Anyone is welcome to take the exam including: matriculated and non-matriculated UW Seattle undergraduates and graduate students, other UW campus students (Bothell and Tacoma), prospective students, and recently admitted students can take this test. We encourage students to first consult with the Portuguese Program Coordinator, Eduardo Viana da Silva, at evsilva@uw.edu as this test may not be required for some cases.

Unfortunately, there are no AP/IB programs that are currently accepted at UW for Portuguese.

The placement exam in Portuguese is offered online by AVANT. Once students have registered and paid for their chosen placement test, AVANT will send further instructions regarding proctoring and students can then schedule the date and time for their test. Students are responsible for ensuring their systems are compatible with the AVANT exam and proctoring systems. Students can register for the test here.

Please note: the AVANT proctoring system is not currently compatible with Chromebooks. Access to computer workstations is available through the UW Library system when campus is open, and students can also borrow laptops for home use through the UW Student Technology loan service.

Yes, there is a registration fee incurred for testing in Portuguese. Unfortunately at this time, neither the Department of Spanish & Portuguese Studies nor the Humanities Academic Services center are able to provide fee waivers for tests at this time.

The test will cover all four primary language skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Questions are based on real-world, everyday situations. AVANT measures a test taker’s language ability according to Benchmark Levels that are based on ACTFL national standards.

Please, consult the AVANT sample test for Brazilian Portuguese on the Reading and Listening skills, available at: https://avantassessment.com/sample-tests. We also encourage students to consult the open educational resources available on the Spanish and Portuguese Studies Department website : https://spanport.washington.edu/portuguese-learning-resources

The proficiency test is the same method as the placement test which is currently only offered remotely. The test is taken through Avant services, and students can sign up for the test here.

For placement and proficiency results and reporting, please contact our Associate Teaching Professor and Portuguese Program Coordinator, Eduardo Viana da Silva at evsilva@uw.edu. Please make sure to allow at least 10 days after completing the Avant test before reaching out to request your results; this time is needed to make sure tests have been completely graded.

There is no current limit for the number of times a student can take placement or proficiency tests in Portuguese. Students who wish to retake the test should wait at least 3 months in order to see a meaningful improvement in scores through self-study. Test scores are valid for 1 year.

Unfortunately, the department is not able to disclose specific/individual scores for tests in Portuguese.

No. These exams are purely to either place students into the correct class or to fulfill 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.