In IT teams spread across Spain, Latin America, and international clients, proficiency in English isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s essential for a project to succeed. Meetings with international stakeholders, technical documentation in English, coordination with remote teams… everything, at some point, depends on the ability to actually communicate in that language.
The problem is that the standard way of assessing English proficiency—official certifications such as Cambridge or TOEFL—is expensive, time-consuming, and, in many cases, disproportionate to what really needs to be known: whether that person can hold their own in a technical meeting or write a professional email with ease.
Why Traditional Certifications Aren't Always the Best Option
- High cost when you need to evaluate entire teams, not just a single person
- Long periods of time programming and obtaining results
- Mismatch with actual needs: A general certification does not always reflect the ability to handle technical vocabulary or specific situations in the IT field
An alternative: self-assessment based on the CEFR framework
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) defines levels of language proficiency ranging from A1 (beginner) to C2 (proficient). It is the same reference framework used by official certifications, but It can be applied internally with the right tools, without the need for an external certification exam.
The Structure of an Effective Internal Evaluation
1. Designing the Questionnaire by Competency Blocks Instead of a generic exam, it is best to structure the assessment into sections that reflect real-life situations in the workplace:
- Reading Comprehension of Technical Documentation
- Listening comprehension (meetings, oral explanations)
- Grammar and Vocabulary Applied to Professional Contexts
- Written expression (writing an email or a brief summary)
2. A sufficient number of questions to distinguish between levels A baseline questionnaire consisting of about 35 questions, distributed evenly across the various sections, provides a reliable snapshot of the employee's skill level without turning the assessment into a never-ending process for the employee.
3. Block-based scoring logic, not just an overall score The key to a useful assessment is not just assigning someone a «B2 level,» but understanding in which specific area they have room for improvement. That is why it is important to establish a scoring system that:
- Assign a range of points per block
- Convert the total score to a CEFR level (A1 to C1)
- Allow for the distinction between sub-levels (for example, a «consolidated» B2 versus a «low-end» B2) to help refine training decisions
4. Accessible tools for building it You don't need an expensive evaluation platform to implement this. Using tools that most companies already have available—an online form, a spreadsheet for scoring logic, and, optionally, generative AI to draft or vary questions—it’s possible to build your own assessment system that’s reusable and has no licensing costs.
What to Do with the Results
Assessing the level is not the ultimate goal, but rather the starting point for:
- Prioritize training in the areas where the team shows the most weakness (often written or oral expression, rather than comprehension)
- Making Informed Staffing Decisions in projects with international clients
- Identifying Different Needs: A profile that needs to improve its technical vocabulary is not the same as one that needs to gain conversational fluency
Conclusion
Assessing an IT team’s English proficiency does not necessarily require costly external certifications. A well-designed in-house assessment based on the CEFR framework and featuring a clear, block-by-block scoring system offers results that are just as useful—and much more efficient—for making practical decisions regarding training and project assignments.