How our level estimates work

We rate each answer against the public YKI assessment criteria published by the Finnish National Agency for Education (OPH), for writing and speaking. At the intermediate level a sub-test is graded 3 (≈ B1) or 4 (≈ B2). We show "below 3" when an answer does not yet reach level 3.

What we look at

• Task completion: did you cover the points the task asks for?
• Register: does the text suit the reader (friend vs. customer service)?
• Flexibility, coherence and cohesion: how ideas are linked and organised.
• Vocabulary range and precision
• Grammatical accuracy: do errors stop the reader understanding you?

Following OPH's own note, the overall estimate is holistic: it is never decided by one criterion alone.

Speaking

Your recording is converted to text by automatic speech recognition, and the text is assessed. Because of this, we do not assess pronunciation, and fluency is judged only from how much and how continuously you spoke. Recognition can make mistakes, especially with strong accents, so you can always see the transcript.

Limits

• This is an unofficial practice estimate, not a YKI result, and it can be wrong.
• Very short answers are always shown as "below 3" with low confidence, because there is too little to judge.
• Our estimates are tested against 26 sample answers with answer keys (20 written texts and 6 speaking transcripts, each with a known level and marked errors). A review by a Finnish teacher is planned.

Sources

• OPH: Kirjoittamisen arviointikriteerit, Assessment criteria for speaking, Kielitaidon tasojen kuvausasteikko
• University of Jyväskylä: example tasks (we do not reuse them)