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gept

What is the GEPT?
The GEPT is a test many of your junior high school and senior high school students in Taiwan will take these days. Even some of your adult students will take the GEPT. GEPT stands for General English Proficiency Test.
The GEPT was first commissioned by the Ministry of Education in 1999. The Current Director of the MOE is 潘文忠 Wen-chung, Pan. The test itself was written and developed by Taiwan’s Language Training and Testing Center, the LTTC - Taiwan’s National Taiwan University-affiliated testing center which was itself established in 1951 “to provide intensive training in English” for government staff. The Current Director of the LTTC is 執行長 廖咸浩 博士 / CEO Dr. Xian-hao, Liao.
In the last decade the LTTC’s GEPT has increased in popularity. In 2015 year nearly 420,000 people took the test. Amaze your students and their parents by just writing “GEPT” on the board sometime, and then saying the Chinese nickname for the test - “Ing Jen”, 英檢which broadly translates to mean “English Certificate”. Four levels are offered. Elementary, Intermediate, High-Intermediate, Advanced. The test is administered in two phases. Phase One students take the Listening & Reading tests. Here’s what to expect at each level.
Elementary
Listening
Reading
Given around 20min to answer
Given around 35min to answer
30 questions
35 questions
Total testing time is around 1.5h for these 2 sections
Intermediate
Listening
Reading
Given around 30min to answer
Given around 45min to answer
45 questions
40 questions
Total testing time is around 2h for these 2 sections
High-Intermediate
Listening
Reading
Given around 35min to answer
Given around 50min to answer
45 questions
45 questions
Total testing time is around 2h for these 2 sections
Advanced
Listening
Reading
Given around 55min to answer
Given around 1h 10min to answer
40 questions
40 questions
Total testing time is around 2h 50min for these 2 sections
The GEPT is given in the afternoon at the LTTC center in Taipei City, and simultaneously nationwide at schools and community centers. The test is challenging. Here are the Phase One pass rates for 2015: Elementary – 51% Intermediate – 44% High-Intermediate – 48% Advanced – 41% Results for Elementary ~ High-Intermediate tests take about 3 weeks for results to be received. Advanced about a month. For students who their level’s pass Phase One it’s about another 2months wait for Phase 2 - Speaking & Writing. Here’s how those tests are structured.
Elementary
Speaking
Writing
Given around 10min to answer
Given around 40min to answer
18 questions
16 questions
Total testing time for each section is around 1h
Intermediate
Speaking
Writing
Given around 15min to answer
Given around 40min to answer
13-14 questions
2 questions
Total testing time for each section is around 1h
High-Intermediate
Speaking
Writing
Given around 15-20min to answer
Given around 50min to answer
10 questions
2 questions
Total testing time for each section is around 1h
Advanced
Speaking
Writing
Given around 25-30min to answer
Given around 1h 45min to answer
40 questions
40 questions
Rigorous again. Pass rates for 2015 Elementary – 53% Intermediate – 32% High-Intermediate – 27% Advanced – 20% For those that do pass Listening & Reading; Speaking & Writing then they have that Cert! Ing Jen! For that level. The Second Phase’s Speaking Test is administered to students by speaking into a recorder, except for the Advanced level. The Advanced Level’s speaking test is conducted face to face - either with a native speaker or an English-fluent Taiwanese person. The Second Phase’s Written tests have either essay questions, guided writing, paragraph writing or translations. If you ask students about Phase One they’ll say the Listening section is most difficult. For Phase Two the Writing section. Sample tests here: