In the spring of 2009, the National Automotive Student Skills Standards Assessment (NASSSA) will be available to secondary and post-secondary vocational/technical schools throughout the United States, the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), Automotive Youth Educational Systems (AYES) and Skills USA announced.

All three national organizations support this new single series of tests for automobile collision repair and refinishing and, in the future, mechanical technician training programs.

Through the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF), ASE will oversee the question development and delivery of the exams for all three organizations. Candidates and instructors will be able to access the exam online.

The exams will have the same content, length and passing standards as the current NATEF End of Program exams. The test questions will be drawn from combined NATEF/AYES item pools, and all three organizations will be represented in future test development workshops.

One $15 fee per student will allow the student to take as many of the EOP tests as needed. Students will earn a Student Achievement Certificate for each test passed, and the certificates will be printed locally by the school and signed by the instructor or administrator.

A common registration portal will be used by all three of the partnering organizations. Both the fall and spring testing windows will be expanded to provide more flexibility in scheduling.

Schools will be able to download test results for importing into spreadsheets or reports.