English Placement at Oakton College

Placement helps students and their advisors choose the right courses to successfully achieve their goals. Course placement is based on the results of Reading and Writing placement exams. Oakton uses ACCUPLACER® reading tests to assess reading comprehension and a writing skills test to assess writing level.

Placement tests can be taken remotely or on-campus. Instructions and more information can be found online. If you’ve taken the ACCUPLACER (Reading) test within the last three years at another college or university, follow the PDF and online instructions (PDF) (666 KB) to send the scores to Oakton.

English as a First Language

If English is your first language, course placement is based on the combined results of the Reading and Writing placement exams.

The chart below indicates course placement based on ACCUPLACER® Next Generation Reading assessment scores and Oakton’s Writing Skills Assessment Test (WSAT).

WSAT Score	Reading Score below 221	Reading Score between 221 – 234	Reading Score between 235 – 249	Reading Score 250 or above
2	Retake Reading & Writing	Retake Writing	Retake Writing	Retake Writing
4	Retake Reading	EGL095	EGL095	EGL098
6	Retake Reading	EGL098	EGL098	EGL099 & EGL101
7	Retake Reading	EGL098	EGL099 & EGL101	EGL099 & EGL101
8	Retake Reading	EGL098	EGL101	EGL101
10	Retake Reading	EGL101	EGL101H	EGL101H

Here are two examples of how to determine your placement using the chart above.

If you received a WSAT score of 2 and an ACCUPLACER® score of 225, you are to retake the writing test (the WSAT).
If you received a WSAT score of 6 and an ACCUPLACER® score between 221 and 234, you are eligible to register for EGL 098

English Course Sequence
EGL 095 – Reading / Writing Improvement (Mandatory) ^
EGL 098 – Reading / Writing Improvement (Mandatory) ^
EGL 099/101 – Composition Tutorial and Composition 101 (Requires co-enrollment in both courses)	EGL 101 – Composition 1

^ Students who are placed into mandatory classes must register for the course in order to take any other courses at Oakton. All other classes will be dropped if students drop a mandatory reading course.

Questions: Contact the English Placement Coordinator, Professor Jennifer Dadivas Hong, at [email protected].

Placement test results

Directly after finishing the reading test, you will see your result on the screen. The results will be uploaded to your account within 24 hours. Writing tests are graded by multiple individuals and take a bit longer. Writing results will be available five business days after taking the exam. All testing results will be posted on the Oakton website. Please follow the steps below to locate them.

Access your myOakton link and log in
Select Student Profile
After the profile loads, Select Prior Education and Testing from the left-hand menu.

Retesting

Students who feel they did not do their best on a placement test may take it again.

Reading and Writing tests can be taken twice in a 12-week period.
Students who are currently enrolled in a reading or writing class must have instructor approval to retake the test.
A student's highest score determines placement.

English as a Second Language

If English is your second language, course placement in a Writing class and a Reading class will be recommended.

Reading

The chart below indicates course placement based on the ACCUPLACER® assessment scores

ESL Reading Comprehension & Sentence Skills Combined Score
Score	Placement
Below 75	A.L.L. *
75 – 109	EGL 071 – Reading & Study Skills I (Mandatory; Offered beginning Fall 2024) ^
110 – 150	EGL 072 – Reading & Study Skills II (Mandatory) ^
151 – 182	EGL 073 – Reading & Study Skills III (Mandatory) ^
183 – 214	EGL 089 – Reading & Study Skills IV (Mandatory) ^
215 and above	EGL 110 – College Reading
* Students who place into A.L.L. should contact the Alliance for Lifelong Learning team at 847-635-1426 for information about available reading courses.

Writing

The chart below shows course placement based on Oakton’s Writing Skills Assessment Test (WSAT).

Writing Course Sequence

EGL 074 – Academic Writing I (Mandatory) ^

EGL 075 – Academic Writing II (Mandatory) ^

EGL 076 – Academic Writing III (Mandatory) ^

EGL 090 – Academic Writing IV

EGL 101 – Composition 1 ***

*** Oakton offers special sections of EGL 101 and 102 for non-native speakers of English. They have the same requirements and carry the same transfer credit as EGL 101

^ Students who place into mandatory classes must register for the course in order to take any other courses at Oakton. If students drop a mandatory reading course, all other classes will be dropped.

Questions: For questions regarding the ESL program and courses, contact the ESL coordinator, Jessica Pinedo, at [email protected]

For questions regarding placement tests, email [email protected] and include your full name and student B ID number.

Placement test results

Directly after finishing the reading test you will see your result on the screen. The results will be uploaded to your account within 24 hours. Writing tests are graded by multiple individuals and take a bit longer. Writing results will be available 5 business days after taking the exam. All testing results will be posted on the Oakton website. Please follow the steps below to locate them

Access your myOakton link and log in
Select Student Profile
After the profile loads, Select Prior Education and Testing from the left-hand menu.

Retesting

Students who feel they did not do their best on a placement test may take it again.

Reading and Writing tests can be taken twice in a 12-week period.
Students who are currently enrolled in a reading or writing class must have instructor approval to retake the test.
A student's highest score determines placement.

For more information about all the tests, please follow the links below.