Listening test for hiring

Paced by the audio, not a clock

Each screen gives time to read the questions first, 10 seconds in Part 1 and 30 or 45 in Part 2, then plays the recording. The candidate can start it sooner with Play now, and nothing moves on until they press Next.

Up to 2 plays

Each recording plays twice at most and the second play is optional, as in most established listening exams. A play cut off by the page being hidden, such as by an incoming phone call, is given back.

Questions on screen, never the transcript

The questions stay visible while the audio runs. The transcript is never shown, so the test measures listening rather than reading.

A sound check first

Before the first recording the candidate checks their sound and, where the browser allows, chooses which speakers or headphones to use. Nothing here can be read instead of heard, so going on without sound comes with a warning.

A voice for each speaker

Conversations use a separate voice for each speaker, and the pace follows the level: slow and clear with pauses at A1, natural speed with the hesitations of real speech from C1.

Extra time when needed

An employer can grant 25%, 50% or 100% extra time as an accommodation. It lengthens the reading time before each recording, never the audio.

Questions people ask

How long does the listening test take?

12 to 16 minutes. It depends mostly on whether the candidate plays each recording once or twice, since the test moves at the pace of the audio rather than against a clock.

How many times can candidates hear each recording?

Up to 2. The second play is optional, and the questions are on screen throughout, so a candidate can read them before the audio starts and check their answers on the second play.

How are the recordings made?

Each recording is scripted to its CEFR level and voiced with natural-sounding AI voices, one per speaker, at the pace the level calls for. Every clip is transcribed back and checked against its script, and a recording is remade whenever its script changes, so what the candidate hears always matches what they are scored against.

How is the listening test scored?

By calculation, not by AI. Every question has one keyed answer and a difficulty on a common scale, and the candidate's level is estimated from which questions they got right, so a hard question answered correctly counts for more than an easy one. The model allows for guessing, with a floor of one in 4, which stops lucky guesses at the bottom of the scale from reading as ability. The same answers always produce the same level.

Why does the listening test adapt to the candidate?

A fixed 20-question test spends most of its questions far above or below any one candidate, and those tell you very little. Routing on the first 8 answers puts the next 12 at the candidate's own range, where each answer says the most. Because the result is calculated from how hard each question is, candidates on different routes are still placed on one scale.

What stops a candidate guessing their way through?

A check compares the pattern of answers with pure guessing. A genuine low-level candidate gets the easy questions right and the hard ones wrong, while a guesser scatters, so a sitting that cannot be told apart from guessing comes back as "Not assessable" rather than as a level. So does a sitting where most screens were answered before the recording could have been heard.

Which languages is the listening test available in?

English and German today, and it is being extended to every language we assess. Each language gets its own bank of recordings and questions, written and reviewed to the CEFR level descriptions, and becomes available once that bank is complete. Speaking and writing are available in 13 languages now.

Can we use our own recordings and questions?

No. Reading and listening draw only from our bank, which is written to level specifications and reviewed question by question, so a level means the same for every account. Question libraries you write yourself apply to speaking and writing.

Can I see which questions a candidate got wrong?

Yes, on the result page: every recording with its questions, what the candidate chose and what was right. That detail stays in the dashboard. The API and webhooks report the level, the score and right answers per part, so the questions themselves are never copied into other systems.

Can the listening test be combined with other skills?

Reading and listening can be ordered together as one assessment of 26 to 32 minutes, and the overall level is the average of the two. Speaking and writing are ordered as a separate assessment of about 20 minutes, and every skill reports on the same CEFR scale, so the levels can be read side by side.

How much does the listening test cost?

From $0.60 a test on annual billing, with no setup fee and no per-seat licence. You can start free with ten assessments and no card.