English Placement Test

All newly enrolled students at the University of Eastern Piedmont must take the English Placement Test in the first semester (November/December) of the academic year of enrolment to determine their level of proficiency in English according to the published Guidelines for the administration of the English Placement Test, which will be published shortly.

• Students on the Literature programmes which include academic credits for French, Spanish or German in the study plan are exempted from the EPT and subsequent activity.  Students who are exampt but wish to follow the English course offered by CLUPO should inform the Literature Course Chair, who will forward the request to Student Secretariat and CLUPO. The choice is irreversible.

According to the assessed level of English at the Placement Test, the student may be in one of the following situations:

• Language levels A1 and A2 are equivalent to a educational insufficiency requirement to be satisfied by following a remedial English language course online in the 2nd semester (the student will see this appear in their Macmillan English Campus page). After the remedial course, the student must take another English language test to check acquisition of the relevant notions

N.B. If this test is not passed, the student may not attend the English language course of the academic year but must again take the entrance test at the beginning of the next academic year and if the level again results as A1 or A2 must again take the remedial course online

• Language levels B1 and B2 allow direct access to the English course of the study programe, which must be attended by the student
• Language levels C1 and C2 allow direct access to the English course of the study programme. In this case, the student can take the final exam, without taking the 50-hour course.

In no case does the Placement test substitute the English language exam included as part of the study programme.

THE ENGLISH PLACEMENT TEST (EPT)

The English language placement test is a mandatory online test carried out in collaboration with Macmillan English Campus, and essential for students on Bachelor degrees or single cycle programmes.

The test must be taken autonomously by the student during the first year of enrolment.

There is a period of 7 days when the test can be taken, at any time of day (24 hours), autonomously and online. The time window within which the student must take the placement test will be in November/December.

The test lasts 60 minutes.

The test is designed to determine the level of English language skills of incoming students and does not substitute the English language exam, which every student must take according to their own study plans and regulations laid down by their degree programmes.

Students with sensory or learning disabilities must follow the guidelines published on the University website.

Exemption from the Placement Test

Students holding an English language certificate of at least B2 level, may ask for this to be recognised at enrolment. On condition that the certificate is accepted by CLUPO, the Department Student Secretariat (according to guidelines and conversion tables defined by the Language Commission with the assistance of English language CLUPO teachers) will record the mark/eligibility automatically.

• The list of certificates.
• Certificates must not date back more than two scholastic years (i.e. not have been obtained before the fourth year of high school, for students with no delays in their scholastic pathway) apart from those degree programmes which include the study of a foreign language at more advanced level (categories L-11 Modern languages and Cultures, and L-15 Tourism Studies) which may lay down stricter regulations.

How to take the Placement Test

In November / December there will be a week dedicated to the Placement test.

New students will be enrolled on the course “English Language Placement test for bachelors’ degrees and single cycle programmes” on the DIR (online teaching) platform where they will find the link to the English Placement Test of Macmillan English Campus along with useful information about the test (guidelines in Italian and English, technical requirements and email contact for assistance).

How the test works is explained on the DIR Moodle page and each student needs to read this before the test.

To access the Macmillan English Campus Placement Test, the student must key in his/her own credentials (username: enrolment number, password: received by Macmillan via email at their institutional email address @studenti.uniupo.it).

Results of the Placement test

At the end of the test, each student will receive a mark of their English language competence according to the table below: 

Students who score zero or a mark lower than B1 (i.e. A1, A2 or A2+) must fulfill additional educational requirements, with compulsory attendance in the second semester of the online remedial course available on the Macmillan English Campus platform.

Students who achieve the level of English language required (at least B1) can directly enter the English language course included in their study plan.

Online English language remedial course

The course includes exercises of listening and reading comprehension, lexis and grammar adapted to the level of individual students and necessary for gradual acquisition of skills required to achieve the minimum level accepted (level B1).

The platform is accessible online, both from the University and from home, or any location with internet access.

The remedial course includes a compulsory final test in the months of June and July 2024, which must be passed in order to access the English language courses included in the study plans.

If this final test is not passed, the student must repeat the English Placement Test in the next academic year.