The Oxford Young Learners Placement Test assesses the language ability of young learners online, so you can quickly and reliably place them at the right level or differentiate better between students in a mixed ability class.
What does it test?
The test is in two sections: Language Use and Listening
Language Use
The Language Use section tests vocabulary, functional language and grammar across 18 questions. The questions focus on language use rather than language knowledge, reflecting the communicative language young learners experience in class.
The Language Use section has three parts:
- Part one focuses on vocabulary
- Part two focuses on functional language
- Part three focuses on grammar
Listening
The Listening section tests listening for detail and gist, using short and extended listening tasks across 12 questions. The audio automatically plays twice.
The Listening section has three parts:
- Part one and part two assess listening for detail and gist
- Part three assesses listening for detail
How long does the test take?
It takes around 30–40 minutes. The exact timing of the test depends on the questions a student answers. The length of the audio recordings increases with the levels, so higher level students will usually have a longer test than students at lower levels.
Students have a fixed amount of time to answer a question before the test automatically moves on to the next question.
Right level for each child
The test is computer adaptive. This means it adapts to the ability of each student, presenting an easier or more difficult question depending on whether the response to the previous question was right or wrong. So each child is tested at just the right level of challenge.
To find a student’s final level, some of the questions the test generates are at the upper limit of their ability. Therefore students are not expected to be able to answer all the higher-level questions correctly.
Scoring the Oxford Young Learners Placement Test
The test gives an overall score showing:
Separate scores are also given for the Language Use section and Listening section, so you can easily identify whether students are stronger or weaker in one of these areas and target your teaching accordingly.
Questions are automatically marked and the results are instantly available online. All the scores are shown in one table.
You can sort the results in whichever way you want and download them in Excel or print individual Teacher Report Cards to keep a record of students’ results.
Using the results
The placement test’s numerical scores are reported on a scale of 0–80. Each score maps to a band of the CEFR.
View the score to CEFR level map
A three-star system at each CEFR level also helps you to differentiate better between borderline students and supports your placement decision.
A positive assessment experience
To keep the young learner engaged and confident throughout, the test uses bright colours, learner-friendly images and illustrations. The central characters, Ace and Chirp, appear on every question to guide students.
Age appropriate tasks:
Task types are designed to match the language proficiency and communicative abilities of young learners and reflect tasks they are used to in Primary courses. Questions include real-life child-friendly situations familiar to young learners.
A club for each level:
Each CEFR level has a child-friendly club name so each child feels a sense of achievement when you place them in a club:
B1 – Orbit
A2 – Zoom
A1 – Lift off
Pre-A1 (A0) – Count down
Present each student with a personalised photocopiable Student Report Card to take home to their parents, showing their name, CEFR level and club.
View the Student Report Cards
Accurate and reliable
The test has been written by international young learner assessment experts and pretested by primary school children worldwide.
Questions have been reviewed and benchmarked against the CEFR can-do statements and only questions meeting our high validation standards are included in the test. This means you can be confident that it will give an accurate result.
Every test question goes through the same validation process before being used in a test to ensure quality, accuracy and reliability.
See our validation process
Supporting Teachers
To help you prepare for the test and support you on test day, the downloadable Teacher’s Handbook includes a range of resources.
Download the Teacher’s Handbook Cut down on your preparation; use our dedicated lesson plan to help students settle down and be ready to take the test.
Use the photocopiables and word game ideas to introduce the test.
Use the wordsearch and colouring in activities to keep fast finishers engaged.
Each club has its own resource sheet in the Teacher’s Handbook with badges, wristbands and desk labels for students to cut out and keep.
Administering the test
The user-friendly management tools in the Learning Management System make it easy to administer the test, and to manage the results. You can create different groups for testing and assign the test online, then print a login slip for each student and easily view the results when they have finished the test.