English Levels Explained

The EAL Highland Team will refer to a pupil's English level as one of five following. Please bear in mind that the levels used by the EAL Highland Team are relative to the pupil's "age and stage". This means that a pupil who is Fluent and 6 years old will not be using the English language with the same complexity as a pupil who is Fluent and 16 years old. 

Level 5 - Fluent

Level 4 - Competent

Level 3 - Developing Competence

Level 2 - Early Acquisition

Level 1 - New to English

For Secondary age pupils (Age: 11-12 to 17-18 ) and adults these are roughly equivalent to the CEFR levels from Pre-A1 to C2 but are not exact and there may be some overlap in the CEFR levels. 

C2 = Level 5 (Fluent)

C1 = Level 4 (Competent)

B1 / B2 = Level 3 (Developing Competence) 

A1 / A2 = Level 2 (Early Acquisition)

Pre-A1 = Level 1 (New to English)