WorkKeys information source - WorkKeys Assessment Updated: 2023

The School appoints examiners to prepare and mark the Undergraduate Admissions Assessment (UGAA), designed to test use of evidence, written communication skills and numeracy. The UGAA is conducted as an online examination.

The purpose of the Undergraduate Admissions Assessment

The Undergraduate Admissions Assessment is used to fairly assess applicants from non-traditional educational backgrounds or those applying with qualifications we do not recognise for direct entry. It provides an opportunity to see a trial of the applicant’s original work, produced under examination conditions, and seeks to assess applicants in a fair and equitable manner.

There are several reasons why applicants need to be tested in this way:

• the applicant has no accurate or relevant record of study and examination i.e. within three years of the proposed programme start date 

• the applicant’s qualifications are acceptable but only in conjunction with the UGAA

Key dates

The Undergraduate Admissions Assessment usually takes place at the end of March. 

Applicants who are required to sit the Undergraduate Admissions Assessment will be notified in March, as soon as details have been finalised.

The assessment is three hours long with is two sections: an essay question; and mathematical problems. It is not an assessment of general knowledge.

There are two different Mathematics papers. Depending on the programme you are applying for, you will take either :  Mathematics for non quantitative programmes without a Maths requirement OR Mathematics for quantitative programmes with a Maths requirement.

Applicants applying for LLB Laws (M100) will not be asked to sit the UGAA. 

Admission and merit scholarship consideration for students who apply as test-optional is based on several factors, including high school GPA, grades in coursework required for university admission, and rigor/performance in advanced courses (AP, IB, Honors, etc.).

Consideration for students applying with a test score includes all the above plus their highest composite ACT or SAT score.

International students attended U.S. universities in surging numbers last year, rebounding from a pandemic slump with the help of a 35% jump in students coming from India, according to a study released Monday.

Overall, the number of international students in the U.S. grew by 12% in the 2022-23 academic year, the largest single-year increase in more than 40 years, according to findings from the State Department and the nonprofit Institute of International Education. More than 1 million students came from abroad, the most since the 2019-20 school year.

“This reinforces that the U.S. remains the destination of choice for international students wishing to study abroad, as it has been for more than a century,” said Allan E. Goodman, CEO of the Institute of International Education.

American colleges enrolled nearly 269,000 students from India, more than ever and second only to China. Most came for graduate programs, often in science, technology and business.

“The U.S. maintains a strong relationship with India on education, which I think is getting even stronger and even more connected,” said Marianne Craven, the State Department's acting deputy assistant secretary for academic exchange.

China still accounted for the most foreign students in the U.S. with 290,000, but its numbers decreased for a third consecutive year.

It reflects a gradual shift. After years of booming demand from China, interest has ebbed amid chilly international relations and increased competition from universities in the United Kingdom and Canada. Officials behind the new study also blame prolonged travel restrictions in Asia during the pandemic.

At the same time, U.S. universities have focused on recruiting in India, hoping to tap a growing population that the United Nations predicted would overtake China as the world's largest this year. Students from India now outnumber those from China in 24 U.S. states, including Illinois, Texas and Michigan, which rank among the top destinations for international students.

For the second consecutive year, America's graduate programs were the main attraction for international students, the study finds. Graduate enrollment grew by 21%, while undergraduate numbers ticked up 1%. It reverses a trend from the previous decade, which saw undergraduates come in larger numbers.

Much of last year's growth is credited to math and computer science programs, which attracted more students than any other subject and saw a 20% boost in enrollment over the previous year. Engineering and business followed behind. Taken together, those three fields account for more than half of all international students in the United States.

The surge nearly brings international numbers back to their pre-pandemic highs, with a peak of almost 1.1 million students in 2018. Enrollment fell precipitously over the following two years as COVID-19 stifled academic exchange.

The rebound appears to be continuing, with an 8% increase in international enrollment this fall, according to a smaller survey meant to provide a snapshot of accurate trends.

Overall, international students made up just 5.6% of all college students in the 2022-23 year, but they play an outsize role in U.S. higher education. University leaders say they're important for global exchange, and they're also important for revenue — international students are usually charged higher tuition rates, effectively subsidizing college for U.S. students.

Behind China and India, nations sending the most students to the U.S. were South Korea, Canada, Vietnam, Taiwan and Nigeria. Last school year saw a record number of students come from Bangladesh, Colombia, Ghana, India, Italy, Nepal, Pakistan and Spain.

While more students come from abroad, many colleges are struggling to attract students at home. Total enrollment across all colleges has stayed in a slump in the wake of pandemic decreases, and freshman enrollment decreased by 3.6% in fall 2023, according to a separate study by the National Student Clearinghouse.

Timothy Porter is an Army veteran of 10 years. He achieved the rank of Sergeant First Class within 7 years. After being involved in a bomb explosion, Porter was medically retired and began pursuing his passion: technology. In 2009, after teaching himself how to develop mobile apps, Appddiction Studio was formed. In 2011, Appddiction Studio was nationally recognized by the USA Network Channel. Porter was one of their USA Character Unite Award winners for developing an award-winning anti-bullying App for schools. Appddiction Studio has developed well over 200 commercial mobile apps and has become a leader in Enterprise transformations focusing on Agile and the SAFe Framework.

Porter has multiple degrees in Management Information Systems and holds an MBA. He is an SPC and RTE and has performed roles for Appddiction Studio as Scaled program Consultant, Enterprise Coach & Trainer, Agile Coach, Release Train Engineer to Scrum Master. Appddiction Studio has been performing for programs supporting Gunter AFB as a Prime Contractor in: Agile Coaching, EODIMS JST & EODIMS Backlog Burndown and now as a subcontractor on ACES FoS.

Porter has taught over 50 public/private SAFe classes and has submitted his packet for consideration to become SPCT Gold Partner. He is certified at all levels of SAFe Framework and teaches Leading SAFe, SAFe Scrum Master, Advanced Scrum Master, Lean Portfolio Management, Product Owner/Product Management, SAFe DevOps, SAFe Architect in addition to Agile courses like ICAgile Agile Fundamentals, ICAgile Agile Team Facilitation, ICAgile Agile Programming & ICAgile DevOps Foundations.

After technical glitches forced the cancellation of Chicago Public Schools’ High School Admissions Test last week, the district’s 26,000 eighth graders will finally be able to put the competitive assessment of their reading and math skills behind them starting next week.

In a letter sent to families Wednesday, CPS announced that eighth graders, regardless of whether they were able to complete the initial test last week, will have the option to retake the test during the school day on Tuesday or Wednesday in English. Students taking the test in Spanish, Arabic, Polish, Urdu or simplified Chinese will retake the test during the school day Nov. 1.

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Students take the HSAT to apply to the city’s 14 selective enrollment high schools and to enroll at schools outside their neighborhood boundaries with special “choice” programs — such as STEM programs, fine and performing arts, and dual-language offerings — that their neighborhood schools may not have. In the competitive process to win a coveted selective enrollment seat, students can rank up to six selective enrollment schools and 20 choice schools.

Families have long criticized the high-stakes assessment of students’ reading and math skills, for subjecting adolescents to stress akin to the college admissions process.

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“We recognize that students spend time preparing for this test and it was stressful when the test had to be paused amid the technical issues and we sincerely apologize for the disruption in this test administration,” the district wrote in an emailed statement Wednesday. “Over the past week, we’ve worked closely with the testing vendor, Riverside Assessments, LLC, to review the problems and resolve them. Our vendor has assured us that testing can continue.”

Riverside has since added server capacity, which the CPS Information and Technology Team said was successful in resolving the issues in the testing platform, according to CPS’ High School Admissions Test site.

Next week’s test will feature all new questions and CPS said it “strongly” recommends students take advantage of the opportunity to retest. But, any student who’d like for their initial score to be submitted with their high school application has the option to opt out of retesting. Students who were able to complete the HSAT on the initial testing date will not be able to submit their best scores among two attempts, but must choose whether to replace their initial scores.

The district said it has also reached out to the families of non-CPS students to register for new weekend testing dates by Monday. After the technical issues emerged last week, CPS had postponed the assessments of non-district students. Those tests which will now be held at Lane Tech College Prep High School and Lindblom Math and Science Academy at 8:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Oct. 28 and 29, and at 9 a.m. or 11 a.m. Nov. 5.

“We appreciate your continued patience, and regret any stress or frustration that these testing challenges have caused for your family,” the district wrote in the letter to families.

A spokesperson said Wednesday that despite the delays, CPS doesn’t expect families will need more time to submit their applications to selective enrollment and specialized high school programs. The Nov. 9 application deadline hasn’t been extended. But CPS is providing students with more time to rank their preferences, giving them until Dec. 1. In the meantime, the district said it will provide testing results in a “timely” manner.

smacaraeg@chicagotribune.com

Chicago Public Schools’ high school admissions test has been rescheduled for late October and early November after technical difficulties with the testing platform forced delays earlier this month.

The test is an opportunity for students to secure a seat in one of the school system’s elite selective enrollment high schools. All CPS eighth graders were set to take the test last week, but most who started couldn’t finish because a testing platform operated by a private vendor crashed.

CPS spokeswoman Samantha Hart said the district has worked with that private vendor, Riverside Assessments LLC, to review the problems and fix them. The company has “assured us that testing can continue,” she said.

“We recognize that students spend time preparing for this test and it was stressful when the test had to be paused amid the technical issues and we sincerely apologize for the disruption in this test administration,” Hart said in a statement.

All CPS eighth graders can take the test Tuesday or Wednesday in English. The test will be available in five other languages Nov. 1. Kids who were able to finish the test last week can choose to opt out of taking it again and keep their score.

Students who don’t attend CPS for eighth grade but are looking to attend a selective enrollment school will have several options to reschedule on Oct. 28, Oct. 29 or Nov. 5. Families will need to reregister for a time by Monday. Those kids’ exams were canceled last weekend because the technical problems had not yet been fixed.

CPS officials said they don’t expect the delayed testing schedule to push back the Nov. 9 high school application deadline.

This week’s Oxford admission tests weren’t as bad as they were portrayed in your article (Oxford University says it will not base admissions on botched online tests, 20 October). They were worse – the most shambolic experience in the 16 years I’ve been running exams in a secondary school. Worse even than when they tried to switch the biomedical admissions tests to online a few years back.

Colleagues and I were unsettled by a two-hour online training session the week before, with presenters unable to provide clear answers to questions, at one point saying: “Well we haven’t seen these tests either,” and devoting time to scenarios about what they expected to go wrong.

We abandoned last week’s maths admission test after the candidate’s computer froze for a second time. There was no phone number for Tata Consultancy Services, which runs the tests. The live chat feature was disabled. When it was finally possible to reach Oxford’s undergraduate admissions department, harassed staff were struggling to cope. I was promised a paper test. The password to obtain it arrived twice, but the actual test came only after we’d sent the candidate home. It came again at 15.15, with an invitation for the candidate to complete it.

Shortly after was a notification that the next day’s physics aptitude test (PAT) would now be on paper, and we might like to go in at 6am to obtain it; and that the history admissions test (HAT) would now start at 11am instead of 10am, but there was no decision as to whether it would be online or on paper.

At 9.45am the next day we were informed that the HAT would indeed be online at 11am. But not to worry, since if it didn’t work we would be told a contingency plan at 11.45am. In the end it did work, though students found having to view a source document and the answer booklet side by side on a 14-inch screen, with electronic highlighting, less than ideal.

I received a final email asking me to upload the PAT paper answer booklets (which had to be chopped up and scanned first) about an hour after I’d done so and had received confirmation on screen. Just a final reminder of two days where almost nothing had gone right.

Shame on you, Tata. And shame on you, Oxford. Our students deserve better than this.
Paul McGillivray
St Albans

Oxford University must acknowledge that maths candidates also suffered from the botched online exams last week. The university has come clean about English literature (“No candidate will be deselected, ie not shortlisted, on the basis of their ELAT [English literature admissions test] score”). What about the maths test?

My son is applying to read maths and was kicked off the server 30 minutes into the exam. The questions he needed to answer disappeared. After repeated efforts to get back online and the intervention of the school’s IT department, it became apparent that the problem was Oxford’s server. His connection was later restored, but he attends a comprehensive with limited examination-room space and the maths candidates were joined midway through their test by the ELAT candidates. The English candidates’ servers also crashed and the disruption and mayhem resumed. The fault lies entirely with the university and its provider. These tests should all be discounted. We wait with bated breath for a proposal from Oxford University that will, in their spokesperson’s words “ensure no one is disadvantaged by these events”.
Christopher Bowen
Great Rissington, Gloucestershire