SGS: Offers of Admissions Conditional upon Satisfying the English Language Facility Requirement

SGS #002, 2010-2011

TO: Graduate Chairs and Directors, Graduate Coordinators and Administrators

FROM: Brian Corman, Dean of Graduate Studies and Vice-Provost, Graduate Education

CC: Council of Graduate Deans, School of Graduate Studies Staff

DATE: September 9, 2010

RE: Offers of Admissions Conditional upon Satisfying the English Language Facility Requirement
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In an effort to facilitate access to graduate studies for applicants from non-English language speaking countries, the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) will permit graduate units, starting with the 2010-2011 admissions cycle, to issue offers of admission conditional upon the applicant satisfying the English language facility requirement (ELF) by the deadline to register. Failure to provide proof of language facility by the registration deadline will result in the withdrawal of the offer of admission. No exceptions or extensions will be permitted.

The offer of conditional admission is at the discretion of individual graduate units, which may continue to insist that ELF requirements are met before an offer is made. Note that there is no change to the SGS minimum admission requirements as all graduate applicants must still demonstrate their capacity to pursue a graduate-level program in English. Applicants will continue to be asked to submit an English facility test score that meets the University’s minimum requirement for admission at the time of application. As per current admission policies and procedures, applicants who have completed a program of study at a university where the language of instruction and examination was uniformly in English (excluding Canadian citizens who studied at a Canadian university where the language of instruction is French), and applicants who completed programs of study at universities in certain countries as listed in the SGS Admissions Guide, are exempt from the ELF requirement.

Graduate units therefore cannot waive ELF requirements but now can determine when applicants must satisfy this requirement (i.e. at application or prior to registration). However, applicants who have been issued a conditional offer should be encouraged to provide a test score as soon as possible to clear the outstanding ELF condition so that a firm offer of admission can be issued; this may help facilitate a successful student visa application.

Note that a graduate unit still may put forward to SGS for non-standard consideration an applicant who falls slightly below the ELF requirement. If this request is approved, the unit may issue an offer of admission with no ELF condition. However, to minimise potential problems with international students arriving with indeterminate status, all such non-standard cases must be submitted to SGS no later than August 1, December 1 and May 1 for the fall, winter and summer academic cycles respectively.

In the absence of a test score, graduate units may still require some evidence of an applicant’s English language proficiency before making a conditional offer; in this case we suggest using other tools such as a writing sample, an interview by telephone, or recommendation from a trusted third party with direct experience with the applicant’s language proficiency.

We hope that this change will be helpful to academically qualified international applicants who have been unable to secure a test date or reside in a region where testing has been disrupted. Should you have any questions, please consult the Director of Student Services, Heather Kelly, at heather.kelly@utoronto.ca, or your Divisional Student Services Officer.