- The WBS has chosen this standardized test to help assess your English.
- It’s short, yet still very accurate.
- It’s automatically marked with instant results and gives an internationally recognized language ability level with every test result.
- Each question has been tested to make sure that it will actually help identify your level.
- The people involved in creating the test have many years’ experience in language testing.
- It tests your understanding of the meaning in language, as well as grammar and vocabulary.
The test is divided into two parts: Use of English and Listening.
| Use of English | This part tests your knowledge of English grammar and vocabulary, for example, how well you know tenses, or which word would be correct in a sentence. It also tests how well you understand what someone means when they are talking to you. This understanding is very important in language learning. They are all multiple-choice apart from the last task, which is a gapped text where you must type in the missing words yourself. | ca. 30 questions |
| Listening | This part tests the (literal & implicit) meaning in language. All tasks are multiple-choice. | ca. 15 questions |
The test should take between 45 minutes and an hour (although you are given 65 minutes to complete it). However, it all depends on you. The test is adaptiv. This means that it doesn’t have a set number of questions, and the questions won’t always be the same. The test decides which questions to ask you, depending on how well you are doing. If you answer a question correctly, you will be given a more difficult one next; conversely, you will get an easier question next if you don’t answer the previous question correctly. By constantly matching questions from its databank to your ability to answer them correctly, the computer can, therefore, accurately assess your level of English.
Results will normally be posted in Stud.IP the day after a test.
When you look at the results you will see a total score between 1 and 120, and individual scores for Use of English und Listening. This means that you’ll be able to see whether you might need to work harder on either grammar & vocabulary or on understanding the meaning in spoken English. You’ll also see a level of language competency (on the Common European Framework of Reference / CEFR scale) ranging from A1 (basic level) to C2 (upper advanced level). Below is a table showing how these levels correspond to your point score in the test:
| CEFR level | Point score in the OOPT | |
| proficient speaker / mastery | C2 | 100 - 120 |
| proficient speaker / effective operational proficiency | C1 | 80 - 99 |
| independent speaker / vantage | B2 | 60 - 79 |
| independent speaker / threshold | B1 | 40 - 59 |
| basic speaker / waystage | A2 | 20 - 39 |
| basic speaker / breakthrough | A1 | 1 - 19 |
Path to Success OOPT: Get Prepared (PDF, 591 KB)
Handout to the OOPT (PDF 645 KB)
Master's applicants should visit the webpages Master Programs: English Proficiency Requirements and Proof of English level for Master's applicants for details of the required point scores as well as information about test dates and registration.
Bachelor students in the International Mangement program must obtain a minimum CEFR level in order to register for the Business in English exams corresponding to OOPT point scores of at least
- 40 points (B1) for Business in English 1
- 60 points (B2) for Business in English 2
- 80 points (C1) for Business in English 3
Please note the following:
- Your exam office will normally only accept required point scores that have been obtained BEFORE THE END OF THE EXAM REGISTRATION PERIOD. Scores that reach them after the end of the exam registration period will only be valid from the start of the following semester.
- Your OOPT score will appear as a so-called TOEFL equivalent on your Sammelschein in QIS. The minimum point score at B1 level (40 points in the OOPT) will appear as 460 points, the B2 minimum (60 points in the OOPT) as 500 points and the C1 minimum (80 points in the OOPT) as 550 points.
At the WBS, we test your English proficiency using the OOPT. We have had good experience with this test, but it is a placement test, not a proficieny test. Specifically, speaking and writing ability are not tested directly and the security level of the does not meet the standards required of a true proficiency test, such as IELTS, TOEFL or Cambridge certificates.
Your result from the OOPT is converted into a standardized score (based on the old paper-based TOEFL) and entered on your transcript (Sammelschein) as mentioned above.
If you need more documentation of your English proficiency than this, please note the following:
- Only the Head of Business in English is authorized to do this. Contact him directly at hubertus.weyer[at]hs-rm.de
- Since the OOPT is a placement test and not a proficiency test, documentation of proficiency beyond what is on your transcript will be given:
- only for applications to other universities, and only if the university will accept our documentation (we would want to send it to the university directly) and
- only if the Head of Business in English is satisfied that your score reflects your true English proficiency (you will probably have to arrange a meeting with him and may need to be retested).
The Language Center plans to offer the BULATS proficiency test in the near future. This test would be an excellent way to document your proficiency for employment applications.
You can repeat the test once per semester free of charge. If you need to take the test more than twice in any semester, you will be charged a fee of €10 each time you retake the test. Master's applicants also have the chance to sit the test twice free of charge.
Several opportunities to be tested are offered every semester before the exam registration period begins (Klausuranmeldung). They are also offered after that over the remainder of the semester, but less frequently. Test dates / times are always announced in advance in the WBS Newsletter.
Please visit our webpage OOPT: Anmeldung + Termine.
If you have passed a standardized English proficiency exam on the WBS-recognized list (e.g. TOEFL or Cambridge First Certificate / Advanced English) at B1, B2 or C1 level, you can use the certificate as proof of your English proficiency in place of the OOPT if the exam is not out of date (exams are generally valid for 2 years). Please contact the WBS' Head of in Business English for more information: hubertus.weyer[at]hs-rm.de
You can watch an interactive demo via the following links: oxfordenglishtesting.com > online placement tests / teenagers and adults - LEARN MORE > scroll to the bottom of the page > click on see sample questions > oxford online placement test demo.