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Over 9,500 university students participate in Common English Proficiency Assessment Scheme (Friday, 28 October 2005)

The University Grants Committee (UGC) announced today (October 28) that over 9,500 final year students of UGC-funded undergraduate degree programmes had registered for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) under the fourth round of the Common English Proficiency Assessment Scheme (CEPAS). This represents an increase of over 10%, in terms of number of participants, as compared with the same cohort last year.

A UGC spokesman said, "We are pleased to see that the scheme has continued to attract a large number of students. Over 9,500 final year students have submitted their applications this time. Given the voluntary nature of the CEPAS, the 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.

"With the assistance of our institutions, the fourth round of registration for the scheme in 2005-06 has just been successfully completed," the spokesman said.

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. In parallel, for the convenience of students, the UGC extended and advanced the registration period of CEPAS, which began on April 29, 2005 and lasted until October 22, 2005. About 1,560 students have participated in the new summer testing sessions. A total of 34 testing sessions will be organized in 2005/06, including the nine summer testing sessions.

A breakdown of the number of participants by institution is at the Annex for reference.

End/Friday, October 28, 2005

Annex

Number of Participants in
Common English Proficiency Assessment Scheme in 2005/06

Institution	2005-06
Institution	No. of Participants	% of Projected Graduates
City University of Hong Kong	1,466	54%
Hong Kong Baptist University	820	54%
Lingnan University	508	67%
The Chinese University of Hong Kong	1,872	66%
The Hong Kong Institute of Education*	340*	60%*
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University	1,477	68%
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology	1,312	76%
The University of Hong Kong	1,790	66%
Total:	9,585	64%

*	332 of the 340 candidates from HKIEd are full-time students, accounting for 60% of projected graduates from full-time programmes in 2005/06. The 340 candidates account for 34% of projected graduates of all programmes in 2005/06.