Proficiency Exams

Courses: The School of Integrative Biology offers proficiency exams for the following courses:

  • IB 100: Biology in Today's World
  • IB 103: Introduction to Plant Biology (Spring term only)
  • IB 104: Animal Biology (Fall term only)
  • IB 150: Organismal & Evolutionary Biology

Exam date and time: Proficiency exams will be offered at the beginning of the course. Students will be notified of the exam time and date after requesting an exam.

Purpose: Proficiency exams offer students the opportunity to earn academic credit that counts toward degree completion without taking the course for which they earn the credit.

Eligibility: In order to be eligible to take a proficiency exam, a student:

  • Must be currently enrolled at the Urbana-Champaign campus
  • Must not have previously taken a proficiency exam for the same course
  • Must not have previously received credit or a grade in the same course
  • Must not have received credit in an IB course in advance of the course in which the exam is requested

Grading: If a student earns a C or higher score on a proficiency exam, a PS grade is given. If a student receives a C- or lower exam score, a grade of F is given. However, the grade of F is not recorded on the student's official record. Passing a proficiency exam does not affect your GPA or tuition situation.

Study information: Please refer to a recent course syllabus for information on course content.

Sign-up: Sign up for a proficiency exam here. Students must complete this proficiency form no later than the end of the first week of the course.

Questions: Please direct any questions regarding proficiency exams to sib-courses@illinois.edu.

Additional information on Proficiency Exams is provided in Article 3, Part 2 of the Student Code which can be found at https://studentcode.illinois.edu/article3/part2/3-203/