Placement Test (PT) is an in-house test designed to assess the applicant’s current knowledge and skills in the core subjects of English, Mathematics and ICT. The applicant’s performance in this test will be used to decide the appropriate entry point (Stage) to GCET General Foundation Programme. Applicants who want to pursue an undergraduate programme in Engineering will sit Mathematics A test and applicants who want to pursue an undergraduate programme in Science will sit Mathematics B.

The table below demonstrates the required entry performance for each entry point.

Admission Point

English

Maths (A or B)

ICT

Stage 1

Less Than 40%

Less Than 40%

Less Than 50%

Stage 2

40-49%

40-49%

50-59%

Stage 3

50-59%

50-59%

Applicants who score 60% or more in each core subject of the Placement Test and would like to proceed to GCET Undergraduate Programmes, need to sit another test in one of the elective modules (Physics for Engineering programmes or Further ICT for Science programmes). If they score 60% or more, they will be enrolled directly on their intended undergraduate programme. However, if they fail to get 60% they will need to take one of the elective modules at stage 3 based on their intended programme of study.

Placement Test Exemptions

The following categories of students are exempted from taking the relevant part of the Placement Tests:

English:

Students with a minimum score of 600 on the TOEFL

Students with a minimum Band 6 score on the IELTS

Students who hold Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English

Mathematics:

Omani approved Foundation Mathematics Module with minimum of 60% marks

Foreign qualifications such as A level or International Baccalaureate

ICT:

Student with ICDL certificate in English medium

Student with IC3 certificate in English medium

Students with Cambridge IT Test

Also, students who demonstrated attainment of the Learning Outcomes of any module offered in the General Foundation Programme by providing certificated evidence of Prior Learning, will be exempted from studying that module (Accreditation of Prior ‘Certificated’) Learning, AP(C)L, will be applied).

Placement Test Syllabus

1 ENGLISH TEST

SYLLABUS AND FORMAT:

Listening: The module comprises four sections of increasing difficulty. Each section, which can be either a monologue or dialogue, begins with a short introduction telling the candidates about the situation and the speakers. Then they have some time to look through questions. The first three sections have a break in the middle allowing candidates to look at the remaining questions. Each section is heard only once.

Reading: The reading test comprises three sections, with 3 texts normally followed by 13 or 14 questions for a total of 40 questions overall.

Writing: There are two tasks: in Task 1 candidates describe a diagram, graph, process or chart, and in Task 2 they respond to an argument.

Speaking: The speaking test contains three sections. The first section takes the form of an interview during which candidates may be asked about their hobbies, interests, reasons for taking PT as well as other general topics such as clothing, free time, computers and the internet or family. In the second section, candidates are given a topic card and then have one minute to prepare after which they must speak about the given topic. The third section involves a discussion between the examiner and the candidate, generally on questions relating to the theme which they have already spoken about in section 2. This last section is more abstract, and is usually considered the most difficult.

2 MATHEMATICS TEST

Syllabus

Kinds of number and basic operations, Laws of Indices, Simplifying algebraic expressions.

Inequalities, Linear polynomial equations, Basic geometry of circles, triangles and straight lines.

Sketching graphs, Trigonometry and identities, Functions, Basic Statistics.

Determine the minimum or maximum values of a quadratic function in order to solve real world problems.

Use trigonometry for computations in arbitrary triangles.

Demonstrate the knowledge about basic concepts of statistics and probability, for example frequency tables, mean values, statistical diagrams, simple events, tree diagrams.

FORMAT

Problem solving and Objective type

3 COMPUTING TEST

SYLLABUS

Topics covered are:

Windows

Ms-Word

Ms-Excel

Ms-Power point

Ms-Access

Internet

FORMAT

Computing PT test is similar to Cambridge IT Skills.

4 PHYSICS TEST

Syllabus

Basic Mathematics and Physics

Quantities and Units, Equations, SI units

Scalar and Vector Quantities

Density

Moments of Forces

Equilibrium

Kinematics and Dynamics

Speed, Velocity and Acceleration

Relative Velocity and Relative Acceleration

Displacement & Motion

Force and Momentum

Projectiles

Gravitational Force

Elastic and Inelastic Collisions

Newton Laws of Motion

Forces between Materials in Contact

Energy and Power

Work and Energy

Power

Conservation of Energy

Kinetic Energy and Potential Energy

Conservation of Energy

Electricity

Charge

Current and Circuits

Format

Question answers – Short and detailed

5 FURTHER ICT

SYLLABUS

Introduction to Data and Information. Transformation of data to information

Introduction to Basic Data types (Boolean, real, integer, string, date/time)

Report Writing Skills, Citation and referencing.

Computer Hardware, CPU(central processing unit), Input, Output and Storage Devices

Introduction of computer software. Difference between system and application software. Usage of computer software. Software Installation.

Problem Solving Skills. Introduction to Flowchart, Pseudocode and Computer Algorithm

Introduction to Communication system, Basic components of communication system. Introduction to Computer Network and Types of Network. Compare the characteristics of Local area and wide area network.

Networks, Services of internet, World Wide Web and data traffic.

FORMAT

Multiple choice.

Problem solving.

Open Questions – Short and detailed.

Entry Criteria

The entry points are listed explicitly in the table given below. Scores are according to the results of the Placement Test.

Admission Point

English

Maths (A or B)

ICT

Stage 1

Less Than 40%

Less Than 40%

Less Than 50%

Stage 2

40-49%

40-49%

50-59%

Stage 3

50-59%

50-59%