Placement & Proficiency Information

PLACEMENT TESTING

Placement exams are online to determine what your knowledge and skills are in a subject so that we can then recommend an appropriate first course for you from the various options available at Illinois. Placement tests do not award academic credit (see "proficiency testing" below). All placement exams are made available to all incoming students. Take only the ones you need to take. If you never studied a particular subject, you don't need to take its placement test. To enroll in a subject that is completely new to you, you can simply register for its elementary-level course. Students are encouraged to take placement tests at least two weeks prior to their new student registration appointment.

• Incoming Freshmen
• Incoming Transfer Student
• International Student who needs to take the English Placement Test
• Upperclassman or graduate student who needs:
  • A Spanish course placement recommendation. Please log in and enroll yourself for the test.
  • A French course placement recommendation. Please log in and enroll yourself for the test.
  • A Chinese course placement recommendation. Please refer to EALC's Chinese placement test info page.
     

PROFICIENCY TESTING

The purpose of any proficiency exam is to find out whether you have mastered the knowledge and the skills that are taught in a particular course well enough that you are prepared to succeed in the subject's subsequent courses. If so, you earn credit for the course that you tested in, and you may begin studying the higher-level course. If you pass the proficiency exam but choose NOT to continue studying the subject, you still get the course credit, which counts towards graduation.

To learn more about specific proficiency exams and course credit, click on a link below.

• Advanced Placement (AP) Credit
• International Baccalaureate (IB) Credit
• Advanced Level (A Level) Credit
• Departmental Proficiency Exams
  • 'Composition I' Proficiency Credit
• Departmental Proficiency Exams in "Languages Other Than English"
• Testing in Less Commonly Studied Languages
• Frequently Asked Questions

Summary:

Placement testing and proficiency testing have two very different purposes.

Incoming students who take a math, science, or "language other than English" placement test will learn which course they should enroll in for their first year at Illinois. High scores can qualify a student for the departmental proficiency test. New students are NOT REQUIRED to take an on-campus departmental proficiency test just because their placement test score qualifies them to take it. It is simply an option to consider.

Incoming students who take a departmental proficiency test will earn academic credit that counts towards graduation if they do well on the test; if they don't do well, their academic record remains unaffected.

Continuing students who have not yet earned college-level credit in a particular subject may also register for the departmental proficiency exam in that subject.