OEAI Exam Requirements

Computer Science Department's OEAI Exam Policy

The OEAI, Oral English Proficiency Interview (formerly EPI), exam must be completed by all international students (whose native language is not English) who did not receive a passing speaking score on the TOEFL iBT (24+) or the IELTS (8+) at the time of admission. Students will have up to three attempts to pass the OEAI (including prior EPI attempts). If students do not pass the OEAI exam, they will need to retake either the TOEFL iBT or IELTS. The OEAI exam can be taken at no cost to the graduate student.

CS Department's OEAI Policy

• Students must submit their request to be registered for the OEAI exam at https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/108728733. Students cannot register themselves.
• Requests for specific interview dates and times cannot be accommodated.
• Students who fail to show up for a scheduled exam will have that absence counted as one of their three attempts.
• Students who need to cancel or re-schedule their OEAI test must inform the CS Graduate Academic Office (academic@cs.illinois.edu) at least seven business days prior to the scheduled interview time. Students cannot schedule or cancel their own OEAI. While OEAI may be rescheduled, it cannot be guaranteed that the interview will be re-scheduled during the same semester.
• Students who enter the CS graduate program with a TOEFL iBT speaking score below 22 or an IELTS speaking score below 6 must complete either 10 hours of approved tutoring or ESL 504, 506, or 510 before they can take the OEAI exam.
• Students who do not pass the OEAI interview the first time must complete at least 8 weeks of tutoring with an approved tutor or take ESL 504, 506, or 510 before they can take the OEAI exam. Please see https://linguistics.illinois.edu/testing/oeai/retaking for additional details.
• Students who receive a "Conditional Pass" on the OEAI exam must complete ESL 508 and receive a passing grade "S" in the course to earn a passing OEAI score and before they can hold a TA appointment in CS.

More Information on the OEAI Exam

Learn more about the OEAI exam, interview details and scoring.