While Bengali/ Bangla is not currently taught at UW, proficiency exams are offered for registered students at UW through proctoring available via the UW Language Learning Center (LLC). The Asian Languages & Literature department does not offer proficiency exams to those outside UW (e.g., high school students seeking admission, prospective students, extension students, etc.); neither does it offer testing in languages not currently offered in its curriculum.

International Baccalaureate (IB) and Advanced Placement (AP) exams in Bengali are not currently counted among subjects with applicability towards UW graduation requirements, so cannot be used for placement. For more information, please see the IB Policy Overview page and AP Policy Overview page on the UW Office of Admissions site.

Registered UW Seattle students looking to fulfill the College of Arts & Sciences world language proficiency requirement must utilize the exit testing protocol for languages not taught at UW. 

To take the Bengali Proficiency Test:

1. Determine if you are eligible to test in Bengali/ Bangla and arrange a testing window by following the instructions available here:
2. https://kalani.llc.washington.edu/proficiency-and-placement-testing/exit-testing/

There is a fee for Bengali proficiency testing, which can vary depending on the testing format used. Please contact the UW Language Learning Center for more information.

The test requires students to speak with the instructor of the Bengali language courses and write an essay. This test can be completed either in-person or remotely.

No - advance study materials are not available for Bengali testing at this time. 

Please see this page for the UW Language Learning Center's policies on exit testing for languages not taught at UW. If you are taking the Bengali test for the purpose of fulfilling any requirement other than the College of Arts & Sciences one-year foreign language requirement (for example, proficiency requirements for degrees in JSIS, CISB, Linguistics), this can be reported to the relevant department once the test has been successfully passed. 

There is no current limit for the number of times a student can take placement or proficiency tests in Bengali in one quarter. However, we recommend students try to give themselves at least 4 weeks between tests to allow sufficient time to study in a way that will see scores improve in a meaningful way.

No. These exams are purely to fulfil graduation requirements for language proficiency. First-year (elementary) or second-year (intermediate) foreign-language credit is not granted either by examination or by course completion in a student’s native language. “Native language” is defined as the language, or one of the languages, spoken in the student’s home during the first six years of their life and in which they received instruction through the seventh grade.

Students who misrepresent the extent of their background so as to gain entrance to a course at the elementary or intermediate level may be dropped from the rolls of that course.