Examination System

Setting and Pretesting

1.1 Selection of materials

Materials for each level of the examinations are selected by a team of practising teachers. At each level there is a team leader, who acts as a co-ordinator for that level. The team leaders give detailed guidelines for selection of materials, including the following:

• skills to be assessed;

• subject matter;

• linguistic complexity;

• cultural considerations;

• reference to the University's Lexicon of Spoken Italian;

• item types.

The material is selected from a number of different sources, which include books, newspapers and magazines, brochures, advertisements and radio or television items. It is vetted by team leaders so that unsuitable material can be rejected before the editing stage.

1.2 Test item writing

Item writers are teachers at the Universita per Stranieri. A course is being organised to train them in item writing and measurement theory. Item writers are commissioned to write both discrete items and whole tests. They participate in the editing process together with the team leaders.

1.3 Pretesting

After editing, the items are pretested both by different groups of students at the Universita per Stranieri and by groups of students in different countries. Each test is taken by 50-100 candidates. Items which are found to need revision are substituted or corrected.

Marking

2.1 Process

The writing components are marked at the Universita per Stranieri by Examiners who are teachers at the University, according to criteria and scores prepared by the team leaders. Examiners can contact team leaders to discuss problems.

Objective components are marked by a computerised system. For oral components two local Examiners and a representative of the Universita per Stranieri generally interview candidates individually at the examination centre.

Marks are recorded on a mark sheet and sent to Perugia .

2.2 Training

Mark schemes are agreed upon after discussion between the teachers and the team leaders.

For the oral examinations, mock interviews are held with students at the Universita per Stranieri. Recordings and videos of interviews with candidates are produced and these are used for practice assessments by Oral Examiners during courses and seminars held in Perugia or abroad. The marks they give are compared with those given by the team leaders.

2.3 Checking

Team leaders check random samples of scripts from the Examiners to assess their performance.

For oral components, team leaders make random checks on local Examiners during courses or seminars in order to assess the accuracy of their marking.

Results

Results, in the form of grades, are sent to candidates approximately three months after examinations take place. For CELI 1 Pass or Fail are the only grades given. For CELI 2, 3, 4 and 5 the pass grades are A, B and C; D and E are fails.

Security

Examination dates are carefully controlled and precautions are taken at each stage of the examination process. All the examination papers are printed by the Universita per Stranieri.

Where they exist, Italian Institutes of Culture act as official examination centres. They are also consulted by the University with regard to applications to act as centres.

Each examination centre is required to follow strict procedures concerning the receipt and return of scripts and oral results.