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The University Grants Committee (UGC) announced
today (April 3) that students of UGC-funded
undergraduate degree programmes who expect
to graduate at the end of the 2007-08 academic
year can register for the Common English
Proficiency Assessment Scheme (CEPAS) from
today until 7:00 pm on October 19, 2007.
"To provide more convenience and an
additional option to students, the UGC introduced
online registration service last year. Since
then, the online system has operated smoothly,
and we will continue to offer online registration
service for this round of CEPAS. Students
can register online by visiting the CEPAS
website (www.ugccepa.com), where the dates
and availability of each testing session
can be obtained," Mr Michael Stone,
the Secretary-General, UGC said.
"With the assistance of the institutions,
we will arrange a series of testing sessions
from July 2007 to May 2008 under the Scheme
for all students of UGC-funded undergraduate
degree programme who will be in their final
year in 2007-08 academic year.
"We began to offer summer testing
sessions two years ago, and will continue
to offer testing sessions from July to October
this year. We believe that both job-seekers
and employers who need to know CEPAS results
at an earlier date will benefit from having
this option. In order further to facilitate
students and employers, the first testing
session will be advanced from late July
to early July this year."
"This year, the registration period
is from April 3 to 7:00pm on October 19,
2007. Students who want to register for
the testing sessions from July to October
2007 should do so by 7:00pm on April 27,
2007. Students may check these dates by
visiting the CEPAS website. Students are
encouraged to register as early as possible
as the seats are on a first-come, first-served
basis, and some testing sessions may become
full during the registration period,"
Mr Stone added.
As in the past five years, participating
students are eligible for reimbursement
of the test fee (once only), if they agree
to have a statement printed on their transcript
indicating that they have participated in
the Scheme. The statement only indicates
participation; it does not contain the actual
score.
"Despite its voluntary nature, close
to 10,000 final-year students, which was
a record high, participated in the Scheme
last year. This year, we again encourage
each and every eligible student to take
part in the Scheme. In addition, we shall
continue to strengthen our efforts in promoting
the CEPAS targeting at employers, students,
as well as the wider community," Mr
Stone said.
For more detailed information, students
can visit the CEPAS website, call the International
English Language Testing System (IELTS)
hotline at 2620 0321 or contact the Registrar's
Offices of the eight UGC-funded institutions.
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. Through the
assessment, the UGC aims to benchmark the
English proficiency of local tertiary students
against a reliable, internationally validated
instrument which will serve as useful reference
for students when they enter the workforce
after they graduate or when they pursue
further studies.
The UGC announced the adoption of IELTS
as the testing instrument for CEPAS in July
2002. IELTS is an internationally validated
English testing instrument. In recent years,
over 700 000 candidates took the IELTS test
annually around the world. It covers all
the four skills in English language, namely
listening, reading, writing and speaking.
Its results are reported on a band scale
from 0 to 9.
An overall band of 6.5 or above with no
subject score below band 6 obtained in one
sitting in IELTS is accepted as equivalent
to a pass in the Use of English paper of
the Hong Kong Government's Common Recruitment
Examination within two years from the date
of the IELTS test.
UGC Secretariat
3 April 2007
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