Home / Admissions Aid / Apply For Admission / Test Center / Placement Testing / English

English

Remote placement testing policies have changed effective May 1, 2024. Please refer to the remote testing instructions below to review the changes.

English placement testing is available Monday through Friday.

HCC offers two English placement test options:

The Guided Student Placement, which is a written assessment, and Next-Gen ACCUPLACER, which is a multiple-choice assessment. Students have two attempts and may choose to either retake the same test twice or take one attempt for each test, unless otherwise specified.

Guided Student Placement (GSP)

The Guided Student Placement (GSP) is an online assessment designed by the English department to assist in determining students' English course placements. In involves reading two short articles and responding to a writing prompt. Students have up to 180 minutes to complete this assessment.

It may take up to 72 hours for your assessment to be reviewed. If you would like to receive an email with your GSP placement result, please email the Test Center or Admissions using your HCC email account.
Next-Gen ACCUPLACER

We are currently not offering Remote ACCUPLACER exams.

The Next-Generation ACCUPLACER English placement test is an adaptive, multiple-choice test developed by the College Board that consists of 20 Reading questions and 25 Writing questions. While it is untimed, the average testing time is approximately 90 minutes.

The READING section measures your ability to comprehend a variety of texts. This includes determining main ideas, inferences, and the meaning of words and phrases in short and extended contexts. Passages cover a range of content areas, writing modes, and complexities.

The WRITING section evaluates your understanding of sentence structure and ability to revise and edit multi-paragraph text.

You can prepare for the English placement test on the ACCUPLACER website or via the ACCUPLACER study app.
Take the English Assessment at Home
The Guided Student Placement (GSP) can be completed remotely. This will require a webcam, microphone, and additional software on your computer. You will be required to make an appointment prior to testing. At the start of your testing session, you will be required to present a valid photo ID, remove all unauthorized materials from your workspace, and complete an environmental scan. Your test session will be recorded and reviewed upon completion. Any access to unauthorized materials may result in an invalidation of your results per college policy. Please review the full list of remote testing policies and procedures here.

Instructions for registering are listed below. More detailed, step-by-step directions for completing the test will be provided when you make your appointment.

If you do not present a valid photo ID at the beginning of your session, your scores will not be entered and you will need to contact the Test Center to verify your identity.

Remote GSP (via Respondus Monitor)
1. Make your appointment on RegisterBlast. Make sure to select the option for Remote Testing > Placement exam > Remote: GSP. When making your appointment, you will need to login to RegisterBlast using your HCC email and password*.
2. Install Respondus Lockdown Browser. You can check the system requirements here and detailed installation instructions on the myTSC Knowledgebase.
3. At least 1 day before your appointment, login to Canvas using your HCC email and password*.
4. On the day of your appointment, launch Respondus Lockdown Browser and login to Canvas using your HCC credentials. Click the English Guided Student Placement course from the Dashboard and follow the on-screen instructions to test.
Note: you must login to Canvas using the Lockdown Browser. You will be unable to test if you use any other browser.

*If you are not sure of your password, you can reset it here.

Disability Support Services

If you require accommodations beyond extended time, please contact Disability Support Services.