Language assessment | British Council

Assessing multimodal viewing-to-write constructs: task design, performance, processing, and rating

This study explores how to design and assess multimodal viewing-to-write tasks, reflecting real-world communication that integrates visual, spoken, and written skills.

Two people are sitting opposite eachother, conducting a speaking test. The examiner has paperwork on the table in front of them.

The role of pragmatic variables and item characteristics of pragmatic speaking tests

This research explores how pragmatic speaking test items, test items that reflect how people use English in real-life contexts, could be incorporated into the Aptis test.

A group of four young adults sitting in a row working on computers.

Evaluating text suitability for English for Academic Purposes reading assessment: Teachers versus Lexile, Coh-Metrix and ChatGPT

This report explores how expert EAP teachers and tools like Lexile, Coh-Metrix, and ChatGPT judge reading texts—and where their evaluations match or differ.

Four primary school students sit on the classroom floor listening to a female teacher.

Creating a school-child-family evaluation rubric for evaluating children's plurilingual and intercultural competence in a Catalan primary school

Through an Assessment Research Grant, this study tested a rubric to assess plurilingual and intercultural competence at a Catalan primary school.

Two people are sitting in fromt of computers, with headphones on, An invigilator is watching them.

Towards building an automated scoring model for assessing appropriate use of metadiscourse markers in Aptis Writing across CEFR levels: A multidisciplinary study

Learn about our grant publication that explores the use of Metadiscourse Markers in L2 writing.

Two Japanese students in school uniform play a game on a tablet.

Investigating the washback potential of an English speaking test in the Japanese university entrance exam context

This Assessment Research Grant report is a hypothetical qualitative study investigating the potential introduction of the BCT-S, a university entrance speaking assessment, in Japan.

Two women sit talking on a bench whilst drinking coffee. In the background, a man and a woman talk whilst stood next to a tree.

Equality, diversity and inclusion: Different varieties of accents in Aptis English listening tests

This Assessment Research Grant study examines the impact of English accent varieties on test-takers' performance in Aptis listening tasks and their attitudes towards EDI in language testing.

A woman wearing a headset working on a laptop.

Speaking assessment constructs: evolution or revolution in the AI era?

Generative AI is transforming speaking assessment, shifting from static measures to dynamic, interactive tasks and redefining constructs like fluency. Join our webinar to learn more.

Group of diverse international students walking and interacting with each other at a university campus

The shifting landscape of English requirements: Supporting international student success in UK Higher Education

New research explores the use of English language tests in UK higher education, providing insights to optimise admissions and enhance international student success.

Three men and a woman looking at a phone and celebrating.

Comprehensibility in language testing

Comprehensibility — how easily a listener can understand a speaker — lies at the heart of successful communication. Yet in language testing, it has often been treated inconsistently. Sometimes it’s broken down into isolated linguistic features, disconnected from real-world communication. Other times, it’s judged intuitively, based on an assessor’s general impression, without considering the listener’s role or broader context.