This project focuses on the assessment of learning outcomes in English in Ukrainian schools, in support of the Ministry of Education and the Independent Testing Centre's project which aims to bring Ukraine in line with European standards. 

Client, stakeholders, partners

• The Ministry of Education and Science Ukraine
• The National Testing Centre Ukraine
• Defence Language Solutions UK Ltd

The project
This project focuses on the assessment of learning outcomes in English in Ukrainian schools, in support of the Ministry of Education and the Independent Testing Centre's project which aims to bring Ukraine in line with European standards.

The ambition of the project is to help Ukraine to transform its national capacity and expertise in language testing and assessment, in order to meet the highest global professional standards and to enhance the quality of English language education in Ukraine.

The core of the project was a tester training course for 30 Ukrainian language teachers from all over Ukraine. This was modular, with face-to-face and distance components. The group was tasked with:

• developing the first ever draft of English Test Specifications for school-leavers, working directly from the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
• helping the National Testing Centre to set up professional systems and procedures in language testing.

The achievements to date are impressive: 384 hours of face to face training delivered by an international team of professional tester trainers from the UK, Norway and Hungary; 10,000 students, teachers, administrators, educationalists reached; test specifications for reading and writing drafted; a test item review procedure initiated; reading test items piloted.

What the stakeholders say

Voices of participating teachers:

• "The training was extremely important and exceeded all my expectations. It initiated professional thinking in the area and changed my perception of testing and assessment."
• "Now that I know how unexplored the area of language testing in Ukraine is, I'm becoming more aware of the pleasure and rewarding experience I get at every training session."
• "Thank you very much for introducing me to this miraculous world of testing. I feel like Alice in Wonderland..."

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