The British Council has 85 years of experience in English language teaching and assessment, which has allowed us to identify key testing milestones along the learning journey and customise our test to the specific needs of different types of test takers from school children and university students to professionals.

Watch the video to get an overview of our current English certification test portfolio and which tests you can take with us.

We have a vast range of English assessment solutions for all purposes, ages and needs and a team of highly qualified professionals and experts to work with you and support you in finding the best option for you. 

 Three professionals discuss English certification exams with the British Council

Are you looking for an English test to prove your language skills for studying, working or migrating?

Study and work abroad  

If you want to study at an international university or work in an English-speaking environment and need an English language test to prove your language skills, you can take the IELTS test with us. 

IELTS is a high-stakes English test for international study, migration and work. It tests all four skills, the rating from 0 - 9 is mapped to the CEFR and you can choose between IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training tests. 

You can take IELTS on a computer or paper and the results are recognised and trusted by over 12,500 organisations in 145 countries around the world. 

Find out more about IELTS 

Work, study and live in the UK

If you would like to immigrate to the UK and need a visa, you can take the secure English language test, IELTS for UK Visas and Immigration. 

Learn more about IELTS for UKVI

Are you working in an educational institution and are looking to assess the language skills of your students?

If you want to efficiently assess and monitor the English levels of your students and teachers, place students in the right courses and want to make sure your students have the right English language skills to study in English-taught programmes, Aptis is the right test for you. 

How does Aptis work? 

Aptis scores are mapped to the CEFR standards to ensure the test results are valid globally. The test just takes two hours to take and results are also available quickly in 48 hours. 

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Are you working for the government and need to assess the English skills of your employees, teachers and students?

If you work for the government and want to assess the English language skills of employees, teachers and students, conduct language audits to identify training needs and want to measure the success of language training projects at various stages, then Aptis for governments is the right test for you. 

The test just takes two hours and the scores are mapped to the CEFR standards to ensure  results are recognised globally. The test results are available in 48 hours, enabling you to swiftly devise training programmes in order to raise the profile of your institution. 

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Do you want to raise the profile of your business and ensure your employees have the right English language skills?

If you want to ensure that your employees have the right English language skills, you can use Aptis for business to recruit and promote the right talent and identify any language skill gaps. It will also help you improve and measure your training programmes. 

Within just two hours you can assess your employees, and the test scores are mapped to the CEFR standards, so they will be recognised internationally. A quick turn-around of the results in 48 hours ensures that you will be able to make informed decisions shortly after the test. 

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Are you working for a business and want a quick snapshot of your employees’ English language skills?

If you want a snapshot of the English language skills of your employees and job applicants, English Score for business can provide you with that. An app-based, mobile English test, it can be taken anywhere, anytime and only takes 30 minutes. It will provide you with an overall score, mapped to the CEFR.  

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Are you working for an employment agency, a vocational school or a government agency and are looking for a basic and intermediate-level English language test?

If you are looking for new ways to help your candidates improve their applications, want to give students and school leavers a solid foundation to enter the workforce, or if you simply want to give your candidates a confidence boost in their own language abilities, our Foundation English Test will enable you, your clients and students to reach that goal.

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Are you working in an international or bilingual school or a language tuition centre and would like to assess the English language skills of young learners?

If you need to assess the English language levels of 9 to 12-year-old children, you can do this now flexibly with our Primary English Test. The test takes 60-75 minutes and is entirely delivered on a computer, so you can hold this test on your premises or remotely. The test is adaptable and can be personalised, with results mapped to the CEFR.

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