About TELT
TCY English Language Test (TELT) is an English Proficiency Test meant to give the much required push to a prospective test taker's career by giving him/her the ability to showcase his/her talents to those who seek to explore their potential candidate's language capabilities. It helps to provide you an accurate measure of your skills and abilities in English language. TELT has two versions:
1. TELT General
The general version of the test assesses a candidate's ability to respond to a number of tasks which are of an easier level. The test is designed for students of A1-B2 level. As different students have different requirements, this version of the test is designed to let a candidate display his/her proficiency in this Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) range.
2. TELT Professional
The professional version of the test assesses a test taker’s ability to respond to a number of tasks that are at a level higher than that of the general version of the test. The test is designed for students of B2-C1 level. A candidate taking TELT Professional test is successfully able to display his/her proficiency in this specific range of the CEFR scale.
What is assessed in TELT?
TELT General assesses a candidate for all the four skills: Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking, to test the proficiency of test-taker in each of these areas. All these tests take around 2 hours 55 minutes and can be taken in a single sitting.
TELT General Sections
| Section |
Time limit |
Questions |
Tasks |
| Reading |
60 minutes |
30 |
Read passages and answer the related questions. |
| Listening |
30 minutes |
15 |
Listen to audios (dialogues and monologues) and answer the related questions after listening to them. |
| Writing |
60 minutes |
4 |
Write an essay, summary and describe an image using the keywords. |
| Speaking |
25 minutes |
15 |
Introduce yourself, repeat certain sentences, answer prompts and describe images. |
TELT Professional assesses a candidate for all the four skills: Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking, to test the proficiency of test-taker in each of these areas. All these tests take around 3 hours 35 minutes and can be taken in a single sitting.
TELT Professional Sections
| Section |
Time limit |
Questions |
Tasks |
| Reading |
60 minutes |
38-42 |
Read passages and answer the related questions; read a paragraph and fill the missing blanks with appropriate words. |
| Listening |
60 minutes |
40 |
Listen to audios (dialogues and monologues) and answer the related questions while listening to the recording. |
| Writing |
60 minutes |
3 |
Write an essay, summary and letter. |
| Speaking |
35 minutes |
20 |
Respond to a number of prompts, read a passage and answer the general questions. |
The test will indicate, in the beginning, the number of questions that will be in the test along with the time allotted. A candidate must pace himself, so that he has time to answer all the questions.
English Accents
In the listening and speaking sections of the TELT General, English in Indian accents will be used to enable the student understand English that he/she may hear while being in India.
In the listening and speaking sections of the TELT Professional, English in native speaking accents will be used. The accents may be from the U.K., the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand.
How is TELT Administered?
In order to take the test, a candidate must visit one of TCY's approved testing centers which currently are in Ludhiana (Punjab), India. The test will be taken under proctored settings along with constant supervision through CCTV cameras.
Prerequisites
Though the test covers a wide range of topics/subjects, a student is not being tested on these subjects. The student does not even need to be prepared for these. It is the skills in a particular language that can help a student score higher in the test.
As all the tests will be administered online via computer, basic computer skills like typing, browsing, moving the cursor will be required. A student can also take one of our practice tests in order to know how to move through the various tasks.
A candidate must have a valid ID, which should bear full name matching exactly with the name with which the student wants to register for the test. The ID should also have a recent, recognizable photograph and signature to confirm identity.
Criteria for Certification
A certificate will be generated for all the candidates, who take the test, highlighting their proficiencies in different skill-areas. The tests, when evaluated, will also be available in the account of the student who takes the test.
Each certificate bears a verification link and a code that verification-bodies/recognizing-bodies, who wish to verify the authenticity of the certificate, may use when need arises.
The scores for the entire test may be made available within 10 days from the date the candidate takes the test. However, the test results can even be put on hold, if any irregularities are detected in tests.
How to upgrade to a higher version of TELT
If a test taker wishes, he/she can upgrade to a higher level of the test provided he/she fulfils the eligibility criteria for the previous test. The test taker should also have obtained a certain level of competency and must be able to demonstrate the same through his/her relevant experience.
If a test taker is still at a basic level and just wishes to improve basic communication skills, he/she may take TELT General. For purposes other than personal, i.e. professional opportunities, career development or skill improvement, a test taker may wish to upgrade to a higher version of the test, in which case he/she will certainly be guided.
Test Development Process
A rigorous test design, development and validation process is in place to ensure that both the versions of test, TELT General and TELT Professional, are of a relevant and comparable level of difficulty. This will help ensure that the tests produce valid and consistent test scores, each time it is taken, irrespective of time and place.
The development process is as follows:
• Item Generation
• Editing
• Pre-Testing
• Standardization
• Administration
Item Generation :
Language experts, both in-house and associated, are assigned tasks to write test-questions. A relevant blue print of the test is worked out, detailing the characteristics of each item type. The specifications guide item-writers to select appropriate material and develop suitable items.
Editing :
The submitted items or questions are checked for conformance to the specifications in every aspect. These are then revised to be made ready for pre-testing. If the item-types deviate from the specifications, these are then sent to the item-writer with suggestions for improvements.
Pre-Testing :
The questions, that are developed, are framed into a structure to be tested on representative population of test takers, who are willing to take TELT. Academic Research team analyses data from the pre-tested material based on various aspects: comparative level of difficulty, performance of test takers of different intellectual capabilities. This helps to take decisions on which items to keep and which to reject.
Standardization :
The selected item-types are then accommodated within the broader framework of the TELT section to be tested. These are then taken by the students under timed-condition to confirm the characteristics identified in pre-testing. The accuracy and difficulty measures ensure that the scores remain consistent throughout the tests. The selected items are then included in a final test paper.
Administration :
After such a thorough checking, the test paper is made live for administration in various test centres.
