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Exams

Students seeking to take Chinese, French, German, Italian, Russian or Spanish, including 100 or 101 courses, must take the placement exam online. Those with previous knowledge of Arabic or Japanese wishing to continue studying these languages must contact the appropriate language coordinator for course placement. 

Transfer students with previous language credits should contact an advisor in the Department of World Languages, Literatures and Linguistics in Hodges Hall, Room 430. 

Students may enroll at a higher level than the placement test indicates with coordinator approval. However, a student may not enroll at a lower level than that indicated by the placement test without written coordinator permission. Placement exams are designed to place you in a class where you have an excellent chance at success. Taking a course lower than your placement will have affect your eligibility for back credit.

Students with extensive language experience as a result of prior study, informal contact with the language or for other reasons that took place more than five years prior to admission may take the placement exam or may start with the beginning course in that language without taking the placement exam.

Students who already speak a language other than English, and are literate in their home language, should discuss the foreign language requirement with their academic advisors.

Students who transfer credit for language courses taken at another institution are not required to take the placement exam, provided there is evidence that their work is comparable to that required at WVU. Transfer students must take the placement test if course equivalency cannot be established.

Credit by placement

To be eligible for the free back credit, you must complete a placement exam before enrolling in a language class. You must have completed the course in which you were placed (or higher) with a grade of A or B  to receive the back credit. Only first-time freshmen, upon enrolling at WVU, are eligible for free back credit. Please complete this form to request back credit.

How to take a placement exam

  • Online from any location
  • The test takes approximately 25 minutes
  • Use this link to access the exam 
  • You will need to create an account and password. Please ensure that the information that you enter matches your official WVU registration information.
  • After completing the exam, please save a copy of your results for your own files.
  • Upon completing the exam, you will receive instant notification of your score and the class in which you must enroll. This score can take four to six weeks to be recognized by the system responsible for registration holds. If you need immediate assistance registering for a class, then please fill out the following form: WLLL Registration Assistance.
  • The Foreign Language Placement Exam may only be taken once.

To view your placement results at a later time:

  • Return to the WebCAPE exam website.
  • Sign in using the credentials you created previously.
  • To make a copy of these results, use your browser’s File menu to save them to a file, print them, or send them via email.

Language  Course Number  Cutoff

Chinese     Chinese 101                     0-269
                  Chinese 102                     270-299
                  Chinese 203                     300-369
                  Chinese 204                     370-399
                  Chinese 300-level*        400-and higher

French       French 101                     0-278
                  French 102                     279-339
                  French 203                     340-393
                  French 204                     394-492
                  French 301 or 302*        493-and higher

German     German 101                  0-288
                  German 102                  289-378
                  German 203                  379-476
                  German 204                  477-556
                  German 301 or 302*     557-and higher

Italian        Italian 101                  0-263
                  Italian 102                  264-324
                  Italian 203                  325-403
                  Italian 204                  404-493
                  Italian 3oo-level*      494-and higher

Russian     Russian 101                  0-252
                  Russian 102                  253-363
                  Russian 203                  364-385
                  Russian 204                  386-500
                  Russian 300-level*      501-and higher

S
panish     Spanish 101                  0-263
                  Spanish 102                  264-324
                  Spanish 203                  325-403
                  Spanish 204                  404-493
                  Spanish 311 or 312*      494-and higher


*You may be eligible to take classes beyond those listed here. Please call the department for more information or if you have additional questions.