The LanguageCert System LS

The LanguageCert System (LS)

The LanguageCert System is a set of English language tests developed, evaluated, and managed using an integrated, standardised, and assured approach. Both England’s and Wales’s qualifications regulators, Ofqual and Qualifications Wales, recognise and regulate our English language tests.

The LanguageCert System tests derive from extensive item banks of pre-tested and calibrated material, and associated validation research, based on an established candidature of LanguageCert tests and exams aligned to a common underlying measurement scale. To date, the LanguageCert System has based itself on tests which cover a single CEFR level, with the exception of the LanguageCert Test of English (LTE).

Following feedback from extensive use of the LanguageCert System around the world, the LanguageCert System now also includes two multi-level test variants aimed at workers and migrants, and tertiary education applicants. These are the LanguageCert General and Academic tests.


LanguageCert Global Scale	CEFR	LanguageCert General	LanguageCert Academic	IELTS

90 - 100	C2		90+	8.5 - 9.0
75 - 89	C1	75+	75 - 89	7.0 - 8.0
60 - 74	B2	60 - 74	60 - 74	5.5 - 6.5
40 - 59	B1	40 - 59	40 - 59	4.0 - 5.0
20 - 39	A2	20 - 39
10 - 19	A1
0 - 9	Below A1

The established scoring arrangements between the LanguageCert Global Scale and the CEFR are verified by ongoing analysis of test performance as well as by the LanguageCert research and validation programmes. Scoring arrangements for use in conjunction with specific visa requirements including the UKVI, NZQA, IRCC service are confirmed independently with the authorities and more information can be found in the respective websites. Institution entry requirements are to be verified by the institutions webpages directly.

Concordancing evidence with other testing providers (indicative IELTS below) are an illustration of the equivalencies, as verified both internally and independently by our external partners. In the middle of the scoring arrangements (LC global scale 60-80) evidence is more robust and scoring arrangements in lower and higher parts of the Global Scale should be interpreted with caution. In any case test takers need to verify the scoring requirement at the websites of the accepting institutions.

The published versions of all information that is relevant to the use of LanguageCert scores are updated regularly taking into consideration the needs of stakeholder.

LanguageCert General and LanguageCert Academic are designed for candidates who are not native speakers of English and who wish to achieve a high quality, internationally recognised qualification in English that is available and recognised worldwide. They are suitable for candidates who are preparing for entry to higher education, or professional employment in the UK or elsewhere, or for candidates who need to demonstrate that they have met the required level of English by passing a test with a Home Office approved Secure English Language Testing (SELT) provider. Both qualifications reference the descriptions of language proficiency in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

LanguageCert General and LanguageCert Academic measure proficiency in the same way, to the same scale, using the same task types. The two tests have been designed and developed according to the same standard procedures. The test delivery processes and scoring methods are identical.

LanguageCert places exam validity and reliability at the heart of its qualification development processes. LanguageCert Academic and LanguageCert General qualifications were officially launched in 2023, backed with extensive pretesting and trialling of test materials to ensure fairness, fitness-for-purpose, and comparability.

Test statistics

LanguageCert Academic and General candidates

LanguageCert Academic (LCA) and LanguageCert General (LCG) are assessed on a 100-point scale, the LanguageCert Global Scale (GS). Candidate performance scores are reported by skill (Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking), by total score and CEFR equivalence. The data below shows test taker scores for LCA and LCG for the trialling and pretesting period in 2022 and 2023.

Test reliability, LanguageCert Academic (N = 633)

Component	Index	Reliability coefficient	Mean (LanguageCert scale)	Standard Deviation	SEM
Listening	Cronbach’s α	.746	59.288	17.485	8.812
Reading	Cronbach’s α	.716	61.771	18.487	9.852
Writing*	ICC	.898	58.662	14.422	4.606
Speaking*	ICC	.768	65.498	14.396	6.934
Composite	McDonald’s ω	.907	59.288	14.307	4.363
Composite	Cronbach’s α	.901	59.288	14.307	4.502

ICC = intra-class correlation coefficients.
^*Note that these figures reflect scores awarded by two examiners. Where scores are discrepant, a senior examiner rescores the performance and it is this third score that is taken as final and that contributes to the overall result.

Test reliability, LanguageCert General (N = 202)

Component	Intex	Reliability coefficient	Mean (LanguageCert scale)	Standard Deviation	SEM
Listening	Cronbach’s α	.758	61.480	17.485	8.601
Reading	Cronbach’s α	.763	67.852	18.487	9.000
Writing	ICC	.632	61.985	10.086	6.118
Speaking	ICC	.854	64.025	13.985	5.344
Composite	McDonald’s ω	.918	61.480	12.096	3.464
Composite	Cronbach’s α	.911	61.480	12.096	3.609

Download the annual test report here.

Concordance studies

A concordance study is conducted between LanguageCert Academic and General tests and IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training tests respectively. This includes comparing tasks, exam content, and marking arrangements. It also involves the collection of test score data from test takers who have taken both LanguageCert and IELTS tests. Although the empirical concordance work is on-going, data collected thus far show that performance on the two LanguageCert tests is highly predictive of performance on their IELTS counterparts with very strong correlations between the results: r =.87 for Academic and r =.89 for General.
June 2023 / Score distribution summary statistics

	Μean	SD	Skew	Kurtosis	Min	Max
LanguageCert Academic	66.51	12.43	-0.13	-0.16	17	17
IELTS Academic	6.28	0.95	-0.19	-0.01	3	9
LanguageCert General	67.59	12.50	-0.83	1.31	18	89
IELTS General Training	6.76	1.06	-0.58	0.17	3	9

Note: For the Academic cohort, the sample size was 515. For the General cohort, the sample size was 181.

Correlations.

	Overall r	Reading r	Writing r	Listening r	Speaking r
Academic (n = 509)	.87	.79	.61	.73	.74
General (n = 181)	.89	.77	.76	.79	.74

Note: r = correlation. All correlations were statistically significant at the p < .001 level.

The strong direct correlations (r > .7) for Overall performance indicate that LanguageCert exams perform in accordance with language tests designed for similar purposes, meeting or outperforming correlations between alternative tests as reported above and IELTS. Subscales for both Academic and General display moderately strong (r > .6) to strong correlations.

Over time, LanguageCert expects to extend the concordance study to the full range of international tests recognised for similar purposes and will be publishing the findings in extensive reports.

Download the concordance report here.

The LanguageCert System