Universities and higher education institutions: what challenges do they face with placement tests?

At the start of every academic year, most universities and higher education institutions assess their students’ language levels. These placement tests matter because they allow students to be assigned to a class that perfectly matches their language level, so they can progress with confidence. Without such assessments, a student could easily end up in a class that is too easy or too demanding — and miss out on the full benefits of their learning experience.

For language resource centre (LRC) managers, academic administrators, and teachers, this assessment period often brings stress and tension. Let’s take a closer look at the main sources of pressure… and how to avoid them.

Cutting down the time spent assessing students’ language skills

Teachers have to run dozens — sometimes hundreds — of tests each year, and it is a tedious, time-consuming task. Each student typically sits two or three tests: a speaking test, a writing test, and a listening comprehension test. That adds up to hours of work, without even counting the marking. For administrative staff, the work is different but no less demanding. They have to send out the tests, compile the results, and build homogeneous groups based on those scores. Handled manually, this becomes exhausting — both in duration and in complexity. Enough to discourage anyone!

There is, however, a way to make this process easier and take the pressure off your teams. The answer lies in choosing a tool that lets you administer every language test from a single platform. On top of offering a simple, effective online test, you gain a management platform that sends invitations to students, generates reports, and exports results in a single click. Every administrative task is then centralised on one platform, which saves a considerable amount of time. Among the tools available, a growing number of universities are choosing ELAO to reduce — or eliminate — the workload linked to start-of-year placement testing. Designed by educational experts, the ELAO test is taken online in 30 minutes, and the results are available instantly.

If your goal is to save time, is adding a third party to your internal process really a good idea?

Yes! A language test should not be seen as a middleman, but as a genuine tool — configured and developed around your specific needs to support your work. It is a tool that adapts to your organisation, not the other way around. Once your platform is set up, you no longer need to liaise with the provider on a daily basis — although of course they remain available whenever you have a question.

The following features should be part of your selection criteria when choosing a high-performance tool:

• Importing a database containing student email addresses
• Sending codes and links by email so students can take their test easily and online (via the platform’s built-in functionality)
• Getting a real-time view of tests already completed or still pending
• Filtering results by test level
• Exporting results easily via a clear Excel file
• Building groups in just two clicks thanks to the power of Excel

To make your investment as profitable as possible, your platform is tailored to your departments and your procedures. Among the reasons that lead institutions to choose a bespoke platform, ELAO experts often identify:

• The desire to segment the platform by faculty (or department) so each one can operate independently
• The need to include filters within the questions asked to students, making it easier to build groups
• The requirement to personalise student communications so the test reflects the institution’s branding

But while an online placement test can clearly save a great deal of time, it must not become a burden for the people managing it. That is precisely why it is essential to ensure that the platform carries out every operation without requiring input from an external organisation, and that it fits your institution’s usual processes. The ELAO test meets these requirements and makes it possible to implement a truly relevant placement-testing platform. In a world where remote learning has become the norm, choose the platform that fits you like a glove!