key or answer key to the test?

[maoyueh]

I often hear English teachers in Taiwan say "the answer key to a test," but in the dictionary "a key" means "the printed answers to a test or to the questions in a textbook." I think the word "answer" in "answer key" is redundant, and the two-word term is simply tautological. Do you think the word "answer" before "key" is absolutely necessary? I would appreciate your opinions.

[Rover_KE]

It's not absolutely necessary, but I'd use it to be sure of being understood.

Rover

[5jj]

'The key to a test' could be interpreted as, "How to pass the test".

The key to the TOFFEE test is eliminating the obviously wrong answers first.


ps. TOFFEE - Test Of Fatuously Futile English Expressions.