Seven countries ranked with ‘very high’ proficiency – Denmark in 1st place, followed by the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Poland and Austria.
Among European countries ranking in the ‘moderate proficiency’ categories are the Czech Republic (19th), Spain (20th), Portugal (21st), Slovakia (22nd), Italy (27th), and France (29th).
Russia (36th) and Ukraine (44th) are in the ‘low proficiency’ categories.
No data from Lithuania were available, however.
According to its website the EF English Proficiency Index calculates a country’s average adult English skill level using data from two different EF English tests completed by hundreds of thousands of adults every year. One test is open to any Internet user for free. The second is an online placement test used by EF during the enrollment process for English courses. Both include grammar, vocabulary, reading, and listening sections.
The open online test is a 30-question adaptive exam, so each test taker’s questions are adjusted in difficulty according to his or her previous correct and incorrect answers. The non-adaptive placement test is 70 questions in length. All scores have been validated against EF’s course levels. The test administration is identical for both tests, with test takers completing the exam on computers.
There is no incentive for test takers to inflate their scores artificially on these low-stakes tests by cheating or cramming, as the results do not lead to certification or admission to a program.
