British Council launches new global English exam

Aptis can also be used as a business tool British Council has launched an English proficiency assessment tool, Aptis, to allows companies and education institutions to assess English-competency on various levels .
Introducing Aptis to the UAE market Tuesday, Philip Rylah, Director Examinations MENA, said, "Companies are increasingly driving demand for English in the region, and this is in particular the case for multinationals. Industries such as IT and software development, maritime and airfreight, telecommunications, banking and finance, as well as tourism and hospitality have the highest need for English-speaking employees."
"Three quarters of English speakers today are second language speakers and half of employees in international companies globally use English every day at work," he added.
Rylah added that the ability to communicate in English provided access to greater opportunities for individuals and companies in the Middle East alike. The British Council has an opportunity to contribute to the economic development of businesses in the region through English in a way that is clearly welcomed. Aptis is the first step in advancing business efficiency through improved English communication.
Aptis is a business-to-business English assessment service available to organisations not individuals, and is the latest addition to the British Council's English and Examinations portfolio of products, allowing the Council to offer a complete solution for organisations' English development needs.
Andrew Mackenzie, Head of Assessment Services at the British Council, said, "The British Council has seized an opportunity to develop something that was not yet available. Up until now, organisations wanting a flexible and adaptable assessment tool to benchmark the English language proficiency of their students or employees have chosen products that are often an imperfect fit. This is because they are looking for very specific and niche solutions. Aptis will allow these organisations to effectively and easily assess the English language levels that are relevant to their requirements."
"The British Council is a world authority in the English language. We work across a wide range of English teaching and assessment services, as well as with ministries of education to improve the English language teaching in education institutions around the world. We also have decades of experience in delivering high quality exams, a position Aptis allows us to build on," he added.
Aptis is a flexible and adaptable English test for adults, which can be used to assess ability in all four English skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing). It can also be customised to test one or more specific skills, which allows organisations to test the skills relevant to their needs. The content of Aptis can be adapted to suit a specific domain, such as for teaching or travel and tourism, as well customised to suit specific cultural contexts and variants of English. Aptis can be delivered by computer, telephone, or pen and paper, and results are available in as little as 24 hours.
Leading the industry in technology, Aptis uses a revolutionary new interactive platform, which develops, manages, delivers and monitors the test simultaneously. This platform also enables organisations to administer the test themselves, at a time that suits them.
The innovative marking system of Aptis is task-based rather than test-based. This means in one task several people in different locations around the world mark different items within the test, all through the online platform.
Aptis complements existing language tests such as IELTS - the high-stakes test which the British Council jointly owns with Cambridge ESOL and IDP: IELTS Australia.