Common Educational Proficiency Assessment (CEPA) is a set of locally-developed standardized tests used for admissions and placement by three federal institutions of higher education in the United Arab Emirates (Zayed University, the Higher Colleges of Technology, and UAEU).
The tests are produced by the UAE Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific research as part of the National Admissions and Placement Office (NAPO) and administered in the three federal institutions.
CEPA-English was created in 2002 to place students into English foundations programs at the three federal institutions of higher education in the United Arab Emirates (Zayed University, the Higher Colleges of Technology, and UAE University), all of which are English-medium.
Test items are developed in conjunction with English teachers at the three institutions, in an effort to keep the content culturally relevant and compatible with local sensibilities.
The recommended time for the Writing Section is about 30 minutes, in which the test-taker is expected to produce 150-200 words of original text.
[3] The multiple-choice section of CEPA-English is scored using IRT (Item Response Theory) three parameter modeling.
Anomalous scores (e.g. from high rater disagreement) or jagged profiles are reviewed by the exam staff.
Like CEPA-English, the test is developed in conjunction with faculty members at the three federal institutions of higher education, and scored using IRT modeling.
[12] The CEPA office has periodically produced materials designed for independent study and test preparation.