This course introduces core principles guiding the assessment of language abilities. It relates theoretical issues both to the language classroom and to large-scale institutional, national and international assessments. The course provides the essential foundations for language assessment practice and for further study in this field.

What knowledge and/or skills will I gain from this course?

The course will provide extensive opportunities for hands-on practice, including in-test design, item writing, scoring and quality assurance processes. Participants will learn:

• Principles that inform the decisions that individuals and organisations responsible for language assessment systems have to make about their design, content, implementation and use
• The qualities of language assessments that contribute to their usefulness
• Approaches to the assessment of the skills that language learners need for communicative success
• How to connect tasks found on assessments to the tasks involved in real-world language use
• Practical applications of theoretical and conceptual frameworks in the development and validation of assessments.

How is this course delivered?

Participant will be invited to join a Microsoft Teams group where all the materials and tasks will be available for participants to access, plus a discussion board for each session. The course is structured in 12 separate sessions, and the Microsoft Teams group will reflect this structure. All 12 sessions will have the same set of activities:

• Questions or points to consider, before you begin any tasks or reading
• Pre-session reading
• A simple quiz based on the reading
• Reflective questions to be completed post reading
• A recorded lecture
• An individual task
• A task to prepare for the live discussion session

During the course, there will be a series of online meetings incorporating group tasks related to the session content. This is an intensive course that requires:

•  A minimum of four hours of independent study for each session (reading, completing tasks, watching recorded presentations)
• A series of online group discussions (discussions and group tasks)
• All the activities for the relevant sessions must be completed before the live discussions
• Participants must attend the online sessions ready to discuss their pre-prepared tasks

We appreciate that most participants are working full time, and so the Microsoft Teams platform will be opened two weeks before the start of the course to allows participants to prepare fully for the discussions. Participants can access the course materials for two weeks after the live sessions end, in order to interact and respond to online posts and comments by other participants and make up for any shortfalls in task completion. However, we recommend participants keep on track.

When is the next ALTE Introductory Course in Language Testing?

The session materials and the live discussions will be announced soon.

Session	Online discussion:
Session 1: Purposes of assessment	tbc
Session 2: The assessment cycle
Session 3: Qualities of effective assessment	tbc
Session 4: Linking aims to theories and specifications
Session 5: Assessing Reading	tbc
Session 6: Assessing Listening
Session 7: Assessing language knowledge
Session 8: Eliciting performance	tbc
Session 9: Judging performance
Session 10: Frameworks and objectives	tbc
Session 11: Statistics in the assessment cycle
Session 12: Scoring, reporting and setting standards

Who is the tutor?

The course will be presented by Dr Jane Lloyd, a Senior Research Manager at Cambridge University Press and Assessment. Her main responsibilities are researching integrated learning and assessment practices in the classroom, working on large-scale educational reform projects with ministries and NGOs, and working for ALTE. Her work for ALTE is to support other national language test providers. This includes advising and training in standard setting, statistical analysis of items, analysis of rater performance, delivering pre-conference and online courses and training in assessment, and supporting exam boards with bespoke training and mentoring.  She has a degree in Linguistics, a DELTA, MAs in Linguistics and TESOL, and in Language Testing, and is completing her PhD in Language Testing from CRELLA. Materials written by Dr. Tony Green are part of the course, including the core text.  

Can several people from the same organisation join this course?

For group bookings, ALTE advises a maximum of three places per organisation.

Additional Event Information:  

Please note that a minimum number of 4 people need to register for the course for it to take place. 

Payment is in full when registering. Payment can be made online using Visa, MasterCard or American Express.

If you cannot pay with a credit/debit card please contact the ALTE Services Unit: servicesunit@alte.org. We will then issue an invoice and a bank transfer will be possible.

In case of cancellation up until one month before the start of the event, the full amount will be refunded minus a €50 administration fee. If you have received the course book, you do not need to return this if cancelling. However, in the case of cancellation after this date, no refunds can be made.

Use of Personal Data Disclaimer

I agree that by clicking 'Register', the personal data I include in the registration form may be used and held by ALTE staff only for the purposes related to the organisation of the course.

Spam alert 

Please note that ALTE will never ask you to pay via a third-party website.
Please avoid clicking on any links that direct you to a payment website other than WildApricot.

The ALTE 64^th Meeting and Conference will be hosted by CAPLE (University of Lisbon) and will take place in Lisbon, 11^th -13^th November 2026.

Please note the 2 venues of the event: on Wednesday 11th and Thursday 12th November, the venue of the event will be the Faculty of Humanities, University of Lisbon, while on Friday 13th November (ALTE Conference Day), the venue will be the Pavilhão de Portugal.

The first 2 days (Wednesday 11^th and Thursday 12^th November) will be open to representatives of ALTE Members/Associate Members/Individual Expert Members. 

The event will be held face to face. However, colleagues who are unable to attend in person will be able to access the online meeting of the Annual General Meeting (AGM), on Thursday 12th November at 15:50 (local time) free of charge. 

If you are a Full Member, Individual Expert Member or Associate Member, make sure to log in to your personal account on the ALTE website to register for the event. If you don’t have a personal account on the ALTE website, please get in touch with the ALTE Secretariat (secretariat@alte.org).

Each ALTE delegate should pay a contribution of €70 at the moment of the registration. Please consult this document for a step by step guide on how to register and pay the €70 contribution.

Friday 13^th November will be an open conference day, welcoming all those interested in the field of language testing.

The theme of the conference is: 

Language Assessment for a World on the Move: Migration, Mobility, and Multilingualism 

PROGRAMME

For more information about the event, how to get to the 2 venues of the conference, accommodation recommendations, etc, please read the practical Information document.

Please note that the social activity on Wednesday 11 November (Pastéis de Belém) is now fully booked. If you would like to be added to the waiting list, please indicate this on your registration form or contact us directly (secretariat@alte.org).

The registration for this event will close on Monday 26th October.

VISA Invitation Letters
If you require an invitation letter for VISA purposes, please contact the ALTE Secretariat at secretariat@alte.org to request one from CAPLE. Please note that invitation letters will only be issued once your registration and payment of the registration fee have been completed. Please note that it may take up to 3 weeks from the time of your request for the letter to be issued.

Payment and Cancellation policy

Payment of the registration fee (€70) is required in full at the time of registration and can be made online using Visa, MasterCard, or American Express. Payment by invoice is also possible; please contact the ALTE Secretariat (Secretariat@alte.org) to request an invoice for payment by bank transfer. Please note that, in the case of bank transfer, payment must be received by Monday 26 October.

Cancellation Policy: if you can’t attend the event anymore, please inform that ALTE Secretariat as soon as possible, sending an email to secretariat@alte.org.

In the event of cancellation up to one month before the conference (11 October 2026), the full amount will be refunded minus a €10 administration fee. For cancellations after 11 October 2026, no refunds can be issued.

*Please note, representatives of ALTE Full Member/Associate Member organisations, should register here: https://www.alte.org/event-6260568  

The ALTE 64^th Conference day will be hosted by CAPLE (University of Lisbon) and will take place in Lisbon, Friday 13^th November 2026.

The event is open to all those interested in the language testing field and will take place at the Pavilhão de Portugal as a face to face event. 

The theme of the conference is: 

Language Assessment for a World on the Move: Migration, Mobility, and Multilingualism 

PROGRAMME

For more information about the event, how to get to the venue of the conference, accommodation recommendations, etc, please read the Practical information document.

The deadline to register for this event is Monday 26th October 2026.

VISA Invitation Letters
If you require an invitation letter for VISA purposes, please contact the ALTE Secretariat at secretariat@alte.org to request one from CAPLE. Please note that invitation letters will only be issued once your registration and payment of the registration fee have been completed. Please note that it may take up to 3 weeks from the time of your request for the letter to be issued.

Payment and Cancellation policy

Payment of the registration fee (€50) is required in full at the time of registration and can be made online using Visa, MasterCard, or American Express. Payment by invoice is also possible; please contact the ALTE Secretariat (Secretariat@alte.org) to request an invoice for payment by bank transfer. Please note that, in the case of bank transfer, payment must be received by Monday 26 October.

Cancellation Policy: if you can’t attend the event anymore, please inform that ALTE Secretariat as soon as possible, sending an email to secretariat@alte.org.

In the event of cancellation up to one month before the conference (11 October 2026), the full amount will be refunded minus a €10 administration fee. For cancellations after 11 October 2026, no refunds can be issued.

This workshop provides an overview of ALTE, who we are and what we do, and what kind of support and guidance we offer our members, and what to expect from our conferences and events. It also includes an introduction to key concepts and terminology in assessment.

What knowledge and/or skills will I gain from this workshop?

After outlining the activities, committees and basic organisation of ALTE, the course focuses on basic assessment terminology and concepts in several key areas:

·       Welcome to ALTE: who we are and how we support members
·       The test development cycle & task and item design
·       Piloting, pre- and post-testing and analysis
·       External frameworks: The CEFR, and the socio-cognitive framework

Who is this workshop suitable for?

This course is intended for those individual or associate members who are new to ALTE, or new to assessment, or who are taking on an assessment focused role for the first time, or who have just joined a member organisation. No previous knowledge of assessment is required. This is an entry level workshop.

How is this workshop delivered?

This workshop is delivered online. It consists of bite-size introductory input, interactive discussions, and Q&A. The session will consist of four 1-hour sessions, with breaks in between.

Does this workshop require and specific software?

This course does not require any specific software, but it is a paper-free ‘green’ workshop, and all material will be delivered/shared online. You will need your own laptop.

Who is the tutor?

The course will be presented by Dr Jane Lloyd who is a Senior Research Manager at Cambridge University Press and Assessment. Her main responsibilities are researching integrated learning and assessment practices in the classroom, working on large-scale educational reform projects with ministries and NGOs, and working for ALTE. Her work for ALTE supports national language test providers through advising and training in standard setting, statistical item analysis, analysis of rater performance, delivering pre-conference and online courses, and supporting exam boards with bespoke training and mentoring. She has a degree in Linguistics, a DELTA, MAs in Linguistics and TESOL and Language Testing, and a PhD in Language Testing from CRELLA.

Additional Event Information:  

For group bookings, ALTE advises to book maximum three places per institution. 

Payment is in full when registering. Payment can be made online using a Visa, MasterCard or American Express.
If you cannot pay with a credit/debit card please contact the ALTE Services Unit: servicesunit@alte.org. We will then issue an invoice and a bank transfer will be possible.

In case of cancellation up until one month before the start of the events, the full amount will be refunded minus an €50 administration fee. If you have received the course book, you do not need to return this if cancelling. However, in the case of cancellation after this date, no refunds can be made.

Use of Personal Data Disclaimer

I agree that by clicking 'Register', the personal data I include in the registration form may be used and held by ALTE staff only for the purposes related to the organisation of the ALTE Introductory course in language testing course.

Spam alert 

Please note that ALTE will never ask you to pay via a third-party website.
Please avoid clicking on any links that direct you to a payment website other than WildApricot.

ALTE Artificial Intelligence in Digital Language Testing course is a two-day course which will explore the use of AI in the full digital language testing process, which includes: 
- the authoring of assessments, with AI-assisted item authoring
- the test-taking phase, with AI-monitoring of test-takers, or the threat of candidates using AI to take their test,
- the marking and grading process, with (semi-)automatic AI grading - the results processing, where AI can detect anomalies or help interpreting big data.

The focus will be on the authoring and the grading phase because that is where AI gives the most promising results already. In both authoring and grading, the course will show concrete tips an tricks on how to configure and customize the LLMs to your organisation’s and assessments’ specific needs.

About the course tutor:
Bert Wylin has both an academic and a business profile. He has been working at the KU Leuven since 1993, leading the Education Innovation Centre (integrating EdTech in education). In 2001, he founded a KU Leuven university spin-off, now Televic Education, developing and servicing an e-assessment platform. Today, Bert is interested in how technology serves the didactic and pedagogical needs of content and skills measurement. 

Payment and Cancellation policy

For group bookings, ALTE advises to book maximum three places per institution. 
   
Payment is in full when registering. Payment can only be made online using Visa, MasterCard or American Express. 

If you cannot pay with a credit/debit card please contact the ALTE Services Unit: servicesunit@alte.org. In such a case we issue an invoice first, and only then a bank transfer will be possible.
In case of cancellation up until one month before the start of the events, the full amount will be refunded minus a €50 administration fee. However, in the case of cancellation after this date, no refunds can be made.  

Use of Personal Data Disclaimer

I agree that by clicking 'Register', the personal data I include in the registration form may be used and held by ALTE staff and third parties, only for the purposes related to the organisation of the course.

Spam alert 

Please note that ALTE will never ask you to pay via a third party website.
Please avoid clicking on any links that direct you to a payment website other than WildApricot.

ALTE Impact Evaluation in Language Assessment. 

The ALTE Impact Evaluation in Language Assessment course will be delivered by Dr Brigita Séguis (Cambridge University Press & Assessment) and Dr Hanan Khalifa, ALTE Individual Expert. 

The course will introduce participants to practical, research-informed approaches to evaluating the impact of language assessments on learners, educators, institutions, and educational systems. Participants will learn practical strategies for formulating evaluation questions and hypotheses, defining evaluation indicators, selecting data collection instruments, as well as engaging stakeholders throughout the process to support continuous improvement and informed decision-making.

Through practical case studies, exercises based on real-world challenges and group discussions, participants will learn how to conduct impact evaluation in their own contexts and apply what they learn to solve real-world challenges. 

Payment and Cancellation policy:
For group bookings, ALTE advises to book maximum three places per institution.

Payment is in full when registering. Payment can only be made online using Visa, MasterCard or American Express.

If you cannot pay with a credit/debit card please contact the ALTE Services Unit: servicesunit@alte.org. In such a case we issue an invoice first, and only then a bank transfer will be possible.

Use of Personal Data Disclaimer
I agree that by clicking 'Register', the personal data I include in the registration form may be used and held by ALTE staff and third parties, only for the purposes related to the organisation of the course.

Spam alert:
Please note that ALTE will never ask you to pay via a third party website.
Please avoid clicking on any links that direct you to a payment website other than WildApricot.

The ALTE 65^th Meeting and Conference will be hosted by FEI (France Éducation international) and will take place in Sèvres, France,  7^th - 9^th April 2027.

The first 2 days (Wednesday 7^th and Thursday 8^th April) will be open to representatives of ALTE Members/Associate Members/Individual Expert Members. 

Friday  9^th November will be an open conference day, welcoming all those interested in the field of language testing.

The theme of the conference is: 

A New Era of Language Assessment

The ALTE 66^th Meeting and Conference will be hosted by LanguageCert and will take place in Athens, Greece,  10^th - 12^th November 2027.

The first 2 days (Wednesday 10^th and Thursday 11^th November) will be open to representatives of ALTE Members/Associate Members/Individual Expert Members. 

Friday  12^th November will be an open conference day, welcoming all those interested in the field of language testing.

The theme of the conference is: 

Quality and Evidence: Safeguarding Fairness and Accountability in Language Assessment