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Making, Delivering, Assessing and Validating Tests
Exam Production
We constantly review the tests we provide to ensure they are accurate, relevant and fair. We listen carefully to feedback from test takers, teachers, centres and other professionals in the language learning and assessment world. Sometimes this feedback leads us to identify areas where there is an unsatisfied demand for language assessment and a need to create an entirely new exam.
How the Tests are developed
Creating a new test is a complicated process requiring careful research and testing. A thorough and meaningful test requires a team of diligent researchers and this was achieved when some of the world's leading experts in language assessment at EU School of Continuing Education collaborated with NHC Language Examination Unit. This guarantees that our tests are built on the combined expertise, experience and understanding of assessment and learning.
Tests have to go through a rigorous series of processes including:
- commissioning the exam – where the scope and time frame for the new exam is mapped out
- pre-editing – checking that the material written by the exam question writers broadly fits the commissioning brief
- editing – ensuring the quality and accuracy of the test paper
- pretesting/trialling – trying out the test paper to ensure that it tests candidates in the way expected
- pretest/trial review – checking the results of the pretesting and trials to see if further editing is needed
- test construction – the new exam is checked to ensure the level and focus of the test are correct and that there are no overlaps with other existing tests
- overview – a final critical review of the whole process before the question paper production process begins.
Only when we are completely satisfied that the test has passed all of these stages, will it be released to the public.
In many cases it takes two years from the first stages of planning to students sitting the first session of the new test.
Delivering exams
For a test to be fair and accurate, everyone who takes it has to have the same opportunity.
To ensure our tests are fair, we have a number of important security measures in place to ensure that exam papers are safely distributed from our headquarters in London to our Authorised Testing Centres worldwide where our tests take place.
Test papers frequently need to be stored for brief periods of time before the exam, as do the completed exam scripts before they are returned to us for assessment. All authorised testing centres are required to have secure storage facilities and are inspected regularly to ensure they meet our strict criteria for security.
The internet-based based version of theTests of English will be launched in January 2012. In this case, the tests are sent electronically to the Authorised Testing Centre, but can only be opened when an encryption key is sent on the day of the test itself. The online tests will give an instant assessment, which is of great value to those who are testing large numbers of people for educational or recruitment purposes.
Assessing exams
Our reputation for quality does not rest on our examinations alone. Quality is a process which begins with the research and design of tests and ends with an accurate assessment of each candidate's entry.
The assessment of a candidate's work has to be as consistent and reliable as every other aspect of the examination process.
Upon arrival, all completed written papers are randomly allocated for marking – this ensures that regardless of where they have come from, all papers are marked fairly.
The examiners who mark the tests are themselves subject to strict monitoring of their own performance to ensure they are accurate and consistent.
The Speaking section has two assessors to ensure accuracy and student’s answers are recorded for further review.
Validating exams
Notting Hill College Language Examination Unit and the School of Continuing Education at Eton University have a long-established and well-deserved reputation for excellence. To achieve this, our dedicated research team work hard to validate our tests – ensuring their quality, fairness and relevance – is vital to our continued high reputation.
Thousands of candidates take our exams every year: to sustain the quality of our tests, it is essential that each one of those candidates experiences a test that consistently meets the high standards we set.
We work closely with leading specialists in the following disciplines:
- testing and assessment
- statistical analysis and item-banking
- applied linguistics
- language learning/pedagogy.
Together they carry out a variety of research projects for all of our tests.
Continuous Development
We believe excellence is an ongoing approach to our work. For this reason all of our examinations are subject to a process of continuous review and improvement.
The purpose of all of our reviews is to ensure that the Tests of English are relevant, reliable, accurate and meet the needs of test takers. Continuously reviewing and improving the tests means we can take account of:
- changes to teaching practice
- the latest findings in language assessment research
- feedback from schools and centres
- feedback from candidates.
