Education and Science, Estonia

Students with an excellent command of English will be able to take the Cambridge C1 Advanced test for free already this fall. The test has been developed by Cambridge Assessment English, an internationally recognized examination board, and provides an internationally recognized English language proficiency certificate. 

Alistair Starling, head of strategic development at Cambridge Assessment English in Europe, said that the organization is pleased to be a partner to the state of Estonia and help bring to Estonian senior-year upper secondary school students the option to take the internationally recognized examination for free. 

"Cambridge is ready to fully support Estonian teachers in their work by making its knowledge and experience easily accessible," Starling said.

Pilot testing for introducing the Cambridge C1 Advanced test on a broader scale is currently underway with 675 students from 16 schools participating in the tests. The speaking task of the examination will be assessed by trained assessors in Estonia, whereas the written tasks will be assessed by Cambridge Assessment English. The results of the test will be announced within a month and a certificate will be delivered within five to nine weeks. If the test was taken successfully, the student will receive a B2, C1 or C2 level of proficiency. 

The test can be taken twice a year, in the fall and spring. A prerequisite for taking the exam is an electronic Cambridge English Placement Test (CEPT), which determines the student's approximate language level. The results of the placement test, which students can take at school, will be displayed immediately after the test has been finished. The students, whose proficiency at C level has been proven with CEPT, can register for the international C1 examination on the EIS examination system.

The Cambridge Assessment English C1 Advanced examination is financed by the Ministry of Education and Research and the organization was selected as a result of an international procurement. The conducting of the test in Estonia will be organized by the Innove education foundation.

The Innove foundation is an education competence center that coordinates and promotes general and vocational education in Estonia, offers educational counseling services through the nationwide Rajaleidja network and mediates European Union grants in fields of education and working life.