2005-2006 Undergraduate Calendar

4. English Language Requirements

The language of instruction at Carleton University is English. In their own interest, students whose first language is not English must demonstrate that they can cope with the language demands of an English language university, and they can do so by following one of two options:

Option 1

In order to be eligible for admission to an undergraduate degree program at Carleton University without any English as a Second Language Requirement, all international applicants and Canadian citizens and residents whose first language is not English or French are required:

1. to present transcripts to indicate that they have studied for the last three years (full time) in a high school, college or university in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom or any other country in which the primary language is English and where the language of instruction in the relevant educational institution was exclusively English, or
2. to present a minimum 70 band score on the Canadian Academic English Language (CAEL) Assessment; or
3. to present a minimum score of 237 on the computer-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or 580 on the paper-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), or
4. to present a minimum score of 6.5 overall on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), with a minimum score of 6.0 on each band.

Applicants whose first language is French must present transcripts to indicate that they have taken four years of anglais (English) in a Canadian secondary school in order to be admitted without an English as a Second Language Requirement.

Option 2

Applicants whose first language is not English who do not meet the requirements stated in Option 1 may be offered admission to an undergraduate degree program with an English as a Second Language Requirement. They would then be required to complete the CAEL assessment, an approved assessment of English as a Second Language administered by the University's School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies (SLALS). Depending on the results of this assessment, and based on the recommendations of the School, these applicants may be:

1. permitted to register in a degree program without further English as a Second Language Requirements, or
2. permitted to register in a degree program in which they will be required to complete the English as a Second Language Requirement. Such students will be permitted to register in their degree program, either full- or part-time, and include one or more credit courses in English as a Second Language for Academic Purposes beginning in the first term of study, or
3. permitted to register as Special (non-degree) students on the condition that they enrol in appropriate credit courses in English as a Second Language for Academic purposes, or
4. permitted to register in non-credit intensive courses in English as a Second Language offered by the School.

To satisfy the English as a Second Language Requirement, students must earn a grade of B- or better in either Advanced English as a Second Language for Academic Purposes (ESLA 1900) or in Advanced English as a Second Language for Engineering Purposes (ESLA 1905).

Students are expected to complete the English as a Second Language Requirement within one calendar year of their initial enrolment in credit courses. Students are able to satisfy this requirement at anytime during the year by achieving a minimum 70 band score on the CAEL Assessment or by achieving a minimum score of 237 on the computer based TOEFL, 580 on the paper-based TOEFL, or 6.5 on IELTS (with a minimum score of 6.0 on each band). In exceptional circumstances, permission to continue in a second fall/winter term registration in ESL courses may be granted by the Registrar (in consultation with SLALS.) Subsequent registration will be denied to students with the English as a Second Language Requirement if the requirement has not yet been met and if they do not show both continuous enrolment and continuous progress in ESL courses (as determined by SLALS).

For further information regarding the English as a Second Language Requirement and admission, contact Admissions Services.