An English assessment built for real decisions about people and training

What it measures

Six skills, each reported as an OTO sub-level from A1.1 to C1.4, or C2. The overall level is a weighted blend that leans toward speaking and writing, because those are the skills people use most at work.

How it adapts

Everyone starts at B1. The test then follows the associate, so strong candidates are stretched and weaker ones are not buried in questions far above them.

• Grammar and Vocabulary: two correct answers in a row move up a level; two wrong in a row move down.
• Reading and Listening: questions come in sets of three. Two or three correct move up a level; one or none move down.
• Writing and Speaking: the second writing task and the longer speaking task are harder when the earlier sections average B1.3 or above.

The result is not a percentage. It is estimated from the difficulty of every question the associate actually answered.

How it is scored

• Grammar, Vocabulary, Reading and Listening are scored instantly by our server. Answer keys never reach the associate's browser.
• Writing is marked by an AI marker (Anthropic's Claude) against OTO's four criteria: grammar, vocabulary, cohesion and development.
• Speaking combines Microsoft Azure AI Speech, which measures pronunciation and fluency, with the AI marker, which judges range of vocabulary, grammatical accuracy and coherence. Together they give OTO's four speaking criteria: pronunciation, lexical resources, grammatical accuracy, and fluency and coherence.

Timing and sittings

The whole assessment takes about 85 minutes, including a few minutes to check the equipment. Your HR team chooses how associates take it:

• One sitting (standard): start to finish in one go.
• Breaks between sections: after finishing a section, an associate can stop and come back later to start the next one, on the same computer or on another one with a resume code. Everything must be finished within a window HR sets: 1, 3, 7 or 14 days from first starting. If the window closes first, the sections not yet finished are recorded as not taken, and the report says so.

Either way:

• Each section has its own clock, kept by our server. Once a section starts, it runs to the end without pausing. Breaks are only possible between sections.
• Grammar and Vocabulary questions allow 60 seconds each. Each reading text allows 3½ minutes, and each listening recording 3 minutes from when it starts playing.
• An answer given after the time limit counts as wrong, and the test moves on.

Integrity

A level only helps you if you can trust it. Some protections are part of every test. Others depend on the proctoring mode OTO sets with you when your cohort is created.

In every test

• Section clocks and question time limits are kept by our server, not by the associate's browser.
• Answer keys stay on our server. The browser only ever sees the question on screen.
• Pasting, dropping text and autocorrect are blocked in the answer boxes.
• Each associate gets one attempt per cohort. Only your HR team can allow a retake.
• The test is tied to one device. While it is running there, it cannot be opened on another device. It can move only after the first device has been inactive for two minutes, or during a break between sections with a resume code.

By proctoring mode

Integrity flags are automated signals for human review, not proof of cheating. Nobody is failed automatically. Your HR team decides what, if anything, to do.

Reports and certificates

• A report HR can read in 20 seconds: the overall sub-level, a plain-English line on what the associate can do at work, all six skills on one scale, strengths, what to focus on next, and the training needed to reach your target. The full assessment detail is one click away and prints on one or two A4 pages.
• A certificate in OTO's format, showing the sub-level and the level in each skill.
• Public verification: every certificate carries an ID. Anyone can check it on our verification page.

For HR

• A live dashboard showing who has started and finished, and the spread of levels across your team.
• Set a target level (B1, B2 or C1). For each associate we show how many OTO courses it takes to get there, at 8 hours per course.
• Choose one sitting or breaks between sections, and how many days associates have to finish. You can see who is on a break and the date they need to finish by.
• In proctored cohorts, filter to the results that need an integrity review. Allow a retake when you decide one is fair.
• Let an associate redo a single section, for example when a noisy room spoiled Speaking. The latest result for that section counts, earlier results stay in the report, and the certificate is reissued. The old certificate ID shows as superseded on the verification page.
• Open any report or certificate, and export the whole cohort to CSV.

See a sample report to explore the dashboard with a sample team.

For companies

• Start free with 5 seats. Open a company account and assess your first five people at no cost.
• Sign in by email link. No passwords to manage: we email a single-use link to your work address.
• Run as many cohorts as you need from one account, each with its own name, target level, proctoring mode and sittings. Invite colleagues so more than one person can see the results.
• Applicants or employees. Mark each cohort as one or the other, so hiring and training stay apart in your dashboard.
• Progress over time. Each person's assessments are kept together, so you can see how their overall level and each skill have moved from one assessment to the next.
• A target for each person. Set an individual target level where someone needs a different one from the rest of their cohort.
• Targets by role. We ship a starting table of role levels, from reception at A2 to management at C1, and you can change any row. Give someone a department or job title and their target is suggested from it.
• Bulk downloads. Download reports or certificates for a whole cohort, or for the people you pick, as a single zip of up to 200 people.
• Email reminders. Optional notices tell you who hasn't started, whose deadline is close, who is due a retest, and who came out below target, plus a weekly summary. Choose who receives them, and unsubscribe from any email.
• Add seats when you need them. One seat covers one person's assessment. Redoing a section never uses another seat, and an assessment that has already started is never cut off because seats ran out.

Start free with 5 seats, or ask us for more seats whenever your team grows.

Frequently asked questions