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LPI

What Is LPI?

The Language Proficiency Index (LPI) Test is an English language test of Grammar, word usage, reading and writing, originally developed at the University of British Columbia, and administered by Paragon Testing Enterprises, a subsidiary of the University of British Columbia. It is accepted by 29 universities and colleges across Canada. A number of professional associations, including UBC Sauder School of Business Real Estate Division, also recognize the LPI Test scores as proof of the English language proficiency that is required for membership. (For a list of the institutions that accep LPI scores, please refer to https://www.lpitest.ca/about/what-groups-use-lpi-scores/). Not everyone has to take it, but many do.

Real Estate

Professionals

 

If you plan to apply for a license in real estate trading services, property management, or strata management, you must take the LPI and obtain an Essay Level 4 or higher in order to meet the English language proficiency standard.

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Why Berton College?

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  • Berton College offers the only program that uses the most helpful and most complete workbook for LPI preparation, The Complete LPI Guide and Workbook. This has been sold on-line and in the UBC Bookstore since 2005 and has helped hundreds of students to prepare.

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  • A copy of the workbook is provided free of charge for every student in the program to keep for reference.

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  • The instruction program is designed by the workbook’s author, Gareth Jones, a famous language training expert in Berton College. The program has been successfully in use since 2003. Over this time, it has been refined into the best program available.

Do I Need to Take LPI?

 

You may have to take the LPI if you plan to attend a BC university or college.

 

  • All students who have to take a first-year English course at the University of British Columbia (UBC) have to fulfil the First Year English Course Entry requirement in some way. They must either take the LPI or be exempted for some reason. For example, if a student’s BC English 12 blended mark (including school marks and provincial exam marks) is less than 75%, the student must take the LPI. If a student graduates from a country where English is NOT the official instruction language in school, this student must take the LPI. UBC maintains a full list of exemptions on its web site here: http://www.calendar.ubc.ca/vancouver/index.cfm. If you take the LPI, you will need to complete every section of the test and receive at least 5 out of 6 on the essay.

  • At Simon Fraser University (SFU), you can be accepted if your blended mark in English 12 (that is, your course grade plus your provincial exam mark) is just 60%. However, unless your mark is 75% or higher, you must either take the LPI or a special course (Foundations of Academic Literacy). Details are on the SFU web site: https://www.sfu.ca/ugcr/for_students/new_admission_standards/english_competency.html. If you choose the LPI, then you need to get at least 50% in each part of the test and at least a 4 out of 6 on the essay.

What's In Our Program?

Ten two-hour classes cover each of the four components of the LPI: Sentence Structure, Usage, Reading and Summarization, and Writing (Essay). Each class includes practice, marking, instruction how to avoid errors and achieve perfect marks through practice, practice, practice.

Our program includes

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  • Explanation of and practice in correcting every Sentence Structure error in the test.

  • Explanation of and practice correcting every English Usage error in the test.

  • Tips and techniques to master the summarization questions on the test.

  • Eight complete practice exams.

  • Intensive practice in the essay-writing component of the test, along with detailed, personalized help to overcome your own writing problems.

  • Tips and techniques to create the best possible essay. You will learn how to brainstorm and organize your points, to use anecdotes to bring your essay to life, how to improve your writing style to become clearer and more persuasive, and how to find and eliminate weaknesses in your writing style during the editing phase.

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If you are serious about preparing for and passing the LPI, this program is the place for you. Every time when this class is open in Berton College, the spaces are quickly filled up. 

 

Currently, Berton College offers LPI classes for students and professionals in small-group or One-on-one tutorials. Please contact Berton College for more information.

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