At Chesapeake College, we’re committed to helping you succeed in your academic journey. Our placement testing process ensures that you’re placed in the right courses based on your skills and academic background. Let’s explore how placement testing works and what you need to know to get started.

What is Placement Testing?

Placement testing helps determine the appropriate level of courses for incoming students. It assesses your skills in math, English, and reading, and ensures that you’re placed in courses that match your proficiency level.

Do You Have to Take the Placement Test?

That depends. When you complete your online application, you’ll be given instructions on whether or not you need to schedule placement testing. In addition, some noncredit programs require placement in specific subjects prior to registration. If your program requires placement testing, it will be noted on the program’s webpage from our Program Finder.

Some students may qualify for direct placement into credit-level courses through various measures:

  • Graduated from high school in the last five years with at least a 3.0 overall high school grade-point average, qualifying you for direct placement into English 101 and all college courses with a college-ready prerequisite in English. (High school seniors may be placed using their high school GPA current through the fall semester of their senior year.)
  • Successfully completed a high school transition course in English within the last five years, qualifying you for ENG 101 and all college courses with a college-ready prerequisite in English if you received a “C” or better in the transition course.
  • Graduated from high school in the last three years with at least a 3.0 overall high school grade-point average, including successful (“C” or better) completion of Algebra II or Advanced Topics in Algebra II in the last three years, qualifying you for direct placement into college-level math and all college courses with a college-ready math prerequisite. (High school seniors may be placed using their high school GPA current through the fall semester of their senior year.)

  • You have completed a transferable college-level English course at another accredited institution, qualifying you for direct placement into ENG 101 and all college courses with a college-ready prerequisite in English.
  • You have completed a transferable college-level mathematics courses at another accredited institution, qualifying you for direct placement in college-level math courses and all college courses with a college-ready prerequisite in math.

Having a degree from an accredited institution could mean direct placement into English 101, college-level math courses, and other courses with similar prerequisites.

  • SAT Critical Reading or Evidence-Based Reading and Writing score of 480 or higher, qualifying you for direct placement into ENG 101 and all college courses with a college-ready prerequisite in English.
  • SAT Math score of 530 or higher, qualifying you for direct placement into college-level math courses and all college courses with a college-ready prerequisite in math.
  • ACT Composite score of 21 or higher, qualifying you for direct placement into ENG 101, college-level math courses and all college courses with a college-ready prerequisite.

  • English Language with a score of 3 or higher, qualifying you for direct placement into ENG 101 and all college courses with a college-ready prerequisite in English.
  • Calculus AB or BC with a score of 3 or higher, qualifying you for direct placement into college-level math courses and all college courses with a college-ready prerequisite in math.

he College participates in the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) as a means of assessing and awarding credit for knowledge obtained through prior experience or course work taken at non-accredited institutions. CLEP is also a means of evaluating post-high school learning experiences, education through employment, and skills gained through the Armed Services. Students are advised to review the CLEP policies of the institutions to which they expect to transfer. Information regarding CLEP tests and fees may be obtained from the Testing Center. Chesapeake offers CLEP examinations only for courses which parallel those found in the college’s catalog, including credit-level math and English courses. A current list of CLEP examinations for which Chesapeake College will grant credit is listed in the Chesapeake College catalog or can be obtained from the Testing Center. The chart below indicates which CLEP tests in English and math earn students college credit as well as direct placement into courses in those disciplines.

Attained these GED scores:

  • Reasoning Through Language Arts score of 165, and
  • Mathematical Reasoning score of 165

English Placement Flowchart

Use our English Placement flowchart to help determine whether you may need to take a placement test before enrolling.

Download the English Flowchart

Math Placement Flowchart

Use our Math Placement flowchart to help determine whether you may need to take a placement test before enrolling.

Download the Math Flowchart

What if You Aren’t Exempt?

If you don’t qualify for direct placement based on the measures mentioned above, you’ll need to take the ACCUPLACER placement test in reading, writing, and/or mathematics. ACCUPLACER scores help determine your readiness for college-level courses and are valid for two years.

Placement Testing FAQs & Resources

ACCUPLACER placement tests include untimed computer adaptive, multiple choice assessments in math and English, and/or Writeplacer, which is a timed (80 minutes) essay. Other than the WritePlacer test, each test section presents one question per screen with a set of answer choices, and ACCUPLACER grades each question after it is answered. Therefore, once you have answered a question and moved on to the next question, you will not be able to go back and change your answer.

For the WritePlacer test, students will be given a prompt and asked to write a 300- to 600-word essay, which is scored by ACCUPLACER immediately upon completion.

Remember, because the test helps determine whether or not you are ready for college-level courses, a student cannot pass or fail the examination. Depending on your score, you may be required to take developmental courses to help you prepare for college-level courses.

Your academic advisor will help you to select the course(s) that best meet your academic needs.

The WritePlacer essay is timed (80 minutes), but the other test sections are not timed. The duration of the testing sessions is reasonable; students taking the WritePlacer and math sections usually complete both sections in an hour and a half or less, but times do vary based on the math section being untimed and computer adaptive.

Every placement test taker MUST provide a current, government-issued picture ID prior to test administration and should have a testing slip on file prior to your arrival. The testing slip will be generated when you complete your online application. If you are not applying online, you may request a testing slip in advance from the Admissions office.

Studies have shown that studying for the test may help you to achieve higher scores. Please see the following resources to help you better prepare to take the ACCUPLACER placement test:

ACCUPLACER Study Resources

ACCUPLACER Sample Problems (PDFs)

More ACCUPLACER Assistance

Other Testing Resources

Essay Strategies:

  • Read the directions and the prompt. Collect your thoughts. Review the prompt several times if necessary. Please answer the question by writing a multiple paragraph essay. Make your best effort to include an introduction with a main idea that answers the question, body paragraphs that support your main idea, and a conclusion that provides some kind of ending without summarizing your main points.
  • Use a prewriting strategy and organize! Spend several minutes organizing your thoughts in writing before you start your essay. You can use scratch paper to make notes. Utilize prewriting strategies such as clustering, bubbling, or mapping to develop your ideas. Coherent organization is one of the most important characteristics of a good essay.
  • Draft your essay
  • Proofread your work before you submit your final version to make sure you have communicated your ideas clearly and used correct grammar and spelling.

An appointment is not necessary to take the ACCUPLACER placement test. However, students wishing to take the ACCUPLACER placement test should:

  1. Complete an online application to determine whether placement testing is needed. If so, a testing slip will be generated once your application is submitted. If you are not applying online, you may contact [email protected] to request the testing slip be sent to the testing center and get testing hours and study guide emailed to you. You may request online placement testing but a testing slip from admissions is still required. The testing center will contact you directly, to set up a time and day for your ONLINE testing.
  2. You do not need an appointment for in-person testing, BUT your test slip needs to be made in advance, you must arrive at the Testing Center during our placement testing hours. Click here to see the current placement testing hours or refer to the testing hours sent to you via email.
  3. Bring government-issued, current (unexpired) identification, such as a driver’s license or passport. A recent high school ID card is also acceptable. It must be a physical card and must contain a photograph of the individual. Please note that a high school ID may ONLY be used for placement testing and not for any other type of test within the Testing Center.

The ACCUPLACER test is given throughout the year at the Testing Center in the Learning Resource Center on the Wye Mills campus, or at the Cambridge Campus, and online testing is available by appointment only. Test slips should be made in advance by the Admissions office by emailing [email protected]. Details and hours can be found on the Testing Center site.

Chesapeake College provides testing accommodations for students who are registered and approved through the Office of Accessibility Services. If you are an incoming student and need accommodations for placement testing, please follow these guidelines:

  • Contact the Office of Accessibility Services at least 48 hours before your testing date to request accommodations for placement tests.
  • Share your Accommodation Plan with your professors at least 48 hours before any test day to ensure your accommodations are in place.
  • For students taking the TEAS Test, you must also contact the Office of Accessibility Services at least 48 hours prior to the test date.

Please note: If requests for accommodations are not made within the required time frame, there is a risk that accommodations may not be provided in time for the test.