The Top 11 Best Spanish Proficiency Tests for Recruitment

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Last updated on
August 30, 2024

Are you looking to assess the Spanish speaking oral and written skills of your candidates? Interested in evaluating the Spanish level of your employees in order to identify their potential training needs and prepare them for future roles abroad?

Now’s the time to explore assessment tools that can give you a clear perspective of your candidates' and employees' Spanish-speaking abilities.

How can you benefit? 

1/ As a recruiter:

  • speed up your recruitment process
  • save your fellow recruiters valuable time
  • reduce the risk of error during the selection process

2/ As a talent manager: 

  • evaluate the language level of your employees in a consistent manner
  • anticipate their training needs
  • organize internal mobility

3/ As a talent supervisor:

  • assess your employees according to their initial level
  • monitor the progress made through your training initiatives
  • provide your employees a certified language assessment (the CEFR)

To help you navigate through the different tools and identify the one that best suits your needs, we have compiled the best Spanish for Business assessments on this page. Here you’ll discover a description of their interface, key features, strengths, and limitations— as well as their pricing.

Let’s compare the 11 best tests for professional Spanish language skills:

  1. Pipplet
  2. DELE
  3. SIELE
  4. LTI
  5. CELU
  6. TELC
  7. Language Cert
  8. TAELE
  9. RateLanguage
  10. TestGorilla
  11. Bright Language

Pipplet

The quick, easy, and reliable Spanish assessment for businesses

Pipplet is a 100% online tool for assessing the language level of your candidates and employees within 30 minutes using situational questions.

How does it work? 

  • In just a few clicks, send out one or more test invitations.
  • Your candidate/employee/learner can take the test at any time—without an appointment—on a PC or directly via their smartphone.
  • The answers are then evaluated by a native examiner, who delivers the results within 24 hours.

Pipplet helps recruitment professionals in their hiring process, language assessment, or internal mobility. It also serves language-training organizations.

Key features:

  • online language test with no appointment
  • real-life, professional situations
  • evaluation of all four skills: comprehension and expression, oral and writing
  • tests corrected by native human examiners and results sent in less than 24 hours
  • test available in 40 languages
  • anti-cheat devices to detect and prevent fraud
  • personalized candidate experience (white label)

assessment based on the international CEFR reference framework

Limitations/disadvantages: online only (no face-to-face sessions)

Pricing: starting at €40 per test

DELE

An official diploma to certify the level of mastery of the Spanish language

Issued by the Instituto Cervantes, the DELE is internationally recognized by companies and higher education systems, and it facilitates professional geographic mobility. It’s the only certificate for Spanish speakers of foreign origin officially identified by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. Consisting of two distinct components, the diploma evaluates listening, speaking, and writing skills.

Key features:

  • official certificate recognized worldwide
  • unlimited validity
  • assessment of all skills
  • certification of all CEFR levels, from A1 to C2

Limitations/disadvantages:

  • only available in examination centers (75 available in France)
  • requires 90-210 minutes
  • high and progressive rates according to levels (see below)

Pricing: 

  • A1-A2: about €130
  • B1-B2: about €150
  • C1-C2: around €200 

SIELE

An exam for certifying the level of Spanish mastery

The SIELE offers six types of exams based on the certification needs of each business. A digital alternative to the DELE certification, the SIELE is one of the most comprehensive exams for assessing Spanish language proficiency.

The SIELE is a multi-level exam that issues a certificate, a document certifying the level of Spanish language on a scale of 0 to 1,000 that is tied to the CEFR’s levels.

Key features:

  • valid for five years
  • registration, test-taking, and results all online
  • reading and listening comprehension; oral and written expression and interpretation
  • several types of customized exams (combinable modules)
  • aligned with CEFR levels (A1-C1)

Limitations/disadvantages:

  • delivery of results takes as long as three weeks
  • significant price fluctuations for the purchase of separate modules (see below)
  • three hours of testing for the complete SIELE

Pricing: 

  • full SIELE: €155
  • reading and listening: €55
  • reading and writing: €75
  • listening and speaking: €100
  • speaking: €75

LTI

An online evaluation of Spanish language skills

LTI's language tests provide an accurate overview of your employees’ Spanish levels.

Several assessments are available depending on the needs and skills to be evaluated: oral or written expression, or comprehension.

Key features:

  • remote testing tool
  • oral and written expression is evaluated by certified evaluators 

Limitations/disadvantages:

  • duration: up to 1.5 hours

Pricing: quotes available

CELU

The internationally recognized certificate of Spanish language and skills

Offered by Argentina, the CELU (Certificado de Español Lengua y Uso) is an internationally recognized proficiency test that proves the ability to use Spanish as a second language in professional and academic contexts.

Any non-native speaker of Spanish can take the CELU to prove their level of proficiency. The CELU certificate can be presented as a record of proficiency in Spanish for employment in private and public companies.

Key features:

  • assessment of adequate use of the Spanish language
  • certificate with no expiration date 
  • description of the results equivalent to the CEFR levels
  • assessment of the four skills: written and oral comprehension and expression
  • certificate signed by the president of one of the universities participating in the ELSE consortium

Limitations/disadvantages:

  • only three unclear levels delivered: basic, intermediate, and advanced
  • three hours of written testing + 20 minutes of oral testing
  • only two exam sessions per year (June and November) in Brazil, Paris, Berlin, and Milan
  • time-consuming registration process
  • results delivered up to 45 days after the examination date; certificate received within 120 days

Pricing: €90

TELC

A Spanish exam to assess practical language skills

The European Language Certificate (TELC) exam assesses a candidate's ability to communicate beyond their native borders. Each test is evaluated using objective and fair assessment criteria based on the CEFR.

Key features:

  • international recognition in universities, businesses, and government authorities
  • flexible exam dates and early registration
  • free training resources available for download
  • four assessed skills 
  • unlimited validity of the certificate

Limitations/disadvantages:

  • testing only available via examination centers (3,000 centers worldwide)
  • three hours of testing on average
  • results available in four to six weeks

Pricing: €70-200 depending on the level chosen, to be evaluated beforehand

Language Cert

A fast, innovative, and internationally recognized Spanish exam 

Language Cert offers three Spanish tests in line with the CEFR scale: listening and reading comprehension, speaking, and writing. These tests assess professional Spanish language skills to demonstrate proficiency in the language.

Key features:

  • live remote monitoring for online exams
  • simple and flexible registration process
  • results available within a maximum of three days

Limitations/disadvantages:

  • written and oral exams available only at the test center
  • up to two hours of testing to assess the four skills

Pricing

  • €75 for the written and oral comprehension test
  • not indicated for speaking and writing tests (requires registration at test center)

TAELE

A monitored, online, self-paced Spanish test

The TAELE (Test Autonomo de Español como Lengua Extranjera) remote assessment is available at any time and can be taken from anywhere.

The four skills are assessed within 1-3 hours and results are available within 24-72 hours.

Key features:

  • certificate issued by Academia Uruguay, a language center accredited by the Cervantes Institute
  • video surveillance system during the test by artificial intelligence
  • grading by language professionals

Limitations/disadvantages:

  • test not well recognized
  • length of the test is constraining
  • high pricing (see below)

Pricing: €120 per test

RateLanguage

A quick assessment of your Spanish language skills

RateLanguage is a language test designed to assess language level in order to recruit the best candidates or to further train company employees.

Based on AI, the test is easy to use and adapts to the candidate's level of knowledge.

Key features:

  • intuitive and mobile-friendly interface
  • innovative artificial intelligence to determine question difficulty in real time
  • assessment of the four skills
  • clear and detailed results report, aligned with the CEFR and available within a few hours

Limitations/disadvantages:

  • few resources available online about this test
  • requires contact for more information on the test format

Pricing: from €29 per test

TestGorilla

An express assessment of Spanish language comprehension skills

TestGorilla assesses the B1 to C1 Spanish level of your candidates or employees remotely in just 10 minutes. Adapted to the professional context, this language test allows recruiters to determine which candidates are capable of communicating in Spanish on topics commonly encountered at work and in everyday life.

Key features:

  • complete the test in 10 minutes
  • invitation of candidates by email, from the ATS or by direct link
  • Customizable test questions

Limitations/disadvantages:

  • rather generic results, with too little detail
  • no notification when a candidate has completed the test
  • hidden fees and ambiguous pricing
  • lack of personalization of invitation emails

Pricing: from €21 per month (subscription)

Bright Language

Online tests to assess written and oral comprehension in Spanish

The Bright Language Spanish test is suitable for both beginners and advanced English speakers (covering levels A1-C1 on the CEFR scale).

Bright offers two assessments: the General Professional Spanish Test and the Spanish for Beginners Test.

Key features:

  • remote tests available for all levels
  • certificate of competence issued within the hour and report available immediately
  • very flexible: exclusively available online

Limitations/disadvantages:

  • the test does not assess speaking and writing skills (only comprehension) 
  • duration of the evaluation (between 45 minutes and one hour)
  • automated correction

Pricing: €80 per test

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