Accuplacer Test Information

Things to know…
• A photo ID is required – you cannot test without one
• A CLC student ID number (Star ID or Tech ID) is required, unless you have a voucher number
• Tests are untimed, but generally take students approximately two hours
• Personal calculators and cell phones cannot be used during testing
• Testing sites will provide scratch paper and pencils
• Test results are available immediately after testing is complete

Retest Policy
You may take each Accuplacer test up to three times total within a twelve-month period.

Accommodations
If you need test accommodations, please contact the CLC Accessibility Services office.

Next-Generation Accuplacer Test Information & Content
The Accuplacer is a series of basic skills tests, which are free to take at CLC.  These tests are not pass-fail and instead are designed to determine appropriate course placement.  Accuplacer uses computer-adaptive technology in a multiple-choice format.  The questions presented are based on your individual skill level.  Your response to each question drives the difficulty level of the next questions.  There is no time limit so it is important to give each question as much thought as you can.

Reading, comprised of 20 multiple-choice questions, measures your ability to derive meaning from a range of texts and to determine the meaning of words and phrases in short and extended contexts. Four broad knowledge and skill areas are assessed:

• Information & Ideas (reading closely, determining central ideas and themes, summarizing, understanding relationships)
• Rhetoric (analyzing word choice rhetorically, analyzing text structure, analyzing point of view, analyzing purpose, analyzing arguments)
• Synthesis (analyzing multiple texts)
• Vocabulary

Arithmetic, comprised of 20 multiple-choice questions, will focus on computation, order of operations, estimation and rounding, comparing and ordering values in different formats, and recognizing equivalent values across formats. The following knowledge and skill categories are assessed:

• Whole number operations
• Fraction operations
• Decimal operations
• Percent
• Number comparisons and equivalents

Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, & Statistics (QAS), comprised of 20 multiple-choice questions, will focus on a range of topics including computing with rational numbers, applying ratios and proportional reasoning, creating linear expressions and equations, graphing and applying linear equations, understanding probability and sets, and interpreting graphic displays. The following knowledge and skill categories are assessed:

• Rational numbers
• Ratio and proportional relationships
• Exponents
• Algebraic expressions
• Linear equations
• Linear applications
• Probability and sets
• Descriptive statistics
• Geometry concepts

Advanced Algebra & Functions (AAF), comprised of 20 multiple-choice questions, will focus on a range of topics including a variety of equations and functions, including linear, quadratic, rational, radical, polynomial, and exponential. The following knowledge and skill categories are assessed:

• Linear equations
• Linear applications
• Factoring
• Quadratics
• Functions
• Radical and rational equations
• Polynomial equations
• Exponential and logarithmic equations
• Geometry concepts
• Trigonometry