Placement tests

Requirements for English Composition courses

Students wishing to register for an English Composition course must either:

• have the prerequisite listed, or
  
• write a 50-minute Placement Test
  

Registration into Composition courses will be blocked until one of these conditions is met.

Taking the placement test

The placement test is offered through Moodle, and is accessible only at specific times during the year (see dates below). 

Accessing the test in Moodle

Incoming students wishing to take the placement test will need to request access to Moodle a minimum of four business days before the end of the testing session. 

To have a Moodle account activated on your behalf, please contact  assist.english@concordia.ca, and include your full name, student ID, netname, and the email address associated with your Concordia student file. Students can log into Moodle using their Concordia netname and password.

If available, select the link corresponding to the appropriate session below.

Placement Test Dates 2023-24 

• "Spring 2023 ECPT” March 6 - May 28, 2023 
• "Fall 2023 ECPT” September 11 - October 22, 2023 

For TESL students only: 

• "TESL ECPT 2024” February 5th-12th 2024

Results

You will receive your result within 14 business days from the day you take your test. Your result will be sent automatically to the email address listed as your default address on your Concordia student center. 

Course Availability 

Composition courses are in high demand and seats fill up quickly. Once admitted, students should take the placement test at the earliest opportunity to leave ample time to find a spot in their required course before graduating. Students taking the placement test are not guaranteed to find seats in their required course in the upcoming term and should plan accordingly.

About the test

There is no registration for this test. No previous language testing will be considered

The test is only available during the active test dates. If you are unable to write the test in one active period, you will be required to wait for the next available testing period

If you wish to write the placement test again, you must wait until the next active test session. Be sure to allocate at least 50 minutes of uninterrupted time to access the site and complete the test.  

Sample test

You will be asked to write an essay responding to a short reading, such as the following:

"Animals or humans, which should you save?" was the question posed to 100 introductory psychology students recently. Researchers were interested in learning when students would approve the sacrifice of an animal to save the life of a human. The animal was a family pet, wild animal, or laboratory-raised animal. The person whose life would be saved ranged from a virtuous person (such as a loving husband and father of two children) to a bad person (such as a repeat sex offender).

The acceptability of sacrificing an animal depended on the type of human who would be saved (lowest priority to the bad guys) and the type of animal to be sacrificed (lab rats were the least difficult to kill). The students were more willing to sacrifice an animal to save a good person than a neutral or bad person. Regardless of the type of person to be saved, however, they were less willing to sacrifice a pet than any other type of animal.  There were no differences in answer between the male and female students.

Question:   Would you be willing to sacrifice an animal, even your pet, to save the life of a human being?"

Assessment

The purpose of the placement test is to determine the course that is best suited to your writing needs. You cannot pass or fail the test. Your essay is read holistically by two experienced Composition instructors and verified by the program coordinator. Readers assess the writing sample for the following: comprehension of the reading selection; length and development of the response; quality of idiomatic expression, including syntax, sentence structure, and vocabulary.

Academic Integrity

While the placement test does not take place in the context of a course, Concordia’s academic integrity policies apply. As noted in Academic Code of Conduct: Any form of cheating, or plagiarism, as well as any other form of dishonest behaviour, intentional or not, related to the obtention of gain, academic or otherwise, or the interference in evaluative exercises committed by a student is an offence under the Academic Code of Conduct. Any attempt at or participation related in any way to an offence by a student is also an offence (Article 18). 

Additionally, being placed in the course that best suits your writing needs is important because it supports your ability to excel in that course. If you are placed in a course that is significantly above your current writing level, you may find the content challenging, which may result in a lower grade in the course. This could negatively impact your overall GPA.