English skills

Bachelor students – Why evaluate your English level?

From your first year at EPFL, you will gradually follow certain courses in English; from the master’s level onwards, many courses are given in English.

According to the Council of Europe’s reference levels, the C1 level in English is generally considered necessary to ensure your academic success.

To enable you to check your language skills, EPFL asks you to take an assessment of your English level at the Language Centre during this spring semester. This assessment is mandatory for all first year Bachelor students.

Depending on your results, courses adapted to your needs will be offered to you in order to reach the level required for the rest of your studies.

How will your English level be assessed?

Your level of English will be assessed using DIALANG, a progressive test with several steps:

  • an initial vocabulary assessment
  • a self-evaluation

These assessments will determine the choice of the following questions from the 3 competencies tested:

  • oral comprehension
  • reading comprehension
  • writing expression

It is a series of concrete and real situations where you will be asked to choose the appropriate answers. You will have access to the results immediately at the end of your evaluation. They will be reminded later by e-mail with some tips if you need to improve your English skills.

Where to assess your level of English?

The assessment will take place online. In due course, you will receive further information by email from the Language Centre.

When to assess your level of English?

Online registration required to choose a time slot: March 6 to March 22, 2023, using IS-Academia‘s secure access, in the “Language Centre” tab.

After this deadline, an evaluation date and time will automatically be assigned to each unregistered student. Test period: from March 23 to June 3, 2023.

Duration of the test: 2h

Will an English level attestation be provided?

Students who have completed this English assessment will find, from next June, on their IS-Academia portal in the «Language Center» tab, an attestation with their level in English.

Master students – Why evaluate your English level?

Now that you are nearing the end of your Master’s degree, we would like to evaluate your English language proficiency and ask you some questions about how you learned the language.

This information will be used for our university accreditations and to improve the programs we offer for learning English.

You will receive an English language proficiency certificate, which may be useful in your job search or if you apply for other programs.

How will your English level be assessed?

After completing a short questionnaire, you will be given a two-part DIALANG test. The first part consists of:

  • an initial assessment of your English vocabulary
  • a self-evaluation.

Based on your answers to the above, you will be asked a series of questions in the second part to test your skills in three areas:

  • listening comprehension
  • reading comprehension
  • written expression.

The questions will present you with real-life situations where you will be asked to select the correct response. You will be given your score as soon as you finish the test. You will also receive an English language proficiency certificate, which may be useful in your job search or as you apply to other programs.

Where to assess your level of English?

At the Multimedia Center (EMA) of the Language Center, room CE 2 347. The test is computer based. Assistants will be present to support you.

When to assess your level of English?

Master students will receive an email with a link that will allow them to register.

Testing will take place from September 26 to October 7, 2022.

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