By The Nation

THAILAND - The first-ever Professional Aptitude Test attracted not just secondary students but also people as old as 59.

"Some older applicants are parents or teachers who want to know what the tests are like," Utumporn Jamornmann, director of the National Institute of Educational Testing Service (NIETS), said yesterday.

Many of them hold a PhD.

"The test-takers will be able to evaluate their abilities," she said.

"We have allowed anyone to take the PAT as long as he or she has already completed the 11th grade," she said.

Most applicants for the PAT and General Aptitude Test (GAT) are high school students because these scores will count in university admissions next year.

The youngest is 17 years old.

Prawet Wongchaliang, 53, a teacher at a cram school, took the PAT-3 science test at Satri Nonthaburi School yesterday.

"I wanted to check it out firsthand so that I can tell my children, my grandchildren and my students about it," he said.

"The country's university-admission system keeps changing," he said.

Utumporn said tutorial teachers in fact might not need to sit the PAT because test questions would soon be posted on the NIETS' website.

"Besides, we will change the test questions next time," she said.

The second round of GAT/PAT will be held in July. -The Nation/ ANN