English placement exam In addition to the TOEFL or IELTS exams required for admission, ALL international students need to take an English placement exam to determine whether they need further training to succeed in their studies at SAIS. The test is administered during pre-term or orientation. Students who do not pass the English placement exam will be required to take ESL classes during their tenure at SAIS and may be asked to reduce the number of non-language courses taken per semester. For further information, see the English Language Program page. English as a proficiency language - International MA students whose native language is not English may use English as their proficiency language provided that their concentration does not require a specific language for proficiency.
- International MIPP students whose native language is not English are required to demonstrate proficiency in English by either passing the English proficiency exam at the beginning of their first semester at SAIS or by taking and passing 2 semesters of ESL instruction at SAIS.
- We recommend that students don’t try to take all four proficiency exams for English at one time.
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