Department of Languages & Intercultural Education

CUTE (Curtin University Test of English)

 

CUTE is a test of English designed to measure whether candidates have a sufficient level of English language proficiency to undertake a course of tertiary study presented in the medium of English. It has been approved by Curtin as a means by which applicants can meet Curtin's English language entry requirement.

CUTE does not indicate whether candidates meet academic entry requirements to a course of study - for this separate evidence is required.

What is the test format?

CUTE is an integrative test that measures a range of aspects of the language. The test is divided into three sections - listening, reading and writing. The test has been designed to mirror as closely as possible the kind of language situations that are likely to occur in a university setting.

Listening
Candidates listen to a five or six minute extract from a university lecture and complete notes from prompts provided. The total time allocated for this task is 10 minutes.

Reading
In this section, there are two tasks. For the first, candidates read a text with a broadly academic subject matter and take notes under headings provided. For the second task, a summary of the main points of the text is provided, with gaps that candidates have to fill with a suitable word or phrase. The time allocated for the two tasks is 15 minutes.

Writing
Candidates select one of two titles and write an essay. The time allocated for this task is 30 minutes.

How is CUTE marked?

Band A: Candidates in this band indicate that they have the language proficiency to cope with the demands of university study at either undergraduate or postgraduate level.
Band B: Candidates in this band indicate that they have the general language proficiency to cope with the demands of university study at undergraduate level. Candidates in this band have not indicated that they are sufficiently proficient to comprehend or produce discourse of the complexity that is required in postgraduate programs, but may be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Band C: Candidates in this band indicate that they have the language proficiency to cope with the demands of university study at an undergraduate level provided that the program has not been deemed linguistically demanding. However, it is very likely that candidates in this band will require ongoing English language support during the first year of study. Where the program has been deemed linguistically demanding, it is recommended that candidates undertake further English training prior to commencement.
Band D: Candidates in this band indicate that they do not have the language proficiency to cope with the demands of university study at undergraduate level without first undertaking a period of further training in English. Applicants in this band are sufficiently proficient to undertake a Foundation or Bridging program.
Band E: It is recommended that candidates in this band undertake an extensive period of English language training before progressing either to tertiary study or to a Foundation or Bridging program.