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A listening assessment has 20 multiple-choice questions and takes about 12 to 16 minutes. Candidates hear short clips and longer recordings, such as announcements, messages and conversations, and answer questions on each.
Listening is available in English and German, and always uses Evalingo’s own questions and recordings. It cannot draw from a question library of your own.

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Before the first recording

Candidates run a short sound check first. Where their browser allows it, they can choose which speakers or headphones to use. Listening cannot be done by reading instead, so a candidate who cannot hear the sample is warned before they go on.

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The two parts

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Part 1: Short clips

Eight short clips with one question each. Everyone hears the same level of material here, pitched between A2 and B2.

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Part 2: Longer recordings

Three longer recordings with four questions each. Which recordings a candidate gets depends on how Part 1 went: easier, middle or harder material. That keeps a strong listener from sitting through slow, simple speech, and a weaker one from guessing through recordings far above their level. Every answer from both parts counts towards the result.

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How a listening screen works

1

Read the questions

The candidate gets time to read the questions before the recording starts. If they are ready sooner, they can choose Play now.
2

Listen

The recording plays. Conversations use a different voice for each speaker, and the pace matches the level: slow and clear at the lower levels, close to natural speed at the top.
3

Listen again (optional)

Each recording plays twice. The second play is the candidate’s choice.
4

Answer and move on

There is no countdown on a listening screen. The limit is two plays, and the candidate presses Next when ready.
If a play is cut off because the page was hidden, for example by a phone call, the candidate gets that play back. On a phone, the player stays pinned to the bottom of the screen so the candidate can scroll through the questions while the recording runs.
A listening question on a phone with four options and a player pinned to the bottom showing Playing, 1 of 2, with Play again and Next buttons

A listening screen on a phone, during the first of two plays.

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Things worth knowing

  • Next locks a screen. Once a candidate moves on, they cannot go back and change answers.
  • Results are instant. Every question has one correct answer, so there is no wait for scoring.
  • Random clicking is caught. Answers that cannot be told apart from guessing, or screens answered faster than the recording could be heard, are reported as Not assessable rather than given a level.
  • Extra time lengthens the reading time before each recording. It never speeds up or slows down the audio. See inviting candidates.

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Reviewing the answers

The Responses tab on the assessment lets you play each recording, and shows each question, what the candidate chose and what was correct. This is only in the dashboard: the API and webhooks report the level and how many were right in each part, not the questions themselves. Ordering listening with reading gives one assessment covering both, about half an hour in total. See what’s in a reading assessment.