Updated on June 19, 2026.
We are pleased to offer Spanish language courses in-person only for the 2026-27 academic year.
If this is the first time that you are enrolling in a Spanish course at the University of Toronto: Welcome!
Any student who begins Spanish studies in Fall 2024 onwards has to complete a mandatory placement test - even if they are true beginners in the language - to ensure that you are enrolling in the appropriate level course. If you fail to do so, you risk being removed from the course. Students on the waitlist should also complete the assessment to ensure they are on the waitlist for the correct course.
We have implemented this process to place each student in the course that we consider most appropriate. Please, keep in mind that it is the Department's decision - through our placement team - to place students in language courses according to your previous knowledge. You are to enrol in the assigned course. If you do not follow the recommendation, you will be removed from the course you selected at any point in the semester.
Students who consider that they have been placed in the wrong course are welcome to reach out for a conversation with their course instructor and our Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies. If you are found to be enrolled in a different, lower-level course from the one assigned by our unit without this previous conversation, you will be immediately removed from it.
The goal of the placement test is to assess your knowledge accurately. If you claim to know less than you actually do, you are not only committing an academic integrity offense but also disrupting the learning environment for others who do want to improve their skills. Misrepresenting your Spanish language abilities is a serious academic offense. See the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters:
“The University and its members have a responsibility to ensure that a climate that might encourage, or conditions that might enable, cheating, misrepresentation or unfairness not be tolerated. To this end all must acknowledge that seeking credit or other advantages by fraud or misrepresentation, or seeking to disadvantage others by disruptive behaviour is unacceptable, as is any dishonesty or unfairness in dealing with the work or record of a student.”
If it is discovered that you understated your proficiency, you will be reported to the Academic Integrity office and immediately removed from the course.
Students who have previously completed the language placement test and those who have completed the prerequisite language course in the Spanish program at St. George do not need to retake this test.
Instructions for placement test
Updated on June 19, 2026.
The placement period for Spanish language courses in the 2026-27 academic year is now open.
Students who require an interview may begin booking appointments now.
Due to the high volume of requests, we encourage you to complete the process as early and as soon as possible.
If you are an incoming student at the University of Toronto, obtain a UTORid and a University of Toronto provided email address before completing this test. For detailed instructions on how to do this, read carefully Get Your UTORid & TCard
All students taking a Spanish course at the University of Toronto for the first time must complete the placement process, regardless of their previous knowledge of Spanish or how they acquired it.
The Spanish placement process involves the following steps:
- Complete the Spanish Language Background Questionnaire
- You will need to log in with your UTORID credentials to complete this step.
- Only currently enrolled University of Toronto students may participate in the placement process.
- Depending on your answers, you may be asked to complete an online written test and / or participate in a remote oral interview.
- All communications will be sent to your official U of T email address. Students are responsible for checking their mail.utoronto.ca email regularly and following the instructions provided.
- Failure to complete the online written test and/or interview by the deadline may result in removal from the course.
- If your placement specialist asks you to book an oral interview, please do so as soon as possible after scheduling opens on July 6, 2026. Appointment availability will be limited.
- If you need to cancel an interview, please do so at least three (3) hours in advance by emailing spa.program@utoronto.ca.
- Students who do not attend a scheduled interview without advance notice will be accommodated only after all other placements are completed and only if appointments remain available.
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The placement team will determine the course that best matches your previous knowledge and experience with Spanish. You must enrol in the assigned course. Students who enrol in a course other than the one assigned may be removed at any point during the academic term.
Be aware that we require a minimum of three (3) business days to review results and assign a course. In some cases, we conduct a brief online interview with students before giving a final assignment: we encourage you to book one as soon as you are notified of this to avoid delays. We aim to communicate your results as as early as possible and thank you for your patience as we deal with a high number of assessments.
If you have any remaining questions about the placement process or your assigned course, please email professor Jeannette Sanchez-Naranjo - our Spanish Program Director - at spa.program@utoronto.ca