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Results of 2009/10 Common English Proficiency Assessment Scheme released

The University Grants Committee (UGC) announced today (September 13) the results of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) taken by final year students of UGC-funded undergraduate degree programmes under the 2009/10 Common English Proficiency Assessment Scheme (CEPAS).

Almost 12 100 final year students, or about 68% of all full-time and part-time undergraduate final year students, participated in CEPAS in 2009/10. This represents an increase of about 2.3%, in terms of number of participants, as compared with last year, and is a record high.

The average overall score is 6.72 on a nine-point scale. About 86.4% of the students obtained a score in the 6.0 - 7.5 range, which means they are "competent" or "good" users of the English language.

Among the four modules of the test, students, on average, did better in "reading" and "listening", scoring overall 7.35 and 7.27 respectively. The average scores in "writing" and "speaking" are 5.96 and 6.04 respectively. Institutions are encouraged to utilise the CEPAS results to formulate their English language enhancement strategies and programmes.

Breakdowns of candidates' average scores by broad academic discipline and by institution are attached at Annexes A and B. Comparisons of the overall average scores in 2008/09 and 2009/10, broken down by broad academic discipline and by institution, are attached at Annexes C and D.

Despite its voluntary nature, the number of participants in 2009/10 is a record high. The high participation rate demonstrates that the students attach great importance to their English proficiency. It is also pleasing to note that the test results demonstrate the vast majority of the graduates who took the test are 'competent' or 'good' users of English.

For the 2009/10 round of CEPAS, 40 testing sessions were held from July 2009 to May 2010. For the 2010/11 round of CEPAS, the registration period is from April 1 to 30, 2010 (Period 1) and September 1 to October 19, 2010 (Period 2). Students may continue to register online (www.ugccepa.com). Summer testing sessions will continue to be offered until November 2010 so as to facilitate both students and employers.

UGC encourages all final year undergraduate students of UGC-funded degree programmes to participate in the Scheme. Test fees will be reimbursed once if students agree to reflect their participation in CEPAS in their transcript. The actual test score however will not be shown.

CEPAS is a voluntary assessment scheme intended to encourage students to be more aware of the importance of proficiency in English, and to provide a common framework for assessing and documenting graduating students' English proficiency. IELTS has been adopted by UGC as the Common English Proficiency Assessment since 2002/03. Through the assessment, UGC aims to benchmark the English proficiency of local university graduates against a reliable and internationally-validated instrument, which will serve as a useful reference for students when they enter the workforce after they have graduated or when they pursue further studies.

IELTS is an internationally-validated English testing instrument, and is jointly managed by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate, the British Council and the IDP Education Pty Ltd. In recent years, more than 1.2 million candidates took the IELTS test annually around the world. Its results are reported on a band scale from 0 to 9. Scores are reported in whole and half bands. Candidates scoring Band 6 are considered competent users who have a generally effective command of the English language, despite some inaccuracies, while those scoring Band 7 are considered good users who generally handle complex language well.

An overall Band of 6.5 or above with no subtest score below Band 6 obtained in the same sitting in the Academic Module of IELTS within the two-year validity period are accepted as equivalent to "Level 2" result in the Use of English paper of the Government's Common Recruitment Examination.

Ends/Monday, September 13, 2010

Annex A

Distribution of Average Overall Scores and Sub-scores of Final Year
Undergraduate Students in 2009/10 by Broad Academic Discipline

Broad Academic Discipline	No. of final year students participated in CEPAS¹	Average Reading Sub-score	Average Listening Sub-score	Average Writing Sub-score	Average Speaking Sub-score	Average Overall Score
Arts & Humanities	1,315	7.33	7.37	6.00	6.17	6.78
Business & Management	3,720	7.51	7.39	6.03	6.11	6.82
Education	580	6.92	7.11	5.90	6.17	6.58
Engineering & Technology	2,199	7.14	7.02	5.77	5.82	6.50
Medicine, Dentistry & Health	345	7.64	7.47	6.02	6.10	6.88
Physical Sciences	2,081	7.30	7.14	5.87	5.84	6.61
Social Sciences	1,823	7.45	7.42	6.10	6.24	6.87
Total	12,063	7.35	7.27	5.96	6.04	6.72

¹	Both part-time and full-time students are eligible to participate.

Annex B

Distribution of Average Overall Scores and Sub-scores
of Final Year Undergraduate Students in 2009/10 by Institution

Institution	No. and % of final year students participated in CEPAS¹	Average Reading Sub-score	Average Listening Sub-score	Average Writing Sub-score	Average Speaking Sub-score	Average Overall Score
CityU	2,121 (68%)	7.00	7.00	5.84	5.87	6.49
HKBU	1,049 (65%)	7.17	7.13	5.90	6.02	6.62
LU	587 (75%)	6.85	6.86	5.79	5.90	6.41
CUHK	2,221 (72%)	7.69	7.49	6.08	6.12	6.91
HKIEd²	390 (76%)	6.68	6.83	5.77	5.96	6.37
PolyU	2,236 (72%)	7.18	7.09	5.84	5.91	6.57
HKUST	1,479 (79%)	7.53	7.35	5.98	5.91	6.79
HKU	1,980 (59%)	7.79	7.73	6.18	6.33	7.07
Total	12,063 (68%)	7.35	7.27	5.96	6.04	6.72

¹	The participation rate is calculated based on total number of projected graduates, including full-time and part-time, except for HKIEd (see Note 2 below).
²	383 of the 390 candidates from HKIEd are full-time students, accounting for 76% of projected graduates from full-time programmes in 2009/10. The 390 candidates account for 42% of projected graduates of all programmes in 2009/10.

Annex C

Comparison of Average Overall Scores
of Final Year Undergraduate Students in 2008/09 and 2009/10
by Broad Academic Discipline

Broad Academic Discipline	2008/09		2009/10
Broad Academic Discipline	No. of final year students participated in CEPAS¹	Average Overall Score	No. of final year students participated in CEPAS¹	Average Overall Score
Arts & Humanities	1,306	6.85	1,315	6.78
Business & Management	3,702	6.77	3,720	6.82
Education	485	6.58	580	6.58
Engineering & Technology	2,193	6.42	2,199	6.50
Medicine, Dentistry & Health	382	6.81	345	6.88
Physical Sciences	2,073	6.59	2,081	6.61
Social Sciences	1,649	6.86	1,823	6.87
Total	11,790	6.69	12,063	6.72

¹	Both part-time and full-time students are eligible to participate.

Annex D

Comparison of Average Overall Scores and Participation
of Final Year Undergraduate Students in 2008/09 and 2009/10 by Institution

Institution	2008/09		2009/10
Institution	No. and % of final year students participated in CEPAS¹	Average Overall Score	No. and % of final year students participated in CEPAS¹	Average Overall Score
CityU	2,010 (75%)	6.45	2,121 (68%)	6.49
HKBU	997 (62%)	6.60	1,049 (65%)	6.62
LU	539 (68%)	6.44	587 (75%)	6.41
CUHK	1,987 (58%)	6.91	2,221 (72%)	6.91
HKIEd²	345 (67%)	6.41	390 (76%)	6.37
PolyU	2,179 (88%)	6.51	2,236 (72%)	6.57
HKUST	1,548 (80%)	6.74	1,479 (79%)	6.79
HKU	2,185 (69%)	6.99	1,980 (59%)	7.07
Total	11,790 (71%)	6.69	12,063 (68%)	6.72

The participation rate is calculated based on total number of projected graduates, including full-time and part-time, except for HKIEd (see Note 2 below).

In 2008/09, 343 candidates from HKIEd are all full-time students, accounting for 67% and 46% of projected graduates from full-time and all programmes in 2008/09 respectively. In 2009/10, 383 of the 390 candidates from HKIEd are full-time students, accounting for 76% of projected graduates from full-time programmes in 2009/10. The 390 candidates account for 42% of projected graduates of all programmes in 2009/10.