The Goethe-Institut guarantees that its tests meet the high professional demands of foreign language examinations and ensures this via its quality management procedures.
- The exercises are drawn up by experts with teaching and examination experience and are edited at our head office in Munich.
- The examination materials are tried out under examination conditions before they are put to use. The results of these trials are evaluated in terms of quality and quantity.
- Our examiners receive initial and further training in seminars at our headquarters and other locations.
How to recognize good examinations.
- Fairness
Fairness Examinations should be as fair as possible for all the participants, who come from a range of biographical backgrounds (e.g. male/female, ethnic origin, disability, etc.). - Validity
We consider examinations and tests valid if they enable candidates to draw appropriate, sensible and useful conclusions from the objectives set in advance. It should be a person’s language skills that are decisive in an examination, rather than his or her ability to concentrate or his/her intelligence or knowledge of the world. - Reliability
By using two examiners to assess every student’s exam performance, especially in the oral examinations, we achieve a high level of reliability regarding their scores. The measurement errors are kept within tight, acceptable limits in each test. Moreover, our examination tasks are also subject to high standards with regard to the criteria of independence and unambiguousness. That means that a task that has been solved incorrectly does not automatically result in other errors. Each task provides the examination participant with new opportunities to show what he/she can do. - Practicability
We are always working on improving examinations: optimizing the test duration, using modern technical equipment such as sound equipment, improving general conditions, etc.
