What is the ACCUPLACER?
The ACCUPLACER is an academic diagnostic and placement test ran by over 1000 schools at the secondary and post-secondary level.
High schools can use the ACCUPLACER as an evaluation of junior or senior students. The assessment may also be beneficial in preparing high school pupils for dual-enrollment classes at nearby colleges or universities. The results of the test are also used to help schools and universities position new students in the academic classes most suitable to their individual needs and capabilities.
School administrators can use the results to track the strong and weak points of an entire class of pupils in order to better govern suitable curriculum changes and more exactly target intervention plans to address the talent domains in which pupils most need to expand.
The College Board also proposes that the ACCUPLACER be used for diagnostic purposes in adult education curricula and in collaboration with GED programs.
Many students find that using test preparations books help to improve their scores.
See our list of the best ACCUPLACER prep books here.
ACCUPLACER Format and Scoring
There are ten possible units a school can select from in arranging an ACCUPLACER exam, but most varieties of the test have four to six units. The four main units include Reading Comprehension, Sentence Skills, Arithmetic, and Elementary Algebra. Reliant on the needs of the school, some types of the exam can contain a College-Level Math unit or a written essay unit called WritePlacer.
All ACCUPLACER exams excluding the WritePlacer written essay are multiple choice. The test is adaptive, meaning that the problems change to match pupils’ ability levels. Pupils answer problems one at a time. Every time a pupil answers a problem correctly, the following problems in that unit are changed to be a bit more tough; conversely, every incorrect answer makes the following problems a bit easier.
The test does not have a time limit, but each unit is intended to take less than one hour to finish.
ACCUPLACER score reports contain score results, proficiency results, and prescriptive reports for each test and ability domain. For instance, a pupil who scores poorly on the Algebraic Expressions and Equations unit of the Elementary Algebra might be placed in the “Needs Improvement” proficiency group and given a memo explaining what the unit tested.
ACCUPLACER Availability
The ACCUPLACER is directed by separate schools and universities. Pupils take the test by computer, usually in a computer lab or testing center managed by their school. Because the test is administered by individual schools, there is no typical set of fees and guidelines, and there is no ordinary process for requesting accommodations for a disability. Pupils should contact their respective schools directly for such exam administration information.