Evaluation

In both Spain and around the world, the University of Salamanca is a leading authority for its Spanish language assessment and certification program.

    

 

In 1987, the University launched the first official certification system for proficiency in the Spanish language, and, in 1990, signed an agreement with the Ministry of Education and Science under which it assumed responsibility for the academic component of the certification program. Since then, the University of Salamanca, through Cursos Internacionales, has been developing the DELE (Diploma of Spanish as a Foreign Language) certification and assessment for the Cervantes Institute.

In 1990, the University of Salamanca, together with the University of Cambridge, founded the Association of Language Testers In Europe (ALTE), a leading European organization in research, development, and the accreditation of level testing, which currently consists of 34 members representing 26 European languages. 

Four of the most active members of ALTE –University of Cambridge (ESOL Examinations), University of Salamanca (Cursos Internacionales), Goethe-Institut and Alliance Française, maintain and manage the business-related examination system BULATS (Business Language Testing Service), which is jointly marketed for English, Spanish, German and French.

Since February of 2008, Cursos Internacionales, at the University of Salamanca, has been a part of the consortium that leads projects on linguistic competences for the European Union (SURVEYLANG), together with the University of Cambridge, Goethe-Institut, Cervantes Institute, CITO, Alliance Française Università per Stranieri di Perugia and Gallup Institute.

And also, in 2015, the University of Salamanca developed SIELE, an electronic certification system of level-mastery in Spanish, for both foreign students and native speakers. The University of Salamanca participates in this project with the Cervantes Institute, but is open to the incorporation of other universities and academic institutions. 

Currently, in order to meet these needs, Cursos Internacionales, at the University of Salamanca, has teams of researchers and specialists in psychometrics, tester training, test development, and a team of over 120 scoring professionals.

Owing to the level of excellence it has achieved, Cursos Internacionales, at the University of Salamanca, holds a prominent position in the international arena in certification and testing in Spanish.