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| British Council |
The English assessment service which is called Aptis is a flexible adaptable test for adults which can be used to asses their ability in all four English skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing). It can be customised to test one or more specific skills which allow organisations to test the skills relevant to their needs and in their cultural context.
“Three quarters of English speakers today are second language speakers and half of the employees in international companies globally use English every day at work,” said Philip Rylah, Director of Examinations MENA at the British Council.
He also added that companies in the region are increasingly driving demand for English, particularly multinationals. “Industries such as IT and software development, maritime and air freight, telecommunications, banking and finance, as well as tourism and hospitality have the highest need for English-speaking employees,” said Rylah.
Andrew Mackenzie, Head of assessment services at the British Council, said that there are currently 1.75 billion people speaking English which means that a quarter of the world speaks English. He also said that although there are 1.6 billion people learning English at the moment, a number which is expected to increase to two billion in 2020, there are only 13 million tests delivered every year.
Mackenzie stated that this is due to the fact that most tests are not always inclusive in the way they are designed and developed; they always exclude people on the basis of cost, technology, culture and geography.
“Most English tests are dominated by either European or American culture, yet English is an international language spoken by 1.6 billion people from all over the world. This is why we designed Aptis so that includes as many of the 1.6 billion we could through two core ideas — flexibility and accessibility.”
Professor Barry O’Sullivan, Senior Adviser, English Language assessment English and Examination, explained that this means that that Aptis can be adapted to the organisation’s needs and cultural context and can be delivered on all kinds of platforms that include the computer, pen and paper, tablets (will be launched in the UAE in July) and even telephones (still on trial in India).
Aptis provides 15 different packages and the price of the basic package for one person costs Dh65 and the full package can reach up to Dh190. The tests can be taken at any place and time that the organisation wants and candidates will receive a grade from 0 to 50 as well as a letter grade from A1 to C for each skill they take.
Aptis was launched in August 2012 and 25,000 tests were delivered to government agencies, companies and universities in 50 different countries. Rylah stated that today (Monday) marks the first day it will be launched in the UAE. “For the UAE our target is to deliver at least 20,000 tests in the first year. We have done some research and found that there is a need,”
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