Student Services
The ATC’s primary mission is to ensure that new and continuing students are accurately placed in selected introductory courses and to make sure that students get the best start possible for their academic careers.
Language Tests
Writing Assessment
Physical Science Tests
Placement Tests
For Students…
Placement Testing Program
Foreign Language Placement
Students with previous experience/background should complete a placement exam if they are interested in enrolling in a language course. Placement exams are designed to evaluate the language skills of students and assess their preparation for coursework.
Students with no prior experience are not required to take a placement exam (exceptions listed below). You may enroll directly through WebReg if space permits.
Students intending to enroll in a Chinese language class should complete the background survey/placement assessment. Students with no background in Japanese and Korean may opt out of the placement test by completing a placement waiver.
Please look to the column on the left to find which placement tests are currently available. To inquire the availability of tests in other languages, contact the ATC directly at testcenter@uci.edu.
Physical Science
Many undergraduate academic programs may require students to complete part or all of a Math, Chemistry, Engineering Chemistry, and/or Physics sequence. Students can be placed into introductory courses through satisfying AP, SAT, and/or ACT scores. Alternatively, students without qualifying test scores may take a placement assessment to enroll.
Language Exemption Program
Students with a strong background in a language other than English have the opportunity to satisfy their language requirements through exemption testing.
Please look to the column on the left to find which exemption tests are currently available.
Exams marked with an asterisk (*) is a single exam that serves as both a placement and exemption test. Students will be exempted up until the course they are placed in. For example, placement into 2A will exempt students through the 1C level.
Writing Placement Process
All incoming students will receive a placement into UC Irvine writing courses. UC Irvine writing faculty will be placing students into courses during the summer. Visit the Writing Placement page for more information.
ICS Credit By Exams
Students may take the ICS Credit by Exam(s) to demonstrate understanding of course materials. Students who complete the exam and accept their grade will receive credit for the course, and the grade will be reflected on the official UCI transcript. Visit the ICS Credit By Exam page for more information.