I had the honor of speaking at the Skills for English Partners meet in Chandigarh a couple of days ago.  My congratulations go out to Prakash Upadhyay and Mazhar Hussain and Lesinda Leightley for their deft organizational skills, and my sincere thanks go out to them for inviting me to take part.

I spoke a bit about what I like about the Skills for English test, which I’ve touched on here before.  I did my best to highlight the value of consumer choice and competition.  Namely that it helps test-takers find a test that makes it possible for them to best demonstrate their competencies in a way that being forced in a one-size test fits all test does not, that it helps test takers to avoid traveling long distances and missing out on wages to take a test… and that, overall, it forces test companies to do better. Given the coming of the HOELT, this is worth dwelling on.

In the limited time I had, I did my best to emphasize that (despite everything) we are in very exciting times when it comes to this sort of testing, and there are many opportunities for firms and individuals.  Here’s an interesting thing:  I’ve been writing the same nonsense for a decade, but for the first eight years the audience was like ten nerdy teachers (or maybe just John Healy hitting “refresh” ten times).  In the past couple of years, though, many sorts of people have reached out to learn more about the industry or to hit me up for free information – AI dreamers who think they have the next big thing, people in the press who have noticed English tests for the first time in ages, investment firms that want to get in on the action… all sorts of people  (And little do they know that if they schedule a 30 minute Zoom chat about tests, I’m gonna keep them on the call for a minimum of 90 minutes).

I’ll post my speaking script here at some point.

Anyway, a few notes about the evening:

1. This was the beginning of my education into the B2B world of testing in India.  Those of us in tests who don’t really deal much with the Indian market sometimes fail to understand the importance of B2B relationships between test makers and their partners.  Those relationships play a huge role in the rise and fall of tests.  They are so essential, in a way that many of us are only vaguely aware.  Go to India and take plenty of notes, I say!
2. Skills for English is mostly taken by individuals headed to the UK, but given the location of the event I had to ask about Canada.  The reports are true – interest in Canada has dropped dramatically among young people in Punjab. Educational consultancies have seen that part of their business decline significantly. Obviously the unsubtle messaging coming out of IRCC is having an impact, but so are reports about the high cost of living and how difficult it is to find employment.  More people will head to the USA, or course.  But European schools will also find themselves with more applicants.  And other people will simply choose to study at domestic universities.
3. Test Prep is so important.  So you want people to take your test?  Or to be more precise: do you want B2B partners to promote your test to students?  Give them some darn test prep.  Don’t forget to provide it in print form.
4. There is an enormous interest in choice when it comes to testing.  You know, the tests all work.  They are all valid.  You could bring back the 1964 TOEFL, update the vocabulary choices and it would still be valid.  But they all have unique strengths and weaknesses.  And as I have spent the last decade repeating ad nauseam, they differ in terms of respect for their customers.

In case you are curious what a “Skills for English: SELT” Test Report Form looks like, here’s mine. A couple of points are worth mentioning:

1. My results arrived in about 48 hours. Quick!
2. While “Skills for English” is a pass/fail test for specific CEFR levels, the report indicates that I achieved B2 “with merit.” I suppose that the “with merit” indication is a way for high-performing test takers to show off a bit for score users. That’s a nice touch. I haven’t seen this documented anywhere.
3. The mug shot is huge. I was photographed by the test center administrator himself, which I think is a feature of the SELT requirements.
4. The report features the signature of Isabelle Gonthier, PhD, ICE-CCP, who hosts one of my favorite podcasts about this sort of thing. How nice!

I’ve also attached a screenshot of my blissfully simple and straightforward account page for this test.

You can also read my full report on this test.

As part of an ongoing mission to expand my knowledge of testing options in 2024, I took the B2 version of the “Skills for English” test yesterday.  While everything is still fresh in my mind, I’ll share a few thoughts.  Before I begin, I should mention that PSI gave me a voucher to take this test at no cost.

Note that I took the B2 version since it is likely the most widely-taken version of the “Skills for English” suite of tests. This is the level one needs to demonstrate in order to get a UK student visa for studies at the degree level. Note, also, that like the other versions, this is a pass/fail test. You either prove that you are at the B2 level, or you don’t.

Okay. Here are my initial thoughts:

1. The registration process is fairly straightforward and painless.  This is an area where the newer tests seem to outshine their “legacy” competitors. Younger test takers really don’t like a test registration process that feels like buying an airplane ticket. They want to get it done quickly!  I’d love to see the stats (for all of the tests) on how many would-be test takers abandon their carts before making a purchase.

2. An adequate amount of free test prep is provided by PSI.  Accessing that material can be tricky, however. It involves passing through an email funnel that results in a link to the “PSI Online Store,” which doesn’t seem to contain the desired materials. This certainly frustrated me.  If anyone from PSI wants to know more about this issue, just reach out.

3. Here in Korea, “Skills for English” costs a bit less than the IELTS (UKVI) and a bit more than the PTE-Academic (UKVI).  It is offered at two test centers in the country.  I was alone when I took the test, so perhaps there isn’t much demand for it in Korea at this time.

4. There is quite a lot of speaking in this test.  Test takers have the opportunity to speak for just over ten minutes.  Spoken responses to test items range from 30 seconds to 5 minutes. This approach is common among the newer tests and I think it is is appealing to test takers who desire an opportunity to “bounce back” from a single bad answer.  Compare this test to the TOEFL iBT, which involves just three minutes and forty-five seconds of speaking.  Many individuals taking that test fear that a single flubbed response might heavily impact their final score.

5. This is advertised as a 190-minute test.  That’s longer than most tests in 2024.  The length could certainly turn off some prospective test takers and I’m surprised that the folks at PSI have maintained it.  That said, students at the C1 or C2 levels will probably not use all of the time given in the reading and writing sections and perhaps lower-level students will appreciate the sometimes leisurely pace of the test.

6. The test includes a hard cap on the length of written responses.  That is, once the test taker hits the maximum word count, they aren’t allowed to write any more.  I like that.

7. My test form contained a whole lot of Britishisms.  Knowledge of these won’t impact one’s score, but it seems like the folks at PSI went out of their way to put in as many as possible in the reading and listening items.  One of them made me laugh out loud. Another made me wonder “do they really say that across the pond?!”

8. Preparing students for this test might involve teaching them how to paraphrase or reformulate ideas.  On my test form, picking correct listening and reading answers often depended on knowing that the words used in the answer choice (or gap-fill) expressed the same thing as different words used in the reading or listening content.

9. The test content is mostly general English, with a small amount of academic English.  This is a quirk of the SELT program, I think.

10. I chatted with the test center operator about the tests people pop in for.  He mentioned that he does a ton of PSI tests, including ones for accountants and pilates instructors.  This reinforced my firm belief that PSI of 2024 is just like ETS in the golden era.  No wonder they made the purchase!