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The video below introduces the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign English Placement Test (EPT), used to assess English ability of newly admitted international students as validated against the English language demands of our campus. It is strongly advised that students take the test before the start of instruction to receive the results in time for class registration.

 

 

If you are not a test-taker and would like to ask questions or provide comments (anonymously, if preferred) you can access our survey here.

NOTE: The EPT does not assess or in any way affect the qualification of graduate student International Teaching Assistants (ITAs). For information about English language assessment requirements of ITAs, please visit the Oral English Assessment Interview.

Who Takes the EPT?

Many newly admitted University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign international students are required to take the EPT according to their pre-arrival scores on any of the following three international ESL tests: the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), or the Duolingo English Test (DET).

1. International undergraduate students:

To be exempt from EPT, students must score either

On TOEFL iBT: total 103 or above, with TOEFL sub-scores of 27 in writing and 23 in speaking or above; or on IELTS: 7.5 or above total, with IELTS sub-scores of 7 in writing and 6.5 in speaking; or on DET: 135 or above, with sub-scores of 135 in production and 115 in literacy or above*.

*Students who only provide DET scores and do not have additional valid proof of speaking ability will still be required to take the Oral EPT.

2. International graduate students whose total TOEFL scores below 103 (TOEFL iBT); OR total IELTS score below 7.5; OR DET total score below 135, are required to take the EPT.

Further details about TOEFL and IELTS requirements are given at the following websites:

In addition to the requirements as explained at the above two websites, individual departments and/or advisors may require or encourage students to take the EPT, and students themselves may elect to take the test so that they can enroll in ESL courses at Illinois.

What is on the EPT?

The EPT consists of two parts: a written test and an oral test. The writing test requires students to produce an academic essay based on the information obtained from a reading passage and a short lecture. In the oral test, students are given multiple short speaking tasks, including short answer questions, a read-aloud, and discussion questions on a given topic. If students speak intelligibly, they will be exempted from further oral testing. Otherwise, students will be required to take another oral exam.

All students are strongly recommended to take the EPT well before classes begin, and if possible, at least two full business days before meeting with their advisor(s) to do final course selection.

Students will be placed into or exempted from the general oral or written ESL service courses based on the results of the test.

Helpful Links

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Contact the EPT office: eptillinois@illinois.edu

Though we strongly prefer that you contact us by email, you can leave a voice message at +1-217-300-0054