Interesting info about exams

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A student wrote to me asking about international certifications that prove you level of English. Here's my answer:

Well, I doubt it that a website would provide a valid, international certification like that. 

There are several tests in the field and each one serves a different purpose. 

For example, if you want to study in the USA, you need to have the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language http://www.ets.org/toefl). There's no pass or fail, there's just a score (a number), then each university requires a certain score for you to be accepted (along with other requirements). This is a more academic test.

Another academic test is the IELTS (International English Testing System http://www.ielts.org), which may be required, for instance, by universities in Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and Canada. Just like the TOEFL, there's no pass or fail. You are given a band (a number) from 1 to 9. Each number represents a certain proficiency level that you have in the language, in other words, each number tells us about what you can do in English, in terms of reading, listening, writing and speaking. There's also a general (non-academic) version of IELTS and it is usually taken by people who want to immigrate or work in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and Canada.

These two tests have an expiration date.

Other tests available may test your performance on general English:

Cambridge KET (Key English Test), PET (Preliminary English Test), FCE (First Certificate in English), CAE (Certificate of Advanced English) and CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English) (http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams-and-qualifications/)

Michigan Proficiency (http://www.hau.gr/?i=examinations.en.ecpe) 

Other tests are more related to business or international communication, such as:

Bulats (Business Language Testing System http://www.bulats.org)

TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication http://www.ets.org/toeic)

There are also some companies, such as www.insignaconsultoria.com.br, which apply English performance tests, but usually to companies that want to attest their employee's skills in English. 

So, depending on your needs and context, you might consider one or another test. Also, it would be good to get informed about what kinds of certification is usually more accepted in the companies to which you will be sending your CV. Some companies may accept any Brazilian school "diploma", but more serious ones may require a certain score in Bulats, TOEIC or IELTS.

That's it. Let me know if you need more help.