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The University Grants Committee (UGC) announced
today (November 9) that more than 11,000
final year students of UGC-funded undergraduate
degree programmes had registered for the
International English Language Testing System
(IELTS) under the sixth round of the Common
English Proficiency Assessment Scheme (CEPAS).
This represents an increase of about 14%,
in terms of number of participants, as compared
with the figure last year.
A UGC spokesman said, "With the assistance
of our institutions, the sixth round of
registration for the scheme in 2007/08 has
just been successfully completed. 11,209
final year students have submitted their
applications this time. We are pleased to
see that the scheme has continued to attract
a considerable number of students. Given
the voluntary nature of the CEPAS, the encouraging
participation demonstrates that the students
attach importance to their English proficiency."
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 and at
around 10,000 in the 2006/07 round.
"We are glad to see the Scheme is
continuing to gain popularity and acceptance
amongst students. The increasing participation
over the past few years reflected students'
recognition of the value of CEPAS,"
the spokesman said.
In order to provide more convenience,
the UGC has been improving the registration
and testing arrangements over the years.
Starting from 2006/07, students can register
online. In this round, over 90% of students
have chosen to register online. In addition,
summer testing sessions from July to October
have been offered since 2005/06. A total
of 41 testing sessions will be organized
in 2007/08, including 16 summer testing
sessions. Some 3,000 students have registered
to take part in summer testing sessions.
A breakdown of the number of participants
by institution is at Annex for reference.
End/ Friday, November 9, 2007
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Annex
Number of Participants in
Common English Proficiency Assessment Scheme in 2007/08
| Institution |
2007/08 |
| No.
of Participants
|
Percentage
of Projected Graduates |
| City
University of Hong Kong |
1,850 |
68% |
| Hong
Kong Baptist University |
1,075 |
69% |
| Lingnan
University |
531 |
68% |
| The
Chinese University of Hong Kong |
2,016 |
69% |
| The
Hong Kong Institute of Education |
330* |
71%* |
| The
Hong Kong Polytechnic University |
1,926 |
76% |
| The
Hong Kong University of Science and
Technology |
1,460 |
78% |
| The
University of Hong Kong |
2,021 |
70% |
| Total
: |
11,209 |
71% |
* 328 of the 330 candidates
from HKIEd are full-time students, accounting
for 71% of projected graduates from full-time
programmes in 2007/08. The 330 candidates
account for 52% of projected graduates of
all programmes in 2007/08.
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