Placement Testing
Who is Eligible and How to Schedule A Placement Test
Vance–Granville prioritizes students’ high school GPA and standardized test scores for placement in college classes. Tests to determine readiness and skill level in English, reading, writing and math are administered to applicants pursuing a degree, diploma and certain certificates who did not graduate from a U.S. high school or who have no other admission criteria for placement. Test results are used to place students at the appropriate class level and to determine if transition instruction is needed.
For more information and to learn about exemptions, please refer to the Student Assessment & Placement Testing section of our College Catalog.
Looking to retest and boost your score? You can retest after just a 2-day wait—meanwhile, dive into your personalized Study Path in EdReady to review, build confidence, and aim for success. You’re not required to retest, so feel free to connect with an academic advisor to explore your options and get help with registration.
Schedule to Test at Our Henderson Campus or Remotely
Use the online Placement Testing Request Form (acuity) to schedule your test.
Schedule Testing at Other Campuses
Please fill out the electronic Placement Testing Request Form (Etrieve) and the test administrator from that local campus will follow up to schedule your test. You may need to Sign-in with your Vanguard ID/VGCC Email address to access the form.
If you have any trouble, please contact the Testing Center at [email protected].
English Test Overview
The RISE test consists of two self-paced, multiple-choice English modules that take approximately two hours each to complete.
Topics Covered:
Tier I:
- Introduction to College and Writing
- Identifying Main Ideas
- Discovering Implied Meaning
- Interpreting Bias
- Analysis through Definition
- Learning across Disciplines
Tier II:
- Exploring Comparative Elements
- Applied Critical Analysis
- Using sources in Critical Reading and Writing
- Informal Opinions through
- Casual Chains
Study Resources
- Grammarbook
- Infoplease
- Study.com
- Khan Academy (you do not have to pay!)
Math Test Overview
The RISE test consists of three self-paced, multiple-choice Math tiers that take approximately two hours each to complete. The testing center staff will provide a calculator.
Topics Covered:
Tier I:
- Operations with whole numbers and real numbers
- Relationships between fractions, mixed numbers, and decimals
- Conceptual application problems containing ratios, rates, proportions, and percentages
- Graphical and algebraic representations of lines
- Interpretations of basic graphs
- Applications using U.S. customary and metric units of measurement
- Geometry of all shapes
Tier II:
- Concepts in Statistics
- Solving Equations and Inequalities
- Exponents, square roots, and order of operations
- Polynomial operations
- Graphing
Tier III:
- Factoring/functions
- Systems of Equations/Inequalities
- Rational Expressions
- Quadratic Equations
Study Resources
- Khan Academy
- PurpleMath
- Visual Fractions
- Virtualnerd
- IXL
- Math Planet (Algebra I)
- Math Planet (Algebra II)
- MathTV.com (English & Spanish)
- OpenAlgebra
Practice Tests and Resource Documents
English
RISE English Placement Practice Test (PDF)
Answers with explanations are at the end of each test tier.
Math
RISE Math Placement Test Practice Test (PDF)
Answers with explanations are at the end of each test tier.
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