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Academic Achievement Goals Scale3

Academic Achievement Goals Scale Test

Understand what drives a student’s learning goals and motivation in about 6 minutes. Get clear insights to tailor support, boost engagement, and reduce fear of failure with a quick 30 item check.

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Questions: 306 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

19,023 views

2,091 completion

1,740 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

12/20

Other-Avoidance Goals (OAG)

Measures the extent to which a student is motivated to avoid looking worse than peers through social comparison.

Low avoidance

Moderate avoidance

High avoidance

5 – 9: Low avoidance | 10 – 14: Moderate avoidance | 15 – 20: High avoidance

A score of 12 falls in the Moderate avoidance range, suggesting occasional concern about not appearing worse than other students may influence motivation in evaluative situations.

example score

7/20

Other-Based Achievement (OBA)

Measures how strongly a student is motivated to achieve academic success by outperforming others.

Low

Moderate

High

5 – 9: Low | 10 – 14: Moderate | 15 – 20: High

A score of 7 falls in the Low range, suggesting competition with peers is not a primary driver of your learning goals.

example score

12/20

Task-Avoidance Goals (TAG)

Measures the extent to which a student is motivated to avoid mistakes and possible failure while completing academic tasks.

Low avoidance

Moderate avoidance

High avoidance

5 – 9: Low avoidance | 10 – 14: Moderate avoidance | 15 – 20: High avoidance

A score of 12 falls in the Moderate avoidance range, suggesting a noticeable but not dominant tendency to focus on preventing errors during task performance.

example score

15/20

Task-Approach Goals (TAG)

Measures motivation to perform a specific academic task accurately and to a high standard.

Lower task-approach focus

Moderate task-approach focus

High task-approach focus

5 – 9: Lower task-approach focus | 10 – 15: Moderate task-approach focus | 16 – 20: High task-approach focus

A score of 15 indicates a moderate focus on completing academic tasks well, with generally steady but not consistently strong drive for high-quality performance.

example score

13/20

Self-Avoidance (SA)

Measures the extent to which a student is motivated by avoiding doing worse than their own past performance or perceived potential.

Low avoidance

Moderate avoidance

High avoidance

5 – 9: Low avoidance | 10 – 14: Moderate avoidance | 15 – 20: High avoidance

A score of 13 falls in the Moderate avoidance range, suggesting a noticeable tendency to focus on not slipping below past results, which can be linked with increased sensitivity to personal setbacks.

example score

17/20

Personal Achievement (PA)

Measures how strongly a student is motivated to improve their own abilities and results compared with their past performance.

Low

Moderate

High

5 – 10: Low | 11 – 15: Moderate | 16 – 20: High

A score of 17 falls in the High range, suggesting a strong focus on personal growth and self-improvement in learning.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Students boosting motivation

41%OF USERS

High school and university students take it to understand what drives their studying and how to set goals that keep them engaged.

Teachers and tutors

34%OF USERS

Educators use it to see whether a learner is focused on mastering the task, outperforming others, or avoiding mistakes, and adjust instruction accordingly.

School psychologists and counselors

25%OF USERS

Practitioners include it in assessments to identify achievement-goal patterns linked to anxiety, fear of failure, or low confidence and plan support.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Avoidance in Comparison (AiC)

Average

8.8

Normal range

6.7 — 10.9

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Achievement in Comparison (AiC)

Average

13.2

Normal range

10.5 — 15.9

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Avoidance during task performance (Adtp)

Average

10.5

Normal range

8.6 — 12.3

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Achievement upon task completion (Autc)

Average

14.5

Normal range

11.8 — 17.2

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Personal Avoidance (PA)

Average

15.7

Normal range

13.5 — 18

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Personal achievement (Pa)

Average

10.6

Normal range

8.5 — 12.6

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

Below are statements describing types of goals you may have in classes in general, or in the specific subject designated by the researcher. For each statement, select the response option that best reflects your views. There are no right or wrong answers—please respond honestly and openly. You may notice that some items are similar. Please consider each item independently.

- Very unlike me
- Unlike me
- Like me
- Very like me
- Very unlike me
- Unlike me
- Like me
- Very much like me
- Very unlike me
- Unlike me
- Like me
- Very much like me

These are 3 of the 30 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

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WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Academic Achievement Goals Scale Test - Symptoms and Signs

academic motivation

Academic motivation can be clarified by assessing the types of achievement goals a student endorses. The Academic Achievement Goals Scale is a brief self-report measure of students’ goal orientations in academic contexts, based on the framework described by A. Elliot et al. (2011).

The instrument contains 30 items and typically requires about 6 minutes to complete. Respondents rate how well statements reflect their current motives and goals for learning, yielding scores that can be used to characterize patterns of approach- and avoidance-oriented goals across different standards for evaluating competence (e.g., self-referential, task-based, and normative comparisons).

In clinical, counseling, or educational settings, the Academic Achievement Goals Scale may help inform case formulation and intervention planning by identifying goal-related factors associated with engagement, performance concerns, and test anxiety. Results should be interpreted in conjunction with other clinical data (e.g., presenting concerns, academic history, and contextual stressors) rather than as a stand-alone indicator.

Author: A. Elliot et al. (2011)

Literature: Pintrich, P. R. A conceptual framework for assessing motivation and self-regulated learning in college students. Educational Psychology Review. 2004.; Elliot, A. J., Murayama, K., & Pekrun, R. A. A 3 × 2 achievement goal model. Journal of Educational Psychology. 2011.