Common English Proficiency Assessment Scheme for Graduating University Students

The University Grants Committee (UGC) announced today (October 25) that over 8,700 final year students of UGC-funded institutions had registered for International English Language Testing System (IELTS) under the Common English Proficiency Assessment Scheme (CEPAS), representing an increase of nearly 20%, in terms of number of participants, as compared with the same cohort last year.

A spokesman for UGC said, "The successful launch of CEPAS last year was marked by the participation of over 7,300 final year students. With the assistance of our institutions, a round of registration for the Scheme in 2003-04 has just been completed."

"The UGC is pleased to see that over 8,700 final year students have submitted their applications this time. The significant increase is very encouraging. Given the voluntary nature of the CEPAS, the encouraging participation demonstrates that the students attach importance to their English proficiency."

The UGC announced the adoption of IELTS as the testing instrument for CEPAS in July 2002. This is the second year of implementation of the Scheme. A round of registration was carried out from mid-September to mid-October. A breakdown of number of participants by institution is at Annex for reference. The testing sessions will be run from November this year to May next year.

Saturday, October 25, 2003

Annex

Number of Participants in
Common English Proficiency Assessment Scheme in 2003-04

Institution	2003-04		2002-03
	No. of Participants	% of Projected Graduates	No. of Participants	% of Projected Graduates
City University of Hong Kong	1,461	54%	1,198	51%
Hong Kong Baptist University	721	48%	633	51%
Lingnan University	515	74%	387	55%
The Chinese University of Hong Kong	1,627	57%	1,313	45%
The Hong Kong Institute of Education*	190	26%	92	17%
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University	1,021	47%	962	43%
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology	1,447	80%	1,271	70%
The University of Hong Kong	1,744	68%	1,501	57%
Total:	8,726	58%	7,357	51%

*	Applicants from the Hong Kong Institute of Education are all full-time students, accounting for 51% and 35% of projected graduates from full-time programmes in 2003-04 and 2002-03 respectively.