More than 5000 people flock to GLS Language School Berlin each year to learn German. This places high demands on logistics. Before the courses start, each student must be placed at the right level. GLS chose to introduce the online language test Eurotest to help with this enormous task. Sebastian Nothhelfer from GLS explains how the school has benefitted from this decision.

"We have done away with of a lot of paperwork," says Sebastian Nothhelfer. He is the Manager for Blended Learning & Berlin College at GLS, and he has been involved in the decision to introduce Eurotest. Previously, a paper-based test was used to place students at GLS. Many working hours were spent correcting tests and creating an overview of the results. On Monday mornings at the start of new courses, 20 teachers had to come to work early to figure out which classes should be created.

With Eurotest, the results are compiled in a database. As soon as the students have taken their online tests, the staff can access the information. This provides a basis for creating the right classes. And to protect the students' personal data, the test results are automatically deleted from the database after six months. All data can also be exported and sorted in Excel.

Can create the right classes and prepare teaching more precisely

"Now we know the students' levels more precisely before they arrive. This means, we also know which classes to create. Before, there were always surprises. Now, teachers can prepare the lessons for the exact level," elaborates Sebastian Nothhelfer.

A more accurate understanding of students' levels with Eurotest
Sebastian Nothhelfer and his colleagues were concerned about whether Eurotest was reliable enough. So they requested a free trial period. Several colleagues took the test themselves. They also tested a group of students. "It turned out that Eurotest gave us more accurate knowledge about our students' levels. And Eurotest is more than just multiple choice. It assesses various skills. For example, both listening and reading skills are tested," says Sebastian Nothhelfer.

Customising Eurotest to fit with workflows at GLS Language School
"We have several different departments here at the school. And our administrative teams need to focus on their own students. That's why we had our Eurotest license divided into four platforms. This means that employees only see the test results for their own department - and not a lot of other things," explains Sebastian Nothhelfer.

It is also very practical that Eurotest has 10 different instruction languages. "Sometimes it can be difficult to explain to a student how to take a test. But with Eurotest, we can refer to the instructions given in 10 different languages, so most people can receive instructions in their native language," says Sebastian Nothhelfer.