English Placement test

The English Language requirements in UNIUPO for all students enrolled in Bachelor’s and Single Cycle Master’s degrees

All newly-enrolled students at Piemonte Orientale must take the English Placement test in the first semester (November/December) to determine their level of English language. 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 an 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 their acquisition of the relevant notions

N.B. If this test is not passed, the student may not attend the English language course pertaining to their degree programme 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.

English Placement Test 
The English language placement test is an online test carried out in collaboration with Macmillan English Campus, and mandatory for students on Bachelor degrees or single cycle programmes at the Università del Piemonte Orientale. 

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. In the academic year 2023-2024, this period will take place in January/February (more information will follow).

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
https://www.uniupo.it/it/infostudenti/immatricolazioni/verificadella-conoscenza-della-lingua-inglese.

Exemption from 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 recognised certificates is available at this link:
https://www.uniupo.it/it/infostudenti/immatricolazioni/verifica-della-conoscenza-della- lingua-inglese .

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 English 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.