CATs Step for Educators

About the CATs Step solution

Supporting learning

As governments work to develop and improve the English language proficiency of their citizens, they also look to up-to-date technology to help that process and to support learning.

”This has been a wonderful experience! I believe we only stand to gain both in our educational system, as well as in our schools.”

CATs Step provides accessible language learning solutions, which motivate learners and demonstrate successful outcomes. This means that CATs Step can help educational organisations and employers to monitor, and improve standards, cost-effectively and efficiently across all age groups and levels of ability. The flexibility of the service allows CATs Step to be used by:

Group supervisor as the basis for an English language course.
Educational organisations to supplement a course they are already offering.
Employers who wish to improve the language competence of their staff.

CATs Step and the Common European Framework of Reference

The CATs Step service is benchmarked to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) levels – the widely recognised international standard for language learning.

CATs Step tracking and reporting

Throughout the assessment and learning process, the CATs Step service captures data which shows the real-time progress of individual learners, groups, organisations and regions. Data is updated every 24 hours and is made available via a reporting dashboard to:

Group supervisor, who see all data for their own Groups.
Organisation heads, who see all data for the groups at their organisation.
Regional heads, who access all data for organisations in their region.
Government users, who access all data for regions in their jurisdiction.

The CATs Step reporting service can be used for planning, monitoring, evaluating and target-setting. Information is available as a series of reports on progress and improvement in ability, measured on the CATs Step scale and aligned to the CEFR:

Placement test report:

An at-a-glance overview of performance in the placement test.

Materials progress report:

A snapshot of learner progress through the course as a percentage of material covered and total time spent to date as well as an average for the previous seven days.

Improvement report:

A comparison of learner performance in the placement test with their performance in the final test.

The CATs Step service makes a positive contribution to the learning process and delivers measurable improvement for students who engage with the learning materials.

”Learners who complete one to two CATs Steps a year throughout their schooling are likely to improve their overall language proficiency by between one and two whole CEFR levels.”