The purpose of my recent visit to Athens was to attend a summit for staff working in admissions and English teaching in higher education, hosted by LanguageCert. LanguageCert offers tests in English, Spanish and Classical Greek for those wanting to prove their language proficiency for work, study or immigration.
I don’t tend to talk much about my day job on this blog, but as someone who works in international university admissions, I was already aware of LanguageCert. They offer a suite of tests, including an Academic test which is more focussed on the English skills needed for academic study at an English-speaking university. LanguageCert took over the running of the International ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) test from City & Guilds in 2015, and moved into online testing in 2019. Which, considering everything that happened in 2020, was a very wise move in hindsight.
Online testing
LanguageCert tests can be taken in a test centre – indeed, they’re one of only five providers offering a Secure English Language Test (SELT) approved by UK Visas and Immigration. But their tests are also available to be taken online at home, and it was good to hear more about the security and identity checks that they do for testers. I won’t go into too much detail, as I don’t want to share information given to me in confidence. Test takers have to download apps to their computers and mobile devices to verify their identity and to detect any cheating tools. We also got to see some examples of how they’ve been able to catch paid impersonators who have taken tests on peoples’ behalves. Their mobile app, ExamShield, can read the chips located in most modern passports, which can be compared with the printed details to avoid issues with fraudulent identity documents. The same app can also be used as a second webcam, typically positioned 135° from the primary webcam on the computer, to allow the proctor to see that the workspace is clear of any unauthorised materials. There’s more detail available here if you’re interested.
We also got to see behind the scenes, to see live exams being remotely proctored. They offer exams 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The AI elephant in the room
The topic of Artificial Intelligence came up several times during the summit, both in terms of opportunities and threats. AI, when used correctly, can assist humans with tasks – especially around fraud checks. But it can also be used for fraud, and this is something that LanguageCert are tackling. They have various tools and pre-test verification checks to detect deepfakes, where an impersonator will use live face-swapping technology to make themselves look like the person who was supposed to take the test. Their software is designed to lock down a computer, so, for example, it wouldn’t be possible to paste answers from ChatGPT into the writing section of a test.
Preventing fraud using AI is an ongoing arms race. LanguageCert’s software and platform is developed in-house – again, we got to see where their programmers work – and so they are well-placed to be agile in responding to new developments in the AI space.
The English testing market
LanguageCert is a relatively new entrant to the market for English testing. Most British universities steer people towards the IELTS test, which is run collaboratively between the University of Cambridge, IDP and the British Council. Meanwhile, TOEFL from ETS is usually preferred by American universities and Pearson PTE by Australian universities. Widening access to university education is something I feel passionately about, as I say peoples’ lives being changed every day by being able to undertake further study, and so having a wide range of accessible and affordable tests facilitates this.
Besides learning about LanguageCert’s products, and those from the wider PeopleCert group, the summit was also a good opportunity to network with colleagues from other universities. Several British universities besides my own were represented, but also universities from the US, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy and Poland. It was good to speak to other professionals, especially during a turbulent time for higher education in the UK and US.
It was a very useful and well-organised summit, and I really appreciated LanguageCert extending an invite to my employer and for covering our travel costs.