The conversation emerged during a current HE Top in Athens, bringing together university admissions professionals and assessment specialists, where individuals used contrasting views on whether admissions groups must be able to see samples of prospects’ efficiency together with their official ratings.
Among those inviting the advancement was Maggie Brackenridge, director of international admissions at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, who highlighted the worth of having the ability to access part of a candidate’s speaking records through the Duolingo English Test’s combination with Slate CRM.
Brackenridge described one application in which an applicant had actually been asked who their preferred celeb was but instead addressed about how they celebrated their birthday. While the candidate’s total rating fulfilled expectations, she stated being able to view the transcript assisted admissions personnel acknowledge that the prospect’s comprehension was less sophisticated than the score alone might have suggested.
The example was pointed out as evidence that additional context can assist admissions groups make more informed choices beyond simply verifying whether a candidate has achieved the necessary English language score.
Historically, English language screening organisations have actually normally supplied universities with an electronic rating report revealing a candidate’s total and component scores, permitting admissions groups to validate that minimum language requirements have been met with little or no interpretation.
Marios Molfetas, chief languages officer at LanguageCert, said he was keen to listen and possibly adjust more interactive components based on market feedback in such a way that supports the general admissions process. “Such functions need to help to offer additional candidate insights whilst bewaring around real usage to qualify language efficiency,” he said. Edgar Wingfield, senior software application designer at PeopleCert, likewise cautioned a procedure of “double checking” and a sentiment that admissions personnel might not trust outcomes they get.
< blockquote class =" wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow "> I know from my own experience, being an examiner, it’s not an easy thing to do Will Pearson, University of
Exeter Likewise going to the top was Will Pearson, lecturer in language education at the University of Exeter in the UK. He likewise questioned whether admissions personnel need to be analyzing language efficiency that has already been evaluated by trained examiners.
“It’s an interesting point because it’s a current development,” he told The PIE News. “For me anyway, it’s intriguing that there’s rather a lot of positivity about this from admissions staff.”
Making use of his own experience as a language inspector, Pearson questioned whether admissions officers should be making high-stakes judgements based on a small sample of a candidate’s efficiency.
“I understand from my own experience, being an examiner, it’s not an easy thing to do,” he stated.
He likewise argued that any excerpt revealed to admissions personnel represents only a portion of a candidate’s performance.
“Any language test, as a test in itself, is a sample of a prospect’s ability. You can’t evaluate everything … So, successfully, what this is suggesting is that there’s another sample … within this sample.”
Pearson likewise questioned whether the move reflects increasing competition between English language screening companies.
“I have issues that such a practice would not be considered constant with good practice in language testing or evaluations.”
< img src ="// www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%200%200'%3E%3C/svg%3E"/ > < img src="https://thepienews.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/PIEoneers-600-x-500.jpg"/ >