Dear Students,
The English Placement Exam will be held online on October 20, 2020. The duration of the exam, which consists of 100 questions in total, is 120 minutes. Our students are required to get a minimum score of 40 out of 100 points in order to qualify for the English Proficiency Exam.
The students who score 40 points and above qualify for the English Proficiency Exam to be held on October 21, 2020. In order to prevent technical problems due to the pandemic, the English Proficiency Exam to be held at the beginning of Fall Semester will assess three skills (listening, reading and writing) and will be held online. The students who will be studying in English-medium departments are required to get a minimum score of 60 out of 100 points in order to be successful in this exam. Students who will be studying in the departments of English Language and Literature and English Language Teaching are supposed to score at least 80 out of 100 points. Please see the table of scores below.
| Faculty / Department | English Proficiency Exam (IKU) |
| English Language and Literature, Foreign Languages Education- English Language Teaching | 80 pts. |
| Other English-medium associate and undergraduate degrees | 60 pts. |
Our online exams are held on the CATS platform of our University. After you complete your registration, you will receive your username and password. Please go to “cats.iku.edu.tr” and enter your username and password so as to have access to the system. When you log in CATS, you will see two sample exams. These exams will be active as of October 15, 2020. You can try the sample exams until October 20, 2020 by 10 a.m. Sample exams are given for trial purposes and are designed for you to understand how the system works.
Please find below the details of the upcoming exams for new students:
| Exam (Online) | Date | Time Slot | Platform |
| English Placement Exam | October 20, 2020 | 12:00 – 14:00 | cats.iku.edu.tr |
| English Proficiency Exam (Writing) | October 21, 2020 | 12:00 – 12:45 | cats.iku.edu.tr |
| English Proficiency Exam (Listening & Reading) | October 21, 2020 | 13:00 – 14:00 | cats.iku.edu.tr |
The Department of Foreign Languages has prepared a guideline for you in order to familiarize you with the procedures of the exams. The steps you need to take in each exam are stated below. Please read each step carefully and make sure that everything is clear.
INSTRUCTIONS for ENGLISH PLACEMENT EXAM
The steps to be taken in order to access the online placement exam is as follows:
1. Go to cats.iku.edu.tr
2. Enter your username and password and log in the system.
3. Go to “Tests&Quizzes” and click on the exam you are supposed to take.
4. Once you click “Begin Assessment”, you can start answering the questions.
5. At the end of each part, you must click on the “Save” button to record your answers first. Then, you can continue with the next part.
6. Before you log out, remember to click on “Submit for Grading”. Otherwise, your answers will not be recorded or graded.
7. In case you have a technical issue or an internet connection problem, you have the opportunity to submit the assessment one more time within the specified slot. Answers from the previous attempt will not be available within the assessment during subsequent attempts. In this case, your higher score will be recorded.
IMPORTANT NOTE: We would like to remind you that it is the students’ responsibility to take the exams on time and follow all the steps mentioned above as well as following other announcements regarding the assessment procedures.
INSTRUCTIONS for ENGLISH PROFICIENCY EXAM
READING & LISTENING
The steps to be taken in order to access the Reading and Listening parts of the online exam is as follows:
1. Go to cats.iku.edu.tr
2. Enter your username and password and log in the system.
3. Go to “Tests&Quizzes” click on the exam you are supposed to take.
4. Once you click “Begin Assessment”, you can start answering the questions.
5. At the end of each part, you must click on the “Save” button to record your answers first. Then, you can continue with the next part.
6. Before you log out, remember to click on “Submit for Grading”. Otherwise, your answers will not be recorded or graded.
7. In case you have a technical issue or an internet connection problem, you have the opportunity to submit the assessment one more time within the specified slot. Answers from the previous attempt will not be available within the assessment during subsequent attempts. In this case, your higher score will be recorded.
Please make sure that you use a computer or a tablet. Also, check the listening tracks and the reading texts. You can download them onto your computer. Please make sure that you download the listening tracks at the very beginning of the exam so as to save time and finish the exam within the time slot.
WRITING
1. Go to cats.iku.edu.tr
2. Enter your username and password and log in the system.
3. Go to “Tests&Quizzes”.
4. Once you click “Begin Assessment”, you can see the topics for the writing part. Please choose one topic ONLY.
5. Write your answer in the space below and click on “Submit for Grading”.
You will be penalised if you plagiarise (copy-paste from the Internet or a course book). It is important that you take the exam to test yourself and create your own product. We would like to state that plagiarism and cheating are part of academic dishonesty and it is a serious issue. If you happen to plagiarise and it is detected, you will not only get a zero but you might also receive disciplinary punishment.
If you encounter a persistent technical problem during the online exams, we kindly ask you to send an email at ydb@iku.edu.tr with a valid proof (screenshot etc.).
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: We would like to remind you that it is the students’ responsibility to take the exams on time and follow all the steps mentioned above as well as following other announcements regarding the assessment procedures.
Wish you the best of health.
Department of Foreign Languages
