English Language Proficiency Levels – putting our courses into perspective

Brightwood School courses cater to six levels of English proficiency, from Beginner to Advanced and these levels are based on the Cambridge course books used in each course. Before starting a course, students will complete a Placement Test to determine which level is most suitable for their current English language skills thereby maximizing the benefits they will get out of the course.
This chart explains the abbreviated proficiency descriptions used by Cambridge University textbooks and which you will see in some of our charts and tables: 

Beginner	False Beginner	Pre-Intermediate	Intermediate	Upper-Intermediate	Advanced	Proficient
Beg	Fls-Beg	Pre-Int	Int	Up-Int	Adv	Pro

The CEFR or Common European Framework of Reference for languages is published by the Council of Europe and is a useful tool for benchmarking language achievement against a 6-level scale of language proficiency. Each level is based on key competencies which highlight what learners “can do” with the language and they focus on real-world language tasks. More information on each level can be found by viewing the Level Assessment Tool here.   

The CEFR is becoming increasingly relevant for students, language teachers, testers and examination boards, not only in Europe but also internationally.

The chart below is intended as a guide to help correlate the six levels of the Brightwood Courses to the CEFR levels and also to other commonly available English proficiency examinations. It can help students put their current skill levels into perspective, establish their current status and set their goals for the future. 

Language Proficiency Levels - a Comparison