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Academic Assessment – Self Assessment
If you are an international graduate applying for engineer-in-training status, APEGS will let you know if an academic assessment is required after receiving your World Education Services (WES) credential assessment. If you are an international graduate applying for geoscientist-in-training status, the academic assessment is always required.
The WES credential assessment provides APEGS with verification of the authenticity of your academic documents and a comparison of the length and level of your program relative to the Canadian education system. WES does not assess the content of your program. The purpose of the academic assessment undertaken by APEGS is to compare the content of your program to the Canadian requirement for licensure.
There is a fee for the academic assessment.
Overview of APEGS’ New Confidence-Based Approach to Academic Assessment
Click here for more details.
APEGS has defined three confidence levels based on how confident we are that the academic program is acceptable to practice professional engineering or professional geoscience safely in Canada. The rigor of the assessment process for each level is proportionate to the level of risk that the program does not meet the standard required to ensure protection of the public.
For Confidence Level 1, APEGS is confident that the academic program is acceptable, and an Academic assessment is not required.
For Confidence Level 2, APEGS believes that the academic program may be comparable to university level engineering or geoscience in Canada but needs to ensure this through an academic assessment. Applicants that fall into this level will have the breadth, depth, progression and coherence of their education assessed and the level confirmed.
For Confidence Level 3, APEGS believes that the program is missing the equivalent of one or more years of fulltime bachelor’s level engineering/geoscience study in Canada, which is too much to be remediated through APEGS processes. Applicants that fall into level three will be denied registration as a member-in-training and will be advised whether the academic background meets the requirements for engineering or geoscience licensee.
New Minimum Requirements for an Academic Assessment
APEGS considers 120 WES credits at an undergraduate level to be the minimum requirement for a 4-year bachelor’s level degree to be considered a comparable amount of education to a 4-year Canadian bachelor’s degree. Applicants deemed to be missing the equivalent of one or more years of fulltime study (30 credits) at a bachelor’s level, will be denied.
If you have a bachelor’s degree in science (not geoscience), computer science, engineering technology or geoscience technology you may or may not qualify for an academic assessment. If you do not qualify, your member-in-training application will be denied, and you will be advised if your education meets the academic requirement for engineering or geoscience licensee.
New Process – Ten Years of Experience
Any applicant who is deemed by APEGS to fall into confidence level two, and who has 10 or more years of consecutive*, engineering or geoscience work experience since graduation from their bachelor’s-level program may be considered for the opportunity of a full competency assessment of their work experience before the academic assessment. If the experience is deemed acceptable by the Experience Review Committee, then they will be approved as a member-in-training without an academic assessment. If their experience is determined to be not acceptable, then an academic assessment will be undertaken. After reviewing your WES assessment and resume, APEGS will let you know if you qualify for this option.
What Happens Next?
- Depending on the outcome of your academic assessment, you may be required to write technical exams, complete approved courses, or have your work experience assessed.
- The options will be explained to you when you receive your result.
What is a Self-Assessment?
- During a self-assessment, you will undertake an analysis of your academic program in comparison to the expected content of current Canadian programs.
- For engineering it would be the appropriate CEQB syllabi
- For geoscience it would be the GKE
You know your academic background the best. To help the Reviewer performing the academic assessment, you must complete a self assessment.
How to do your Self-Assessment:
- Begin by reviewing the self-assessment instructions and example found here.
- Review relevant self-assessment tables listed below and choose the one that best matches the discipline of your bachelor’s degree.
- Write the name of your classes (as they appear on the WES course listing) beside the appropriate subject description of the Canadian syllabus.
Please follow ALL of the self-assessment guidelines carefully and thoroughly. If information is missing you will be asked to resubmit your assessment. This will delay your application.