Quality and fairness
As leaders in the field of language assessment, quality and fairness are at the centre of everything we do.
Quality and fairness in language testing
The cornerstone of Cambridge ESOL’s uncompromising commitment to quality is the ability to provide a wide range of high-quality products at all levels.
We achieve this by consistently and reliably delivering this level of quality through a comprehensive programme of test development, quality assurance and research. We have outlined this approach in our document, Principles of Good Practice, where we describe the systems and processes that drive our search for excellence and continuous improvement.
Systems of quality
The philosophy of the Principles of Good Practice permeates the whole of our organisation, affecting our approaches in areas such as:
- Exam production – undertaking careful research and testing when making, delivering, assessing and validating new exams.
- Pretesting – investing heavily in exam trialling for all new exams and exam modifications to make certain our exams are valid, reliable, practical to administer and an accurate test of language ability.
- Delivery – once an exam is approved for use, it is subject to our rigorous procedures which ensure that wherever they are in the world, all candidates take their exam under the same conditions of security and high-quality assessment.
- Continuous improvement – reviewing our exams to ensure they are relevant, reliable, accurate and meet the needs of test takers.
- Benchmarking – working with academic institutions, commercial organisations and policy makers to deliver accurate, consistent and cost-effective data about language ability.
- Research and Validation
Our exams are underpinned by the work of the largest research team of its kind.
Find out more about the work of our Research and Validation team.
International standards
Cambridge ESOL's systems and processes for designing, developing and delivering examinations and assessment services are certified as meeting the internationally recognised ISO 9001 standard for quality management.
In developing our exams we refer continually to two independent and international frameworks for describing language ability:
Together they make it easy for people to understand their level of ability and the kind of exam that they need.
Working with other organisations in language testing
Our search for excellence leads us to work closely with key organisations to further advance knowledge about language learning and assessment and to develop international standards that are transparent to all:
- Council of Europe – all of our exams are developed using the principles and approaches of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) – an internationally recognised system for describing language ability.
- ALTE – working closely with testing organisations, schools and academics throughout the world to support the development of language testing, in theory and practice.
- English Profile – we collaborate with respected partners on this long-term research project to develop the CEFR for the English language.
Sharing our expertise – Cambridge ESOL Consultancy
Cambridge ESOL takes a leading role in the development of language testing, constantly striving to ensure that what we do has a positive impact in the real world, meeting the fast-moving needs of our stakeholders. Our expertise in these areas has led governments, education authorities and other institutions to seek our advice on planning educational reform in language learning and testing.
Find out more about our consultancy services.
