National statistics suggest that drop-out rates for first year students entering science, technology engineering and mathematics (STEM) programmes are disproportionately higher across all universities in South Africa. Predicting first-year student success in these programmes has thus become a priority area for researchers in the student academic support and development centres. This paper reports on the results of a pilot study that sought to draw inferences about the predictive value of the Test of Academic Literacy Levels (TALL) at one university of technology in South Africa. The purpose of this test is to inform academic staff of entry profiles of students and to assign students to tutorial groups and other academic support programmes. TALL was meant to be written by all new students taking mathematics and science courses in the years 2015 (n = 1240) and 2016 (n = 2133). The findings indicate poor performance for most students who took the test. The findings indicate that the test is not adequate for predicting future academic performance of first year students at tertiary institutions. The results of the current study have informed the University about the diagnostic value of the tool and the academic profile of students which subsequently lead to improved student academic support initiatives.

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