Placement Assessment Information
Non-native English speaking students may be required to complete English Proficiency Assessments before or during International Student Orientation or required to take ESOL courses based on TOEFL/IELTS scores. The assessments are in-house placement tests developed by the ESOL and University Writing Programs at BGSU to assess students’ writing, speaking, and listening skills. Click on Undergraduate or Graduate below for more information, and please feel free to contact our office (esolprog@bgsu.edu) with any questions.
Graduate students who will have instructional duties may be required to take the Spoken English Test (SET). For more information, please consult the International Teaching Assistants/Associates Information webpage.
Writing Placement
All incoming undergraduates take the University Writing Program’s Placement to determine their writing course requirements. Non-native English speaking students may be required to complete ESOL writing courses as prerequisites to the University Writing Program’s WRIT courses. For the Writing Placement, students have a 24-hour period to write an essay, planning for an actual writing time of about 2 hours. There will be a choice of three writing prompts. You can access the Writing Placement online. Detailed instructions are available on the UWP website.
Speaking/Listening Placement
Some incoming undergraduates are also required to take the ESOL Program’s Speaking Listening Placement. In this test, students listen to one or more short audio clips, answer comprehension questions, and record an impromptu speaking sample. This placement test is given through Canvas with a 30-minute time limit. If you are required to take the ESOL speaking/listening placement, you will receive an email invitation to the placement test Canvas site. Full instructions are available in Canvas; be sure to read them carefully before beginning your placement test.
| Are you required to take the ESOL Program’s Speaking/Listening Placement? | Are you required to take the UWP Writing Placement? | |
| You are a citizen of one of the countries/regions listed below the table.* | No. | Yes. You are exempt from ESOL writing classes. The UWP Placement will determine your WRIT course requirements. |
| You submitted recent TOEFL/IELTS/MELAB scores. ** | Yes, unless you have a TOEFL iBT speaking score of 22 or an IELTS speaking score of 7.0 OR a total score of at least 95 on the TOEFL iBT; 7 on the IELTS, or 83 on the MELAB. | Yes. You are exempt from ESOL writing classes if you have a TOEFL iBT writing score of 25 or an IELTS writing score of 7.0. OR a total score of at least 95 on the TOEFL iBT; 7 on the IELTS, or 83 on the MELAB. The UWP Placement will determine your WRIT course requirements. |
| You graduated from a U.S. high school and have recent SAT/ACT scores. | Yes, unless you have a SAT ERW score of at least 500 or an ACT English score of at least 20. | Yes. You are exempt from ESOL writing classes if you have a SAT ERW score of at least 500 or an ACT English score of at least 20. The UWP Placement will determine your WRIT course requirements. |
| You have an International Baccalaureate exam score of 4 or higher. | No. | Yes. You are exempt from ESOL writing classes. The UWP Placement will determine your WRIT course requirements. |
| You are a citizen of country where English is mandated as the medium of instruction in schools (i.e. India). | No. | Yes. |
| You are an undergraduate transfer student with UWP 1110/ 1120 transfer credit. | No. | No. |
| You are an undergraduate transfer student without UWP transfer credit. | Yes. | Yes. |
| You completed ELS’s Intensive English for Academic Purposes Level 112. | Yes. | Yes. |
* Country Exemption List:
Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Australia; Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Bermuda; Botswana; British Guyana; Canada (Except Quebec); Cayman Islands; Dominica; Eritrea; Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); Fiji; Gambia (The); Ghana; Grenada; Guam; Guyana; Ireland; Jamaica; Kenya; Lesotho; Liberia; Malawi; Montserrat; New Zealand; Nigeria; Sierra Leone; Singapore; St. Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; St. Kitts and Nevis; St. Lucia; St. Vincent and the Grenadine; South Africa; Swaziland; Tanzania; Trinidad and Tobago; Turks and Caicos Isle; Uganda; United Kingdom; Virgin Islands; Zambia; and Zimbabwe
**Tests cannot be older than two years.
Graduate students who were required to submit TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE scores may be required to take ESOL classes. If you were admitted with scores below the Graduate College recommended minimums (TOEFL IBT 80, IELTS 6.5, PTE 53, DET 110)* or admitted without submitting scores**, you are required to take two English classes within your first two semesters of enrollment. Individual programs/departments may have additional English class requirements and/or higher minimum scores. Contact your department or our office with questions.
Required classes for graduate students admitted with standardized language proficiency scores below official Graduate College recommended minimums are:
1. ESOL 5000: English for International Graduate Students (3 credit hours)
2. A second ESOL or ENG class of your choice from these options:
- ESOL 6080: Academic and Professional Oral Communication (3 credit hours)
- ENG 6040: Graduate Writing (3 credit hours)
- If you are an International Teaching Assistant/Associate, you may also count ESOL 5040: English for International Graduate Assistants I or ESOL 5050: English for International Graduate Assistants II as one of your required courses.
If you were admitted with standardized language proficiency scores above official Graduate College recommended minimums, and you do not have instructional duties, you are not required to take ESOL classes. Graduate students who have instructional duties may be required to take the Spoken English Test (SET). For more information, see the International Teaching Assistants/Associates page.
International students who are not required to take ESOL classes are also welcome to enroll; please see our course descriptions or contact our office for recommendations. 6000-level ESOL and ENG classes may count toward your degree, depending on individual program/department policies.
*Tests cannot be older than two years. TOEFL My Best Score is not considered.
**Note: US citizens, students from the countries listed below, or students with a previous degree from a college/university in the US or a country in which instruction was delivered in English are not required to submit standardized language proficiency test scores and are not required to take ESOL classes. However, students with instructional duties may be required to take the Spoken English Test (SET). See the International Teaching Assistants/Associates page for more information.
Country Exemption List: Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Australia; Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Bermuda; Botswana; British Guyana; Canada (Except Quebec); Cayman Islands; Dominica; Eritrea; Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); Fiji; Gambia (The); Ghana; Grenada; Guam; Guyana; Ireland; Jamaica; Kenya; Lesotho; Liberia; Malawi; Montserrat; New Zealand; Nigeria; Sierra Leone; Singapore; St. Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; St. Kitts and Nevis; St. Lucia; St. Vincent and the Grenadine; South Africa; Swaziland; Tanzania; Trinidad and Tobago; Turks and Caicos Isle; Uganda; United Kingdom; Virgin Islands; Zambia; and Zimbabwe
Updated: 01/10/2023 09:40PM