Equitable access and literacy support: Addressing academic literacy needs through institutional testing alternatives

In response to historical inequalities in South Africa, higher education institutions are obligated to address issues around equitable access to students from previously marginalised backgrounds. Many of these students are underprepared for the transition from secondary to tertiary education, presenting a significant barrier to their academic success. The administration of standardised tests of academic literacy was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic; the results of such standardised tests are typically used to place students in appropriate literacy support programmes. This situation highlighted the pressing need for alternative means to identify at-risk students needing literacy support. This study evaluates the appropriateness of an existing in-house test as an alternative measure of academic literacy levels. The study involved 2,292 first-year students at a South African university who had been identified as at risk by scoring below 64% on the National Benchmark Test (NBT) or through a machine-learning algorithm. The pilot results demonstrate the validity and reliability of the test as a viable alternative measure of academic literacy. Such in-house tests offer flexible and equitable testing solutions that can be tailored to meet diverse student needs.