CEFR Level Assessment
Use CEFR presets for holistic level reports and understand course-level calibration for individual tasks.
Beta feature CEFR assessment is in beta. Use it as a teaching aid and review the result before using it for placement decisions.
Who this is for
Teachers who want a CEFR level estimate from a student's exam answers for placement checks, progress checks, or end-of-course review. System presets are available for Polish, English, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, and Lithuanian.
What this page answers
- What is CEFR level assessment, and how is it different from per-task grading?
- How do I turn it on for an exam lesson?
- Which presets and languages are available?
- What does the student see, and how do I read the result?
Prerequisites
- a course lesson you can edit
- the Exam mode feature enabled for your school
- a CEFR preset that covers the language you are assessing (see Available presets)
What CEFR Assessment Does
When you attach a CEFR preset to an exam-mode lesson, the student's submitted answers are read as a whole and placed on the Common European Framework scale (A1–C2). Instead of marking each task right or wrong, it produces a single, holistic estimate of the student's level, with feedback that explains it.
The result includes:
- an overall CEFR level (for example, B1)
- a short summary of the placement
- a breakdown by criterion — Range, Accuracy, Coherence, and Task fulfilment
- a breakdown by skill — Writing and/or Speaking, depending on the preset
- a confidence rating (Low / Medium / High)
Feedback is shown in the student's language.
CEFR assessment is not the same as the per-task writing and speaking grading described on Exam Preparation. Per-task grading scores each exercise against its own rubric. CEFR assessment looks at the whole submission and answers a different question: what level is this student? You can use both on the same lesson.
Course CEFR calibration for individual tasks
The Course CEFR level can calibrate the language expectations used by individual assessed writing and speaking tasks, including Freeform Answer checks. This is a task-level adjustment: it helps the task interpret clarity appropriate to the course level while keeping the teacher-authored meaning and acceptance criteria.
Course calibration is different from the holistic report on this page:
- per-task calibration affects the feedback or result for that particular task;
- the holistic CEFR assessment reads the eligible submission as a whole and estimates the student's overall level; and
- a task-level result should not be presented as the student's overall CEFR level.
At lower course levels, directly recoverable simple wording can be acceptable even when it is not fully developed. At higher levels, the required relationships and meaning must be clearer and more precise. The course level does not add facts, a minimum length, or advanced vocabulary requirements to the task.
If a course has no valid CEFR level, the task keeps its ordinary assessment criteria. See Writing Review for the difference between teacher grading, optional AI checks, and holistic reports.
Presets — the Assessment Rules
A preset is the reusable set of rules the answers are judged against. It defines:
- the target language
- the CEFR band it places within (for example A1–B2)
- which skills it assesses (writing, speaking, or both)
- the examiner criteria and rubric used to decide the level
Your school sees the system preset catalog plus any presets your organization owns. Picking a preset is all the setup required — there is nothing to configure per lesson beyond choosing one.
Available presets
| Preset | Language | Band | Assesses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polish placement | Polish | A1–B2 | Writing |
| English writing | English | A2–B2 | Writing |
| Italian placement | Italian | A1–B2 | Writing |
| Portuguese placement | Portuguese | A1–B2 | Writing |
| Dutch placement | Dutch | A1–B2 | Writing |
| Swedish placement | Swedish | A1–B2 | Writing |
| Lithuanian placement | Lithuanian | A1–B2 | Writing |
The current system presets assess writing: the student's written answers in the lesson. Your organization may also have active custom presets. The picker shows only presets enabled for your school.
Turn It On for a Lesson
CEFR assessment is an exam-mode option, so it appears only after Exam mode is enabled for the lesson.
Open the lesson settings
Open the lesson and click Settings (the lesson settings sheet, "Edit Lesson").
Enable Exam mode
Turn on Exam mode. This is what makes the lesson behave like a controlled test and reveals the assessment options.
Choose a CEFR assessment preset
Use the CEFR assessment preset picker in the dropdown to choose the preset that matches the language you are assessing. This allows you to quickly assign standardized tests without setting up manual grading rules. Leave it on No CEFR assessment to keep the exam without a level placement.
Save
Save the lesson settings. The preset stays attached and is used every time a student submits this exam.
Add real answer tasks to the lesson, at minimum a Writing task for a writing preset, so the student has something to submit. Very short, blank, off-topic, or wrong-language answers may be placed at the lowest matching band.
What the Student Sees
- The student opens the exam, works through it, and clicks Submit exam.
- The platform assesses the submission in the background — the lesson shows "Assessing your level…" while it works. This takes a few moments.
- Once it is ready, opening the lesson shows a "View your CEFR result" button that opens the report.
The result becomes available shortly after the student submits, not instantly. The student may need to reopen the lesson (from Past Lessons or their enrollment) to see the View your CEFR result button once the assessment has finished.
Reading the Report
After exam completion, you can review the comprehensive student CEFR report sheet.
| Part | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Overall level | The single CEFR level the submission places at (A1–C2), clamped to the preset's band. |
| Summary | A short explanation of the placement in the student's language. |
| By criterion | Range, Accuracy, Coherence, and Task fulfilment, each with its own level, feedback, and supporting evidence from the answers. |
| By skill | Writing and/or Speaking sub-levels, shown only for the skills the preset assesses. |
| Confidence | How sure the assessment is, based on how much the student wrote or said. Short answers lower confidence. |
Treat the result as a teaching aid, not an official certificate. It is based only on the answers the student submitted in this lesson. Review it before using it as a formal placement, especially for short submissions.
CEFR assessment and per-task assessment can have different billing paths. A school-paid task uses school AI Credits; a student-paid task uses the student's personal balance and allowance. See Billing & AI Credits and Student Billing & AI Credit.
Human Review of the Result
A CEFR result produced inside a school may be sent to a teacher before it can be used for a certificate — typically when the assessment reports low confidence, when the level sits exactly on the minimum a certificate rule requires, or when the student asks for a check.
The full workflow — what the student sees while a result is waiting, what the reviewing teacher can decide, and how a student requests a check — is on AI oversight and human review.
Oral Speaking Practice & Push-to-Talk
For lessons featuring oral examinations or conversational practice:
- Push-to-Talk: You can enable Push-to-Talk for the speaking exercise widget. Instead of relying on automatic voice detection, students hold or click a button to record their turn. This eliminates accidental cutoffs caused by pauses or noisy surroundings.
- Conversational Role-Plays: Oral practice tasks can simulate real-world conversations (Situation, Roles, and Tasks) for any course target language.
- Audio Retention Policy: Recorded dialogue audio from oral practice and exam attempts is retained for one calendar month after the student's enrollment concludes. Transcripts, scores, and certificates remain permanently saved on the student's profile.
Suggested Workflow
- Create or open an exam lesson and add at least one real answer task (for example, a writing task).
- In lesson settings, enable Exam mode and choose a CEFR assessment preset for the language.
- Assign the lesson and ask the student to complete it and click Submit exam.
- After the student submits, open the lesson and read the CEFR result — overall level, criteria, and skills.
- Use the placement to set a starting level, confirm progress, or guide what to teach next.
Related pages
- Exam Preparation — including TELC B1–B2 speaking results
- Video Recordings & Audio Retention
- AI oversight and human review
- Writing Review
- Lesson Lockdown and Exam Controls
- Lessons & Homework (student view)