BULATS retirement FAQ

BULATS was officially retired on 6 December 2019.

No, BULATS was created and maintained by Cambridge English, and so our retirement of it means that it will no longer be available anywhere in the world.

The validity of the certificate is defined by the institution or the organisation that conducted the test or that requires proof of English language proficiency.

Linguaskill Business is the new online and on-demand test that is driven by artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

BULATS was available for 10 years and in that time we were able to secure recognition from multiple bodies and agencies.

Linguaskill is a very new product but in the last two years we have secured recognition from ACLES (Spain), CPF (France), CRUE (Spain) and CENNI (Mexico) to name a few.

Linguaskill is currently offered across the globe at both higher educational institutions as well as multinational companies.

For more information please contact your nearest Cambridge English office.

If the country you wish to take the test in is not listed then please contact us.

The list includes the following, and you can see more on our website.

• TAP Air Portugal, Portugal
• CCA Ontier, Portugal
• Institute of Career Development, Pakistan
• Ministry of Education, UAE
• Ministry of Education, Saudi Arabia
• Tokyo 2020, Japan
• Air France, France
• Volvo Trucks, France

We have the following Linguaskill practice materials on our Practice materials page:

• Sample tests
• Practice test
• Test format and task types

You can also use our FREE vocabulary builder.

Please complete our enquiry form for more information.

You can read about the structure of Linguaskill, including the task types, on the Test format and task types page.

The test covers all four skills and is modular in nature, meaning you can choose which skill set to test.

Results for Reading and Listening are instant, and Writing results are available after 12 hours. For all four skills the results turnaround time is 48 hours.

Visit the Results page to learn more about how the results are presented.

Like BULATS, Linguaskill is:

• online
• test all four skills
• modular
• test from below A1 to C1 and above.

Linguaskill uses HTML5 rather than Flash, so multiple browsers are supported, including Firefox, Chrome, etc.

Linguaskill has enhanced connectivity and a more robust platform, so any downtimes only last an hour or two. Notice of downtime is provided 4–6 weeks, sometimes more, in advance.

The reports are in alignment with the Cambridge English Scale as well as the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). Reports also include average scores across test modules taken. Linguaskill also provides bespoke feedback on what the test takers’ language level enables them to do.

Visit the Results page to learn more about how the results are presented.

Reading and Listening

The BULATS Reading and Listening modules use a 100-point reporting scale which divides up CEFR band into differing widths. In contrast, all modules of Linguaskill (both General and Business) use the Cambridge English Scale which divides up each CEFR band into 20 reporting points. The table below shows the mapping for the Reading and Listening modules.

Speaking and Writing

The BULATS Speaking and Writing modules award candidates a CEFR ‘half-band’ – so a ‘B1’ or ‘B1 High’, for example – with no associated score. The table below shows how these half-bands map onto the Cambridge English Scale scores awarded by the Linguaskill Speaking and Writing modules. Please note the different meaning of the ‘A1, ‘A2, ‘B1’, etc. here. A ‘B1’ in BULATS Writing or Speaking means that the candidate has been assessed in the bottom half of the B1 band. In contrast, a ‘B1’ in Linguaskill (regardless of the module) means that the candidate has been placed somewhere within the B1 CEFR band, with the associated Cambridge English Scale giving the precise position.

Additional information about Linguaskill results reporting can be found here.