problem-solving puzzles
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Science
Reasoning from evidence and observation
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Writing
Narrative and persuasive prompts
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Digital Technologies
Coding, data and technology skills
Who can take it
Standard 2 / Year 2 through to Upper 6 / Year 12. Every student in a year level takes the same paper, and the questions get harder as it goes on, so every child in a mixed-ability class has somewhere to work.
Each assessment takes between half an hour and an hour, depending on the subject and year level.
Year levels and format →How students are recognised
Every student who takes part receives a certificate. Above that, awards are based on how a student scores against other Malaysian students in the same subject and year level.
| Medal | The top score in Malaysia for each subject and year level |
| High Distinction | Top 1% |
| Distinction | Next 10% |
| Credit | Next 25% |
| Merit | Next 10% |
| Participation | Every student who takes part |
