Overview

Prince Sultan University recognizes the achievements of students who study advanced courses prior to joining PSU.

Purpose

This policy provides guidelines for dealing with Advanced Placement (AP) equivalencies.

Scpoe

This policy applies to all incoming students.

Policy

Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) equivalencies are evaluated on case by case basis. The student, who passes IB subjects and would like them to be considered for equivalency, must submit an official copy of the transcript. The request shall be evaluated by the chairman of the concerned department and dean of college. Recommendations shall be submitted to the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs for approval.

English Placement Exam:

For English Preparatory Courses, the English Department’s placement process is designed to optimize the student experience and maximize our students’ performance by placing them in the most suitable level for their language ability. Students are placed directly into the first level of the English Preparatory Year Program (PYP) through the EPT (English Placement Test [Qiyas]) or the PSU In-house Placement Exam.* There are two exceptions to this:

1. Students who are identified as having low-level English language proficiency – Common European Framework of Reference A1 (CEFR) are entered into the Intensive English Program (IEP) as outlined on page four.
2. Students who demonstrate a high degree of language ability are afforded the opportunity to be exempt from one or more PYP courses as outlined in the tables on pages five and six.

Any exemption from a PYP course is determined through the PSU English Promotion Test or international tests such as IELTS or the Internet Based TOEFL (IBT).

This policy became effective from the beginning of academic year 2017- 2018. (Details of the process and scores needed can be found in The Regulations for Placement and Promotion Exams)

There is a single promotion test paper which is used to decide on exemption from both ENG010-ENG020 and ENG030-ENG040. This will be common on both the male and female campuses and will be updated periodically. The duration of the test is 90 minutes.

Students who achieve 80% or more on the NCA Placement Exam (EPT) or the In-house Placement Exam will be eligible to sit for the promotion test (NEW STUDENTS ONLY). A score of 80% or more will automatically prompt students to write an essay during the same session at the NCA. Students who sit the In-house Placement Exam will be permitted to take the promotion test on the PSU campus, subject to eligibility.

The ‘PSU English Promotion Test’ requires test-takers to write one five-paragraph essay from a selection of academic topics.

Students who score 75% in the PSU Preparatory Entrance Math Exam are also eligible to the PSU Preparatory Math Promotion Exam.

Students with IELTS/TOEFL-IBT are automatically given a Placement Computing-Skills Exam during the first week of class of the semester. Based on the score, Preparatory Computing Skills Course(s) may be waived.