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The following is issued on behalf of the University Grants Committee:
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 studentsˇ¦ 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 organised 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.
Ends/Friday, November 9, 2007
Issued at HKT 16:06
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