The most common ways  to measure English language skills include CEFR (ranging from A1 to C2), the IELTS scale (ranging from e.g. 4.0 for a Limited user to 9.0 indicateing an Expert user) and the Cambridge English Scale (ranging from 80 to 230). Sometimes required English skills are also indicated by the name of the exam you must have passed (CFE through CAE to CPE).

We have compiled a pdf with detailed information (in English): pdf English levels explained.

Language skills have different aspects, often divided into reading, writing, speaking, listening (understanding).

For a first quick assessment of your current language skills we have developed our ONE ENGLISH PLACEMENT TEST.

In the first part you will take a multiple-choice test (Download pdf). You can fill out the test digitally in the pdf and send it to us by e-mail or you can print the pdf and fill it out. Or you can simply send us your selections (a to d) and we will evaluate your test (basel@oneenglish.ch).

In the second part we will assess your level of speaking and listening (understanding) by talking to you a little bit. This can be done by phone, video call or in person at the school (Steinengraben 16, 4051 Basel).

In this way we can get a realistic picture of your language skills in a relatively short time, which is very important to be able to offer you the best possible, individual offer.

This question is not easy to answer because many different, unrelated organisations use the name “Cambridge”. So here’s everything you should know:

The University of Cambridge in England has a so-called non-teaching department, the “University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate” (UCLES). UCLES runs the website cambridgeenglish.org and also operates under the brand name “Cambridge Assessment”. In order to take your Cambridge English exam, you must register at an examination centre authorised by UCLES (“Exam centre”). You are free to choose which examination centre you would like to take your exam at. You can find all examination centres worldwide at https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/find-a-centre/find-an-exam-centre/

In Switzerland there are currently 16 idependent organisations authorised as “Exam centres” by the University of Cambridge.

One of these exam centres is run by the private company “Cambridge Examinations Basel GmbH”, which can be reached at cambridgeenglish-basel.ch

Another exam centre is run by the private company “Swiss Exams GmbH”, based in Winterthur, which can be reached at swiss-exams.ch. This company also operates the website cambridge-exams.ch

Then there is a chain of language schools which operates under the name “The Cambridge Institute”. This is a private language school (not an exam centre) with no organisational connection to the University of Cambridge.

Your teacher will be a fully qualified native speaker with a university background.

We want to ensure as much continuity as possible in our courses. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that the teacher who will be teaching your course will always be available, so there will be substitution lessons as an exception.

Furthermore, if you join our conversation classes or social activities, you might have a different teacher.

Usually we will assign your teacher to you. However, if you get recommendation from a friend for a particular teacher, we will try to assign that teacher to you.

Our school is sociable. We like to connect with our students and we do this through our social activities. We organized events such as:

• Movie nights
• Wine nights
• Quiz nights
• Book club
• Speed- dating
• English slang
• Holiday survival night