Are you going to take APTIS exam soon? Then you must be having a lot of questions around APTIS certificate. I did an extensive online research, visited British Council and asked the same questions. Here what I found out.

An overview of the Aptis

APTIS is a test that is provided by the British Council. Typically, test-takers are referred to this exam through their employers or educational institutes as a method of verifying their English ability. While this exam is usually pre-authorized by the company requesting it, individuals can register themselves in some test centres around the world. Every test includes a vocabulary and mandatory grammar module as an extra guarantee of the precision of the CEFR stages for every skill.

Is APTIS popular?

As an innovative international English language test, more than 35 million Aptis test has been delivered in 85 countries and regions already. We also looked up in google trends and noticed a very positive upwards tends over the years.  

What I can learn about my language skills from Aptis Certificate?

Aptis certificate refers to a document that is issued to a candidate as conclusive proof of their English competency. 

Aptis Certificate is a two pages document that illustrates your level of English in a well-informed manner that later can be used by any educational institution or any governmental body. 

The first page of the certificate shows your name, the test date, the test centre name (location), and the test package on the top, under the heading of Candidate Report. This term refers to the Aptis certificate, the way IELTS does not have a certificate but a TRF (Test Report Form). In general terms this document is known as an Aptis certificate, however, more technically and officially, it is called a Candidate Report. 

Afterwards, a table of two columns showing the skills names and their respective scores is given that tells a reader where the test taker stands in each language skills –Listening, Reading,  Writing, and Speaking –and the language features –Grammar and Vocabulary. The score for each of the components is awarded on a scale from 0 to 50, based on your proficiency in each of them. You can see your score in comparison to the total, like 48/50, etc.  

Not only is this but a graphical illustration of a candidate’s score is also available for educationists, businesses, governmental and non-governmental bodies to learn about a candidate’s English proficiency. In this graph (a bar graph), you can see the CEFR levels from A0 to C on the y-axis and the language skills on the x-axis. The bars representing language skills touch the line of each level (from A0 to C) to demonstrate the skill level of a candidate that can be seen in numerical form in a table above the graph. 

On the next page of the APTIS Candidate Report, a more detailed CEFR Skill Descriptors is given that is the best description for anyone to comprehend what the test taker can do based on his/her Aptis results.

For all four skills of English, it describes the well-classified levels (A0 to C) as under:

Listening: 

A0 The candidate’s ability for meaningful inferences is insufficient.

A1 The candidate can understand slow and carefully spoken language. 

A2 They can understand a speech merely to meet their needs in a situation. 

B1 They can deal with the everyday and office related discourses which should also be clearly articulated with a familiar accent. 

B2 The test taker can understand complex language of abstract and concrete topics as well as technical language related to their area of expertise.

C The candidate can easily comprehend all sorts of spoken language, be it live or broadcast, with a native speaker’s speed. 

Likewise, descriptions for the rest three language skills –Reading, Writing, and Speaking –are also given that are easily comprehensible. 

Does Aptis correlate with the CEFR levels?

Aptis is developed based on two things. First, Common European Framework (CEFR) and all of the content of the test is directly linked into the CEFR and is driven by CEFR. Test was also build based on model of test development and validation called social cognitive model. 

How to interpret the APTIS scale score?

Each section of Aptis: Listening, Reading, Speaking, Writing, and Grammar and Vocabulary is scored out of 50. This means for Listening, Reading, and Grammar and Vocabulary question is worth 2 points each. 

*This is grouped together for the Aptis general test. 

Below is an example of APTIS General: Example Scorecard: 

Please download the APTIS General candidate guide here. 

How many years APTIS Certificate is valid?

Most of the time Aptis test is intended for a one time language assessment by organizations, therefore there is no expiry date as such. For example, teachers can find a teaching job with the help of Aptis certificate in many countries all around the globe, since the Aptis test is a globally recognized and an authentic English test. Likewise, employers, who use English as a medium of communication with their clients, at a stage (either at the recruiting stage or some other time during the year) instruct their employees to take the Aptis test. For this reason, no expiry date is provided on the face of Aptis Certificate. However, depending on circumstances organization, school, or university might not accept Aptis Certificate after 2 years from date of issuance. This is similar case with IELTS, TOEFL and other International English Exams. 

How long does it take to get my Aptis certificate?

You can obtain your Aptis certificate (a hard copy) in five working days from the day you attempt your test. This test is mostly conducted on computers, so it takes almost no time to find out your results on this period of time to centrally calculate, draft, print and digitally transfer the results from the main UK office of the British Council to your local British council office. However, the online results are emailed to the test-takers with 48 to 72 hours. 

In case of paper based Aptis test, it will take around 4 to 6 weeks to obtain your results but this type of the Aptis test is rare.

How long does it take to get my Aptis certificate?

The British council takes your security of the documents seriously. For this reason, they always encourage the candidates to collect their certificates in person by visiting (with a valid proof of identity) their local British council centre where they took the test and receive their certificate to avoid any serious or slight mishaps. Before you visit the British council, they will notify you through an email saying that your Aptis certificate is ready for collection.

Not only this, but the certificate can also be posted to the candidate’s postal address upon an email request with the complete details of their Aptis test. This method of receiving your certificates is, unfortunately, not encouraged because of the security protocol that the British council has to use. 

How do organizations get APTIS certificate authenticated?

The British council is conducting the Aptis test in around 100 countries all around the world, as this test is globally recognized. And all test-takers’ data are stored in the main British council office, thus, any organisation, school, or university can authenticate the certificate and the candidate’s results simply by contacting the British council through email service with the candidate’s information, such as, their name, phone number or so. 

What if I lost my Aptis certificate?

The Aptis test is always required by organisations, be it a governmental office, an NGO, a school, university etcetera, that is why, your Aptis certificate is always secure, as these organisations maintain their records. However, if any unfortunate mishap happens to you when you receive your Aptis certificate and on the way you misplace it, then do not worry about it because the British council can share the candidate’s score with the organisation but the candidate cannot get a copy of their certificate. 

Why results for grammar vocabulary presented separately on the face of Aptis Certificate?

The vocabulary and grammar component is essential for APTIS because it helps to offer a detailed picture of language competence. Your score for grammar and vocabulary may prove helpful to improve your results. In case of any issue with your CEFR level, the APTIS test system can check your grammar and vocabulary score. If this score is high, you will get the next level for a specific skill.

For instance, a person with a B1 skill level for speaking (below the margin with B2) may get B2 if his/her grammar and vocabulary score is satisfactory. Remember, your level may not be lowered with the help of this procedure.

Scores in the vocabulary and grammar component may offer valuable evidence in finalizing the level allocation for CEFR. The APTIS test ranks each skill between B1 and B2, B2, and C. 

Final Words

You can trust the quality assurance and expertise procedures of the British Council for language assignments. APTIS development, scoring, and design are based on consistent and extensive research. All questions are analyzed and trialed to meet strict criteria. 

The British council has over 80 years of experience in delivering and developing language tests. You may get the advantage of their worldwide network in over 100 countries. They deliver testing as per the highest standards of security.

APTIS is famous among different governments, schools, and universities of over 85 countries. It is acknowledged as an authentic proof of English proficiency by educational institutions, regional governments, and ministries around the world.