Tests of Writing Competence at Ontario Universities

Over the last ten years some Ontario universities have introduced post-admission or "exit" writing proficiency requirements which their students must eventually satisfy. These requirements reflect a concern about admission standards and tests which goes back more than twenty years and which has focussed primarily on language skills. The writing tests are intended to identify students likely to encounter academic difficulties because of poor writing skills, but the usual rationale for the tests rests upon dubious assumptions, and the nature of some of the test procedures makes it difficult to know whether the objectives of the tests are being met.