Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the applicability of Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) in a Malaysian university context. Design/methodology/approach: The CEQ was translated into Malay language using rigorous cross-cultural adaptation procedures. The Malay version CEQ was administered to 190 undergraduate students in one Malaysian public university. Statistical analyses were used to examine the reliability and factor structures of the Malay version CEQ scales using IBM SPSS version 20.0. Findings: Findings raised serious questions about the reliability and construct validity of the CEQ for a Malaysian university sample. Findings revealed that only two out of five scales of CEQ showed satisfactory level of reliability. Six items failed to load on the intended scales. Research limitations/implications: The sample size is small with 190 university students and covered respondents from one local university, while the other 17 local universities were not included due to geographical distance. Practical implications: The findings are particularly important for higher education policymakers to optimise and allocate the resources to improve university quality teaching. More attention should be paid toward how to furnish the university teaching staff to provide a high level of teaching quality that contributes to students' generic skills for their employment in future. Researchers could extend the applicability of the Malay version CEQ in primary and secondary school context. Originality/value: The vast majority of CEQ-related research has been undertaken in the Western context, thus raising the question of the applicability of CEQ for a Malaysian university context. The fall in the Times Higher Education and QS World University rankings as well as the limited research in assessment-related higher education has also accelerated the needs to examine the applicability of CEQ23 in Malaysian university context. This study has provided fundamental cross-validation empirical evidence to propose improvement in future studies.