Professor Barry O'Sullivan OBE, Director English Language Research

Barry has been involved in language testing for 30 years and during this time has written extensively on the subject as well as presenting his work at conferences around the world on hundreds of occasions. His work includes the development and validation of the British Council’s Aptis test (2012) and more recently the conceptualisation of the socio-cognitive model of test development and validation. He is the founding president of the UK Association of Language Testing and Assessment and is a visiting professor at the University of Reading in the UK and a special advisory professor to the Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China.

His work has been recognised by the Academy of Social Sciences in the UK (awarded fellowship in 2016); The Asian Association for Language Assessment (elected to fellowship in 2017); and by the government of the UK (awarded an OBE in 2019). He was awarded a Lifetime Contribution award by E-Assessment (awarded in 2023) and a Lifetime Achievement award by the English Language Testing Society (awarded in 2025). In January 2026 it was announced that he would receive the 2025 Distinguished Achievement Award from the International Language Testing Association (ILTA), with the presentation to be made at the Language Testing Research Colloquium in Montreal ij June 2026.

Barry has conducted research into factors affecting spoken performance, assessing rater behaviour, assessing speaking and writing, specific purpose assessment, benchmarking English language tests and materials to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and standard setting in professional contexts. Most recently, he has explored the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning to language assessment.

In addition to his work in the area of language testing, Barry has taught in Ireland, England, Peru and Japan.

Watch Barry's contribution to the panel discussion "Humans and technology" at the 2022 British Council New Directions conference in Denpasar, Indonesia, below:

  • Issues related to performance testing
  • Test development and validation
  • Testing and assessment in learning systems
  • Test-data management and analysis

Saville, N., O’Sullivan, B. & Clark, T. (Eds.) 2021. Investigating the relationship between IELTS and PTE-Academic. IELTS Partnership Research Papers: Test Comparability Series. IELTS Partners: British Council. Cambridge Assessment English and IDP: IELTS Australia. Available from: https://www.ielts.org/-/media/research-reports/ielts-pte-comparisons.ashx

O’Sullivan, B., Motteram, J., Clark, V. & Murray, S. 2021. Taiwan – UK collaboration: Strategy to improve English proficiency of students in the HE sector. Report for the Ministry of Education. Taipei: British Council.

O’Sullivan, B. Dunlea, J., Spiby, R., Westbrook, C. & Dunn, K. 2020. Aptis General Technical Manual: Version 2.2. London: The British Council.

Figueras, N., Little, D. & O’Sullivan, B. (2023). Introducing ‘Aligning language education with the CEFR: A Handbook’. CEFR Journal, 5: 5-10.

O’Sullivan, B. And Chalhoub-Deville, M. (2023). Validity: An Integrated Arguments Approach. In: Dobric, N., Cesnik, H., and Harsch, C (Eds). Festschrift in honor of Günther Sigott. Language Testing and Evaluation Series, Vol. 46. Peter Lang.

Zhang, L, Zheng, Y., O’Sullivan, B. & Stanley, G. (2023). Teacher Perceptions of Learner Engagement with a New Online Learning Environment. In Kantarcioglu et al. Life After the Pandemic: ReVision and ReForm in EAP Contexts. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars.

O’Sullivan, B., Breakspear, T & Bayliss, W. (2023). Validating an AI-Driven Scoring System: The Model Card Approach. In Karim Sadeghi & Dan Douglas (eds), Fundamental Considerations in Technology Mediated Language Assessment, (pp.115-134). New York: Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781003292395-10

O’Sullivan, B. (2023). Integrating a Remote Proctoring Solution: the case of Aptis Remote. In Kantargioglu et al. Life After the Pandemic: ReVision and ReForm in EAP Contexts. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars.

O’Sullivan, B. (2022). Making the CEFR-CV Work: considerations for a future a roadmap. In David Little & Neus Figueras (eds), Reflecting on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and its Companion Volume. London: Multilingual Matters.

O’Sullivan, B. (2022). Validation. In David Little, Neus Figueras & Barry O’Sullivan (eds), Handbook for Linking Learning and Assessment Materials to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. ALTE, British Council & EALTA.

O’Sullivan, B., & Cheng, L. (2022). Lessons from the Chinese Imperial Examinations. Language Testing in Asia. DOI: 10.1186/s40468-022-00201-5

O’Sullivan, B. & Chalhoub-Deville (2021). Language Testing for Migrants: Co-Constructing Validation. Special Issue of Language Assessment Quarterly. DOI: 10.1080/15434303.2021.1986513

O’Sullivan, B. (2021). Introduction. In, Jessica Wu & Rachel Wu (Eds.), General English Proficiency Test: Realizing Glocalization in English: Language Proficiency Testing. Taipei: Taipei NU Press.

Schmitt, N, Dunn, K, O’Sullivan, B., Anthony, L. & Kremmel, B. (2021). Introducing Knowledge-Based Vocabulary Lists. TESOL Journal. DOI: 10.1002/tesj.622 

O’Sullivan, B. & Weir, C. J. (2020). Research Issues in Testing Speaking. In, Lynda Taylor & Nick Saville (Eds.), Papers in honour of Professor Cyril J. Weir. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

O’Sullivan, B. (2020). Forward to Chapter 2. In, Lynda Taylor & Nick Saville (Eds.), Papers in honour of Professor Cyril J. Weir, (pp.21-22). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

O’Sullivan, B. (2019). Considering Validity. In Carsten Roever & Gillian Wigglesworth (Eds.). Social Perspectives on Language Testing: papers in honour of Tim McNamara, (pp.199-216). Frankfurt: Peter Lang.

O’Sullivan, B. (2019). Forward - Localisation. In, Lily I-wen Su, Cyril Weir, Jessica R. W. Wu (Eds.) English Language Proficiency Testing in Asia: A New Paradigm Bridging Global and Local. New York: Routledge.

O’Sullivan, B. (2019). Redefining specific purpose tests. In Ari Huhta, Gudrun Erickson, Neus Figueras, (Eds.). Developments in Language Education: A Memorial Volume in Honour of Sauli Takala, (pp.250-267). Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä and the European Association for Language Testing and Assessment.

O’Sullivan, B. & Patel, M. (2019). English Language Assessment as Cultural Relations. In J. P. Singh (Eds.), The British Council Cultural Relations Collection. Oxford: Routledge. London: British Council. Accessed from: 

O’Sullivan, B., Dunn, K. & Berry, V. (2019). Test preparation: an international comparison of test takers’ preferences. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice. DOI: 10.1080/0969594X.2019.1637820.

O’Sullivan, B., Wu, S., Liu, L. & Dunlea, J.  (2019). Linking the Aptis Test to China’s Standards of English Language Ability. In Kathi Bailey & Ryan M. Damerow (Eds.), Chinese-speaking Learners of English: Research, Theory & Practice, (pp.66-78). New York: Routledge.

Tavakoli, P. & Cooke, S. (Forthcoming). Comprehensibility in language assessment: A broader perspective. British Council Monographs on Modern Language Testing: Equinox Publishing.

Schmitt N., Dunn, K., O’Sullivan, B., Anthony, L., & Kremmel, B. (forthcoming). Knowledge-based vocabulary lists. British Council Monographs on Modern Language Testing: Equinox Publishing.

Schmitt, N., Dunn, K., O’Sullivan, B., Kremmel, B., & Anthony, L. (2022). Knowledge-based vocabulary lists user manual: A supplementary resource. British Council. 

Chalhoub-Deville, M. & O’Sullivan, B. (2020). Validity: Theoretical development and integrated arguments. British Council Monographs on Modern Language Testing. Equinox Publishing.

Figueras, N., Little, D. & O’Sullivan, B. (2022). Aligning language education with the CEFR: Editable forms. ALTE, British Council & UKALTA. https://www.britishcouncil.org/exam/aptis/research/publications/cefr-han...

Figueras, N., Little, D. & O’Sullivan, B. (2022). Aligning language education with the CEFR: A handbook. ALTE, British Council & UKALTA. 

O’Sullivan, B., Motteram, J., Skipsey, R., & Dunlea, J. (2022). The importance of the four-skills in the Japanese context. British Council Perspectives on English Language Education and Policy. British Council. 

O’Sullivan, B., Patel, M., & Mundy, G. (2020). Understanding and measuring assessment as cultural relations. British Council Perspectives on English Language Education and Policy. British Council. 

O’Sullivan, B. (2020). The comprehensive learning system. British Council Perspectives on English Language Education and Policy. British Council. 

  • PhD, University of Reading, 2000
  • MA TEFL, University of Reading, 1995
  • MI, Bolton St. College of Technology, Dublin, 1977
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