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The University Grants Committee (UGC) announced
today (October 31) that almost 10,000 final
year students of UGC-funded undergraduate
degree programmes had registered for the
International English Language Testing System
(IELTS) under the fifth round of the Common
English Proficiency Assessment Scheme (CEPAS).
This represents an increase of about 3%,
in terms of number of participants, as compared
with the same cohort last year.
"With the assistance of our institutions,
the fifth round of registration for the
scheme in 2006-07 has just been successfully
completed. Despite its voluntary nature,
the scheme has continued to attract a large
number of students. Almost 10,000 final
year students have submitted their applications
for this round," a UGC spokesman said.
"We are pleased to see that the Scheme
has gained increasing popularity and acceptance
amongst students and employers."
The successful launch of CEPAS in 2002/03
was marked by the participation of over
7,300 final year students. In 2003/04 and
2004/05, about 8,700 students joined the
scheme each year, and the number increased
to over 9,500 in the 2005/06 round.
"The increasing participation reflected
students' confidence in their English abilities,
and their recognition of the value of CEPAS,"
the spokesman said.
Starting with this round of the Scheme,
online registration service is also offered
as an option to students. The system has
operated smoothly since April 2006 and has
shown to be popular. Over 90% of students
have chosen to register online.
In 2005/06, the UGC began to offer summer
testing sessions from July to October to
facilitate students and employers and provide
more options to them. Due to their popularity,
the UGC has continued to offer summer testing
sessions in 2006/07, and some 1,100 students
have registered in the summer testing sessions
of this round. A total of 44 testing sessions
will be organized in 2006/07, including
seven summer testing sessions.
A breakdown of the number of participants
by institution is at the Annex for reference.
End/Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Annex
Number of Participants in
Common English Proficiency Assessment Scheme
in 2006/07
| Institution |
2006/07 |
| No. of Participants |
% of Projected Graduates |
| City University of Hong Kong |
1,502 |
57% |
| Hong Kong Baptist University |
958 |
61% |
| Lingnan University |
520 |
70% |
| The Chinese University of Hong Kong |
1,888 |
69% |
| The Hong Kong Institute of Education* |
326* |
64%* |
| The Hong Kong Polytechnic University |
1,586 |
70% |
| The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology |
1,219 |
67% |
| The University of Hong Kong |
1,851 |
68% |
| Total: |
9,850 |
66% |
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