Research and Validation

Cambridge ESOL is a not-for-profit department of the University of Cambridge. We believe we have a role and responsibility to develop language learning and assessment to help people achieve their life goals. Go to Research and Validation website

Research: at the heart of what we do

As leaders in the field of language assessment, all our exams are specifically designed to be fair to all test takers, whatever their age, gender, nationality, first language, culture or ethnic background. Quality and fairness are at the centre of everything we do:

• Quality – this means validity, reliability, impact and practicality.
• Validity – the extent to which exam marks can be considered a true reflection of underlying ability.
• Reliability – the extent to which test results are consistent, accurate and, therefore, dependable.
• Impact – the positive effect of a test on candidates and other users, including society as a whole.
• Practicality – the extent to which a test is workable in terms of the resources needed.

To be certain of both quality and fairness, we have to accurately measure how our tests perform and compare them with the latest thinking in language assessment. Both of these require extensive research.

Quality is rigorously monitored across all aspects of the exam process, and our Research and Validation Group works closely with the Assessment and Operations Group on test development, construction, administration, assessment and results processing, and exam review and evaluation.