Writing Placement Assessment

Strong writing skills are important for every college major. The Writing Placement Assessment helps determine your current writing level so we can place you in the right courses for your first semester at Columbus State.

Practice Helps You Succeed

Reviewing before you take the test is the best way to prepare. Your score will determine whether you need a remedial writing course or if you can start in a college-level class.

Remedial writing courses support many students, but they do not count toward your degree. If you score 5 or higher, you can begin with college-level courses that count toward your major – saving you time and money.

Practice Tests

Click the links below to take practice tests. This is an important step because it will help you get an idea of what the test is like, and what your score might be if you took the test today. It also reviews material that will be on the test to help you achieve your best score.

Taking the Test

Test Format

For the Writing Placement Assessment, you will be asked to:

Read a short passage that ends with a writing prompt.
Develop an opinion with supporting reasons, explanations, and examples.
Write a 300 to 600 word formal academic essay (on a computer) in standard, edited English.

Timing, Cost, and Testing Rules

There is no charge to take the Writing Placement Assessment. You are eligible to retake the assessment one time in two years.
Most students take the Writing and Reading Placement Assessments at the same time. Neither assessment is timed, and most students take 45 - 60 minutes for each part. Plan to spend two or more hours in the testing location.
You must complete the Writing Assessment in one sitting. If you run out of time, the Reading portion can be completed on a separate day.

Assessment Scores

Score	Course
0-3	Basic Composition (ENGL 0155)	Remedial Course
4	Composition 1 Plus (ENGL 1101)	College-level course with additional support
5-8	Composition 1 (ENGL 1100)	College-level course

Retrieving Your Scores

Accuplacer Score Reports can be accessed by going to Accuplacer.org. Open the Student Portal and enter your information. Accuplacer will send your results to the email address you entered when you took the assessment.

If you need your report and cannot access it through the portal, please email us from your Columbus State student email account to request a copy.

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