THE UC ANALYTICAL WRITING PLACEMENT EXAMINATION (AWPE)

The University of California Office of the President develops and administers an examination to determine if entering students can read and write at the level expected to satisfy the Entry-Level Writing Requirement. The UC Analytical Writing Placement Examination (AWPE) is administered each year, on the second Saturday in May, at numerous high schools across the state of California. Each admitted student (who has not documented by April 1, with the Office of the President, his or her satisfaction of the ELWR) receives a ticket and information about the nearest test site. Students who receive tickets are expected to take the examination. Each year more than 16,000 students write the examination.

The UC Analytical Writing Placement Exam provides students with a prose passage of some 700 to 1,000 words. This passage is of the level of difficulty encountered in beginning University courses, and may be drawn from a number of disciplines. Students have two hours to read the passage and write their response. Essays must demonstrate their writers’ understanding of the passage, maintain their focus on the task assigned, and lead readers to understand their points of view, if not accept them. They must also demonstrate their writers’ ability to control a range of vocabulary appropriate for beginning college students, to manage varied syntax accurately and appropriately, and to observe the conventions of standard written English.

Each essay is read and scored by two different expert readers. If there is a significant discrepancy between their two scores, the essay is read by a supervising reader for the final scoring. Students who write satisfactory exams satisfy the ELWR and are eligible to enroll in the first course of the UCR Freshman Composition sequence. Students whose exams are determined to be unsatisfactory are given instructions to enroll in a particular ELWR course. UCR urges all new students to satisfy their ELWR before becoming a full-time student in the fall.

Format | Development | Scoring | Sample Exams