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The following is issued on behalf of the University Grants Committee:
The University Grants Committee (UGC) announced today (September 26) the results of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) taken by final year students of UGC-funded undergraduate degree programmes under the 2013/14 Common English Proficiency Assessment Scheme (CEPAS).
About 11,400 final year students, or about 57 per cent of all full-time and part-time final year undergraduate students, participated in the 2013/14 round of CEPAS.
The average overall score attained by the students was 6.76 on a nine-point scale. About 82.3 per cent of the students attained a score in the 6.0 to 7.5 range, which means they are "competent" or "good" users of the English language in terms of the IELTS scoring system.
Among the four modules of the test, students did better in listening and reading, scoring overall averages of 7.30 and 7.32 respectively. Their average scores in writing and speaking were 6.07 and 6.15 respectively. Institutions are encouraged to utilise the CEPAS results as part of their English language enhancement strategies and programmes.
Breakdowns of candidates' average scores by broad academic discipline and by institution are attached in Annexes A and B. Comparisons of the overall average scores in 2012/13 and 2013/14, broken down by broad academic discipline and by institution, are attached in Annexes C and D.
CEPAS is a voluntary assessment scheme intended to encourage students to be more aware of the importance of English proficiency, and to provide a common framework for assessing and documenting students' English proficiency. IELTS has been adopted by the UGC as a testing tool under CEPAS since 2002/03. Test fees will be reimbursed if students agree to reflect their participation in CEPAS in their transcript. The actual test score however will not be shown.
IELTS results are reported on a band score from 0 to 9. Scores are reported in whole and half bands. According to the IELTS scoring system, candidates scoring Band 6 are considered competent users who have a generally effective command of the English language, despite some inaccuracies, while those scoring Band 7 are considered good users who generally handle complex language well.
An overall Band of 6.5 or above with no subtest score below Band 6 obtained in the same sitting in the Academic Module of IELTS within the two-year validity period is accepted as equivalent to a Level 2 result in the Use of English paper of the Government's Common Recruitment Examination.
Ends/Friday, September 26, 2014
Issued at HKT 16:01
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