Graduation assessment · New Brunswick
English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA)
- Grades 9 to 12
Dates and details can change. We do our best to keep this page up to date, but check the official sources before relying on it.
- Total time
- 1 h 30 min
- Marked questions
- 50
- Counts for
- Needed to graduate
- Calculator
- Not allowed
- Format
- On a computer
ELPA New Brunswick practice test
The whole exam or the parts you choose, in its own format, on the clock.
The exam in the app
Its parts, and what you can use in each
A question, timed, with the exam’s tools
The marked result, part by part
A practice run of Saskatchewan’s Grade 9 math assessment.
Free with a MapleMind account
When
January window
- January 18 to January 29, 2027School day · ELPA: Grade 9, and rewrites in Grades 10‑12 (the school sets the day)
The dates are New Brunswick’s own, read on September 29, 2026. See the official schedule (gnb.ca)
What’s on it
3 topics. Inferential/interpretive responses counts most, at 60%.
- Literal responses20%Reading the lines
- Inferential/Reading between the lines
interpretive responses 60% - Personal/Reading beyond the lines
critical/ 20%evaluative responses
The skills it tests · 9 skills
- Accessing sources with increasing independence and confidence
- Assessing texts for bias and thinking critically about reliability
- Elaborating personal reactions with explanations and arguments
- Explaining how authors use organizational devices
- Finding evidence to support claims with confidence and flexibility
- Identifying features writers use for specific readers and purposes
- Reading with greater fluency, confidence, and comprehension
- Responding critically to the form, structure, and content of texts
- Stating and justifying personal points of view
How it’s built
- Reading comprehension
- Time
- 90 min
- Questions
- 50
- Marks
- 50
- Of the marks
- 100%
- Multiple choice
- Questions in sets
Eight passages, four literary and four informational, with 50 multiple-choice questions: some on what the text says, some on what you can infer, and some asking for your judgment.
How it’s marked
- Below Appropriate Achievement
- Appropriate Achievement
- Strong Achievement
A computer marks your answers. You meet the graduation requirement at Appropriate Achievement or higher; if you don't, you write it again in a later January.
On the day
One online sitting. You can't use a dictionary, thesaurus or translation device, and passages and questions aren't read aloud. Everyone may take up to 90 more minutes, double the time.
Getting ready
4 official documents to practise with, and 4 tips.
Official practice
Tips from the people who write it
- Try the online practice before January: two passages and 10 questions.
- Read each passage carefully before choosing the best answer, and choose one answer per question.
- Most questions, 60%, ask you to read between the lines: inferences, how ideas connect, and words in context.
- No dictionary, thesaurus or translation device is allowed.
After the exam
- Results
Each student gets an individual report. Results for each school and district are published on the department’s Reports on Achievement.
- Writing it again
If you don’t reach Appropriate Achievement in Grade 9, or had a temporary exemption, you can write it again in Grade 10, 11 or 12.
- If you miss it
An exemption needs your Personalized Learning Plan and the approval of your parents, the principal, the district and the department. A temporary one moves you to the next sitting (for reasons from readiness to being away); a permanent one means you won’t write it. Students about to graduate can’t get a temporary exemption.
From Information for Parents and Guardians: English Language Proficiency Assessment, 2026–2027 (gnb.ca) and Provincial Assessment Program: Protocols for Accommodations and Exemptions (gnb.ca), read on October 27, 2026.
More for you
Students
Start with the topics worth the most marks, then write full practice exams under the real time limit.
Practise itParents
Put the dates on the family calendar. The Parent Dashboard shows each practice exam’s result and the skills that need another look.
See the Parent DashboardEducators
The topic weights and the official practice above make a review plan. Students can practise each skill on its own in MapleMind, free with daily limits.
For schools
Questions about this exam
When is the ELPA in 2026–27?
The next sitting is January 18 to January 29, 2027.
How long is the ELPA?
It takes 1 hour 30 minutes in all, over 1 part.
How many questions are on the ELPA?
It has 50 marked questions.
Can you use a calculator on the ELPA?
No. Calculators aren’t allowed.
How much does the ELPA count?
Passing it is needed to graduate in New Brunswick.
How are ELPA results reported?
At 3 levels: Below Appropriate Achievement, Appropriate Achievement and Strong Achievement.
Where can I find practice tests for the ELPA?
New Brunswick publishes ELPA Practice (online; also with text-to-speech). MapleMind also builds a full practice exam in its format, free with an account.
Practise for the ELPA
Every skill on the ELPA, taught one at a time, then practised on questions written like the real ones.
