Pretests

Pretests are used to help resolve prerequisite issues so that students with insufficient or missing prerequisites can have the opportunity to take MATH 100/109, MATH 102, or MATH 122. The information on this page can help you determine whether a pretest is necessary for you. If one is, then advance registration is required  -- for that, see “Scheduling Pretests” below.

There are two pretests: one for MATH 100/109, and one for MATH 102. The MATH 100/109 pretest is also used for admission to MATH 122. Our pretests are entirely based on the precalculus review materials. The MATH 100/109 pretest includes material on trigonometry, and the MATH 102 pretest does not.

The Math and Stats Assistance Centre has additional help/review resources for 1st and 2nd year courses.

Note: Each pretest can be attempted at most once per term, and at most twice in total. After that, students are expected to take a suitable upgrading course. Math advising, mathadvisor@uvic.ca, can help direct you to suitable upgrading options.

Have Prerequisite Problems?

A common source of prerequisite troubles is high school grades. It could be that they have not been input, or it could be that they have been input and don’t meet the required standard. You can check whether your high school math prerequisites have been input to the records system on My Page (also known as Online Tools): choose student services in the left navigation bar, then the grades and records tab, then the Administrative Transcript tab. Your high school grades should appear at the top of the transcript, although this is not always true.

If you went to high school outside of BC it is possible that only a rough approximation of your high school math grades have been entered, corresponding whether Admissions believes your high school mathematics record is strong enough for MATH 102, or MATH 100/109.

If you have transferred to UVic from a college or university, probably your high school grades were not entered. If they are missing, it can be worth contacting your admissions officer to see if they can be added.

If you have transfer credit for a course equivalent to MATH 120, you can check whether it has been by looking at the Administrative Transcript, as above. Having taken a course equivalent to MATH 102 before one equivalent to MATH 120 can cause the MATH 120 outcome to not be “seen” by the registration system.

Math Advising, mathadvisor@uvic.ca, can help uncover the source of mysterious prerequisite problems, and resolve issues like the MATH 102 / MATH 120 problem described immediately above.

Scheduling Pretests

Pretests are 1 hour long, and are delivered online through WeBWorK near the start of each term. Advance registration is required. The dates on which the pretests are offered are shown on the registration form.  Students who have registered for a pretest will be allowed to register or stay in the class for which they are pretesting pending the outcome of the pretest.

In order to use the pretest for admission to MATH 122, register for the MATH 100/109 pretest then email mssli2@uvic.ca, to say that you are taking it for possible registration in MATH 122.

Pretest Outcomes

For MATH 100/109 and MATH 102, students with a pretest grade of:

  • at least 50% and less than 65% can take the course in the current term, and must retest to take th ecourse in any subsequent term if the course is not successfully completed in the current term;
  • at least 65% and less than 75% can take the course in the current term or either of the two following terms, and must retest if the course is not successfully completed when attempted;
  • at least 75% can take the course in the current term or either of the following two terms without a retest, no matter whether the course has been successfully completed. After this time a retest is required.

For MATH 122, a score of at least 90% on the MATH 100/109 pretest is required, and enables students to take MATH 122 in the current term only.