English Exit Test
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Please be advised that Wendy Willis (wwillis@dawsoncollege.qc.ca), the English Exit Test coordinator, is only available on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Next English Exit Test:
Wednesday, May 17, 2017 from 8:30am – 12:30pm
Online registration for the May test will be from February 21 – March 31, 2017. You can register through your Omnivox home page under My Intranet.
| Results for the December 14, 2016 English Exit Test are available at the bottom of your transcript in your portal. Hard copies of these results have been mailed to your address on file. |
ALL STUDENTS REGISTERED FOR THE ENGLISH EXIT TEST WILL RECEIVE A CONFIRMATION LETTER A COUPLE OF WEEKS PRIOR TO THE TEST. YOU MUST PRINT THIS CONFIRMATION LETTER PRIOR TO ARRIVING TO THE COLLEGE THE DAY OF THE TEST TO RECEIVE ADMITTANCE TO THE ENGLISH EXIT TEST.
If you have not accessed your portal recently or do not remember your password, you will need to contact the Computer Help Desk for assistance. Please read the confirmation letter thoroughly, print it and bring it with you to the test.
All students writing the test must arrive at the college by 8:00 am. They must bring a blue or black pen, their confirmation letter, and appropriate ID.
There are no other exams that day.
BASIC INFORMATION
All Dawson students must register themselves online to write the Exit Test. There are no automatic registrations.
Students will receive a confirmation letter of this registration a few weeks prior to the test. This letter will include the time, location and pertinent details of their test.
They must bring this confirmation letter with them to gain entry to the test along with one of the following pieces of identification.
- Dawson ID
- Passport
- Medicare Card
- Driver’s License
Any student arriving to the test without one of these authorized pieces of identification WILL NOT be admitted to the test under any circumstances.
Any student arriving more than a half an hour late (after 9:00 am) to the test will NOT be admitted under any circumstances.
Students should bring a blue or black pen and a dictionary with no grammar section to the test.
STUDENTS EDUCATED OUTSIDE CANADA
Students that were educated outside of Canada in a language other than English or French prior to coming to Dawson, may be eligible for an extra hour (5 hours instead of 4). Students wishing to apply for the extra hour, must submit to the Exit Test Coordinator a copy of their diploma and transcript (with translation) from the last educational institution they attended prior to coming to Dawson. This must be done before the end of the Exit Test registration period. The MESRST (Ministry of Education) will determine the eligibility of each student. If you attended high school in Quebec, you will not be eligible. If you were educated in English or French in another country, you will not be eligible.
ASSISTANCE PREPARING FOR THE EXIT TEST
If you would like extra help preparing for the English Exit Test, please check out the services offered by the Academic Skills Center (formerly known as the Learning Centre) using the links below, or drop by to visit them on the second floor of the library.
On-line materials and advice on preparing for the English Exit Test
Information on writing workshops, drop-in sessions, and other services
POST TESTS OPTIONS
Results for the May tests are usually available online by the third week of June, the August test results by mid-September and the December test results by the third week of January. For additional information about the English Exit Test, please visit the Ministry of Education website. If you have written the Exit Test within the last two years and would like to obtain a copy of your exam, you can make that request directly to the Ministry online.
The procedures for appealing the grade are explained on the back of the grade report. There is $11.10 fee for a grade review that must be paid with a certified cheque or money order. Forms are available online.
BACKGROUND
The Ministerial Examination of College English, commonly referred to as the English Exit Test, is a four-hour examination that takes place twice a year, in May and December, with a make-up test in August. All students completing a program of studies are required to pass the examination in order to obtain a D.E.C. (AEC programs are exempt from this examination).
ELIGIBILITY
Students who have successfully completed the three Block A English courses (603-101, 603-102, and 603-103) are eligible to write the examination. However, a student may register if he/she has only 603-102 or 603-103 left, and he/she is currently taking it. Students who have been granted Substitutions (SU) or Equivalencies (EQ) for English 603-101, 603-102, and/or 603-103, based on courses previously taken at college or university, are also eligible to write.
Students are encouraged to write this exam as soon as they are eligible to do so.
| 603-101, 603-102 and 603-103 completed and passed | ELIGIBLE |
| 603-101, 603-102 completed and passed, currently taking 603-103 | ELIGIBLE |
| 603-101, 603-103 completed and passed, currently taking 603-102 | ELIGIBLE |
| 603-101, 603-102 completed and passed, currently taking 603-BXE | NOT ELIGIBLE |
| 603-101, 603-103 completed and passed, currently taking 603-BXE | NOT ELIGIBLE |
EXIT TEST FORMAT
The examination is designed to determine how well students can apply what they have been taught in their English courses. It is based on the Ministerial Objectives and Standards that apply to English courses given in the province. Students have four hours in which to complete the exam. In that time, each student must:
- read three selections of fiction and non-fiction,
- choose one of the three selections to write about,
- organize and draft an essay of at least 750 words in response,
- revise and edit the essay, and
- transcribe the final draft of the essay into the exam booklet.
Note: The only reference materials permitted are English dictionaries , Bilingual dictionaries and a/or a thesaurus. Dictionaries will be checked on the morning of the exam, so please ensure that the dictionary you intend to bring to the exam does NOT include reference sections (usually at the back) on grammar, punctuation, writing style, etc.
No cell phones, coats or bags of any kind are permitted in the exam room and students are encouraged to leave all such items in their lockers before entering the examination area. While it is possible, with permission, to make necessary washroom visits (a monitor will be stationed in the hallway), it is important to note that any student who leaves the examination area for any other reason will NOT be re-admitted. This means that a student cannot leave the exam room to get food, to make a phone call, to put money into a parking meter, etc.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
The essays are graded by a team of teachers from English departments and by external examiners from across the province. They are graded, on each of the three criteria explained below, on a scale from A (very good) to F (unacceptable). Students pass the exam if they have grades of C or better on each of the three criteria; the grade D is a failing grade.
Comprehension & Insight
- recognition of a main idea from the selected reading
- identification of techniques and/or devices employed by the author
- evidence of critical or analytical interpretation of the selection
- references that demonstrate understanding of the reading
Organization of Response
- statement of a thesis about the text
- structured development of the essay
- use of detail to support the thesis
- unified paragraph structure
Expression
- appropriate use of words
- varied and correct sentence structures
- correct grammar
- conventional spelling, punctuation, and usage
The following documents can be studied to understand how the Test is graded:
Please click here to find the Ministerial Marking Guide
Please click here to find the Ministerial conversion table
After the papers are graded, students are informed of the results in a grade report which indicates the grade earned on each of the three criteria, as well as the outcome, Pass or Fail. You may expect to receive this in mid-February, mid-July or mid -September.
Should the student fail, the exam must be rewritten, and passed, before a D.E.C. can be issued. There is no limit to the number of times a failed exam may be rewritten, but students can only write on the authorized test dates. There is no fee charged for writing, or rewriting the English Exit Test.
If you need more information about the English Exit Test, please contact Wendy Willis by email at wwillis@dawsoncollege.qc.ca or by phone at 514-931-8731 ext. 3948.
Future Exit Test Dates
The dates for the English Exit Test are scheduled years in advance. There are no other test dates available. The ministry does not allow any student to write at any other time than these specified dates. The next known test dates are:
- Wednesday, May 17, 2017
- Wednesday, August 9, 2017
- Wednesday, December 13, 2017
- Wednesday, May 16, 2018
- Wednesday, August 8, 2018
- Wednesday, December 19, 2018
- Wednesday, May 15, 2019
- Wednesday, August 14, 2019
- Wednesday, December 18, 2019
- Wednesday, May 13, 2020
- Wednesday, August 12, 2020
- Wednesday, December 16, 2020
