How to Use Our Free Online ESL Placement Test

Update May 2017! We’ve released Placement Test V2.0! Read all about this upgrade here!

Our ESL Placement Test has been designed to provide a Gap Analysis for your ESL students.

The ESL Placement Test consists of 100 questions which increase in difficulty as the test progresses, covering the grammar topics taught within the CEFR framework. The questions progress in order of difficulty, from CEFR A1 to C1, and each question is specifically linked to a grammar topic within the CEFR levels.
The ESL Placement Test can be completed in three ways:
1.     The student provides answers to all 100 questions
2.     The student answers ‘I don’t know’ to 7 questions in a row, after which the test concludes automatically
3.     The student abandons the test before completing it
Note that we have avoided where possible using words that have a different spelling in North American and British English, to ensure the Placement Test can be used by the maximum number of students.
Our test provides a proficiency level based upon the student’s responses, provided the student answers a minimum of 20 questions. If less than 20 responses are provided, the sample is considered too small to provide a fair assessment. Along with a level of proficiency, we display all incorrect answers and skipped questions (with the corresponding question text). These form the basis of an Individualized Learning Plan for your student, which is automatically imported into the Student Management Panel. Following your student’s placement test, you can Launch and Enroll your student into lessons directly from the Individualized Learning Plan.
ESL-Placement-Test ESL-Placement-Test
In this way the Placement Test suggests the lesson plans targeted to rectify the student’s gaps in knowledge, and to review those which require further practice.
In short, the teacher can use the proficiency level as a starting point, and the proposed grammar topics and lessons as an individualized curriculum. The provision of a learning plan that is built directly upon the student’s results allows the student to feel comfortable with the teacher and it permits the teacher to proceed immediately to teach what is needed most.

How to assign the ESL Placement Test

1. Launch the test from the placement test page. We’ll ask you whether you are assigning it to an existing student or to a prospective student.
2. Your student can log in to Off2Class at any time to complete the test, using any internet-connected device. We’ve made allowances for poor internet connectivity – if the connection drops off, your student can return later to complete it.
 
ESL-Placement-Test
3. Once your student finishes the test, we’ll notify you and you can launch the results from the lesson history table. We will also automatically prepare your student’s Individualized Learning Plan.
 
ESL-Placement-Test
 
4. Teach your student lessons directly from their Individualized Learning Plan, track performance, and re-assess at a later date!

We hope you enjoy our ESL Placement Test. As always, let us know if you have any questions or feedback!


26 Comments

  • Chris says:

    November 13, 2015 at 12:32 pm

    This is absolutely brilliant, and is immediately the best free placement test on the internet. Very well done, and I’ll be using this with all my students.

    • James Heywood (Off2Class) says:

      November 13, 2015 at 12:39 pm

      Hi Chris,
      And thank you for such positive feedback. We truly hope that it assists both teachers and students to review weaknesses and to provide a great starting point to move onward and upward!
      Best wishes,
      James

  • Rob Murray says:

    November 23, 2015 at 3:54 pm

    The placement test is awesome! So many students are gap taught that you can misjudge their level with an interview. I’ve used the placement test several times and found that the suggested lesson plan is bang on and might not have been my first go-to lessons. Thanks for the tool. You’ve made teaching much less cumbersome.

    • James Heywood (Off2Class) says:

      November 23, 2015 at 4:25 pm

      Hi Rob,
      Many thanks for such positive feedback. We really hope that the Placement Test is making teachers’ lives a little easier, especially when they encounter prospective students and need a meaningful starting point.
      Best wishes,
      James

  • David Bernardino says:

    January 3, 2016 at 1:17 am

    Thank you for this. I’ll be using this for my class as well.

    • Kris Jagasia says:

      January 3, 2016 at 1:23 am

      Cheers David, hope you enjoy it!

  • Richard says:

    January 7, 2016 at 5:43 pm

    Yes this is hands down one of the best sites I have seen. I have sent the placement test to two students who I need to give more structure to so the placement test and associated learning plan will be idea for me. Some of my other students are more advanced and just want speaking classes so with them it is easier but these other two were giving me problems lol!
    thanks again guys you guys rock

    • Kris Jagasia says:

      January 7, 2016 at 5:49 pm

      Hi Richard, thanks for stopping by and giving us such wonderful feedback. It’s immensely useful for us. For your students that require a less structured approach, please have a browse of our Speaking Activities. We’ve just added a host of new lessons targeting more advanced students: https://www.off2class.com/speaking-activites-advanced-esl-students/

  • Julie Smith says:

    February 29, 2016 at 5:11 am

    Hi Kris, I will definitely be checking this out today.
    On another note, the IWB materials, I am in the process of preparing online interactive study material and homework. Can your materials be integrated into this?
    Thanks
    Jules.

    • Kris Jagasia says:

      February 29, 2016 at 4:59 pm

      Hi Jules, thanks for stopping by. Our 500 lessons and homework are perfectly suited for IWBs. By way of integration I would need to see what you’re up to, get in contact here: https://www.off2class.com/contact

  • Rita Lubbers says:

    March 4, 2016 at 4:48 am

    The last image contains a note “Emily love photography and animals!”. It’s probably a typing error but if there are more close watchers like me it would be a good idea to change it :-).

    • James Heywood (Off2Class) says:

      March 4, 2016 at 5:04 am

      Hi,
      Thanks for your comment.
      The typo is intentional – it’s just in the teacher’s personal notes! We wanted to show the note-taking functionality as people use it, with typos, abbreviations and however else teachers wish to store information. It’s not part of lesson content, so think of it as a diary entry.
      Best wishes,
      James

  • M.F. Sri Ekonomi says:

    March 4, 2016 at 6:34 pm

    This is very good. Thank you for providing such good test. Since I have retired now, I want to find students for such program. Can you help me with this ? I am a retired lecturer in the English Department of FKIP Universitas Lambung Mangkurat Banjarmasin, but still teaching there until now. Thank you.
    Bu Sri

    • James Heywood (Off2Class) says:

      March 6, 2016 at 12:33 pm

      Hello,
      And thank you for stopping by.
      While we don’t get involved with finding students, we know that it can be a challenge for teachers. As the market is enormous and it depends whom and how you wish to teach, we’ve written about it on our blog: https://www.off2class.com/where-to-find-your-first-online-esl-students/
      Best wishes,
      James

  • cnusbaum says:

    May 9, 2016 at 10:26 am

    Is there any way to get a pdf copy of this or sample pdf? I need verification.

  • Yvonne Koechig says:

    June 13, 2016 at 7:08 am

    Hello from Luxembourg,
    This little test is excellent and will save me a lot of precious time.
    I appreciate being able to adapt the language of the interface .
    Well done!
    Regards,
    Yvonne

    • Kris Jagasia says:

      June 13, 2016 at 8:45 am

      Cheers for the kind words Yvonne, let us know if we can do anything to help you discover Off2Class!

  • Douglas says:

    July 14, 2016 at 5:25 am

    You guys are really on to something here. I haven’t found anything nearly as comprehensive as this site for testing and connecting lessons to problem areas. Very impressed!

    • Kris Jagasia says:

      July 14, 2016 at 9:23 am

      Cheers Douglas, that’s great to know! Yes, the placement test has been a really powerful feature, and there’s more to come in the future, so stay tuned!

  • Edie Cole says:

    October 25, 2016 at 3:40 pm

    My students do not have access to computers. We are pencil and paper-would need to print tests, etc. for them. I now only have 4 older women

    • James Heywood (Off2Class) says:

      October 25, 2016 at 3:53 pm

      Hi,
      Thanks for stopping by.
      Our Placement Test is only available online. The reason for this is that the questions from each test can be selected from a larger pool of questions, ensuring that each test is different. It also produces a Learning Plan for each individual that would be impossible to produce with the results of a paper test.
      I’m unsure where to send you for a paper-based Placement Test as I do not know the currently used ones on the market.
      Best wishes,
      James

  • Doreen Fleisch says:

    November 3, 2016 at 3:09 pm

    this is great, thank you so much!

    • James Heywood (Off2Class) says:

      November 3, 2016 at 4:10 pm

      Thanks Doreen,
      I hope that you obtain some benefits from using it with students.
      James

  • michelle says:

    November 22, 2016 at 8:40 pm

    Thank you very much! This helped me a lot, I even tested my level of proficiency in English language. This is an excellent platform, I used this as a trial class to my students. However, I am planning to subscribe. Thanks for sharing your brilliant ideas. So satisfied and grateful! Thanks once again.

    • Kris Jagasia says:

      November 23, 2016 at 1:01 am

      Thanks Michelle, we’ve got lots more in store! I’d be happy to welcome you onboard as a subscriber!
      Kris

Post a Reply to Rob Murray Cancel reply

Your email is never published nor shared. Required fields are marked *