How Erosophia estimates your CLOE English level

In short. The levels shown on Erosophia are unofficial estimates. Only CCI France issues CLOE results, after validation by a jury. Erosophia is not affiliated with CCI France or with the CCI network. This page explains how each level is calculated, what follows the official publications and what cannot follow them.

Why no website can reproduce the official result exactly

The written test is adaptive: the difficulty of the questions follows your answers [1] [2]. CCI France does not publish its questions, their difficulty or how it calculates the level.
The oral interview is conducted and marked by a human evaluator [1] [5], and the result is validated by a jury [3] [4]. CCI France publishes the names of the five oral criteria, but no marking grid by level.
The final level is "an average" of the written and oral results [6]; no weighting or rounding is published.
Two formats coexist. The current candidate guides describe a written test of 50 closed questions [1] [2]; the France Compétences record registered on 26 June 2026 announces a written test that also includes written productions, and scores out of 100 [4]. Erosophia follows the format of the guides.

Levels and result

The result is given on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2: a level for each of the five written competences, a result for each of the five oral criteria, then a final level [1] [3] [6]. The statement of results may show a sub-level (A2+, A2-), which the certificate does not [6].
The certificate is issued from level A2, if the final level reaches the target set before the test; otherwise, the candidate only receives the statement of results [7].
Erosophia shows the same levels, without sub-levels. To calculate them, it places each level on an internal scale from 0 to 120: A1 from 0 to 19, A2 from 20 to 39, B1 from 40 to 59, B2 from 60 to 79, C1 from 80 to 99, C2 from 100. This scale is not CCI France's.

Written test

Format: as in the guides, 50 questions in five competences of ten questions (vocabulary, grammar and syntax, expressions, reading comprehension, listening comprehension), seven question types, a time limit per question, a green, yellow then red bar, 3 seconds before the next question and two plays per audio extract [1] [2]. The time per question (40 to 90 seconds depending on the type; two plays plus about 30 seconds for listening) is Erosophia's choice: CCI France does not publish it.
Marking: each answer is right or wrong. A question with several gaps only counts if every gap is right; CCI France does not publish its rule.
Adaptive test: the first competence starts at the level you state on the start screen, just as the exam starts at the level measured at placement [3]. Each following competence starts at the average level estimated in the competences already taken. After each answer, the level of the competence is recalculated from all your answers in that competence (maximum likelihood estimation, Rasch model), and the next question is chosen close to that level, varying the types.
Fixed rule: a competence with no correct answer is rated A1, whatever the starting level.
Written level: average of the five competences, converted to a level once, at the end.
Limit: the level of each question (A1 to C2) was set by its author, not measured on thousands of candidates. In simulations on the ten mock tests, with candidates who answer as the model expects, the overall level falls in the right band in 87 to 100% of cases, even when the stated starting level is far from the true one; the level of a single competence, in 83 to 97% of cases when the starting level is right. The real result may differ by one band, especially competence by competence.

Oral interview

Format: as in the exam, three parts with no preparation: introduction questions, a professional role-play in which the evaluator plays a part, and a discussion on a professional topic [1] [5]. On Erosophia, a recorded evaluator asks twelve questions, adapted to the specialisation you choose.
Marking: each answer is transcribed automatically, then an AI assesses the whole interview on CCI France's criteria: vocabulary, grammar and syntax, ease and fluency, pronunciation and intonation, quality of interaction [1]. As CCI France publishes no grid, the AI relies on the official descriptors of the Common European Framework of Reference for spoken language (range, accuracy, fluency, interaction, phonology) [8]; the grid shown on the results screen is a summary written by Erosophia. Each criterion gets the highest level whose descriptor is fully met.
Pronunciation: the AI does not hear it. It is therefore not assessed, and it does not count in the oral level shown. In the exam, the evaluator hears it; CCI France states that an accent that does not hinder understanding is not a fault [9].
Rules applied by the site:
- an answer that is not in English, or that only repeats the question, does not count as an answer; if no answer is left, the level is A1;
- fluency cannot exceed the better of vocabulary and grammar, because a transcript removes most hesitations;
- answers of fewer than ten words on average cap fluency and interaction at A2;
- if fewer than half of the questions received a real answer, each criterion is capped at A2; fewer than a quarter, at A1;
- if most answers do not address the question, each criterion is capped at A2.
Silence and technical problems: an unanswered question counts as such; an entirely silent interview is rated A1. If the microphone, the upload or the transcription fails, the answer counts neither for nor against you and the site says so; if more than a third of the questions fail, no level is given or saved. If the marking itself fails, nothing is saved.
Oral level: average of the four assessed criteria, converted to a level once; an average that falls exactly between two levels gives the lower one.

Final level and certificate

If you take the written test and then the oral interview of the same mock test, the oral results screen shows the final level: the average of your written and oral levels, with equal weight (CCI France does not publish its weighting), then the verdict for your target.
On the written results screen, Erosophia only says whether your written level reaches your target: as in the exam, the certificate depends on the final level.

Practice and free samples

Written practice: a number of correct answers for a chosen question type and level, with no conversion to a level.
Oral practice: a single part of the interview, marked as above; the AI knows that the other parts were not played. The level given is only an indication.
Written sample: seven B1-level questions; the result is given as correct answers, without a level.
Oral sample: two questions; the score out of 5 is the average of the four assessed criteria, with 0 for A1, 1 for A2, 2 for B1, 3 for B2, 4 for C1 and 5 for C2, rounded down to the half point. Two questions are not enough to establish a level.

How this marking is checked

Before every change, Erosophia has the site mark a set of 23 reference interviews: full interviews from level A2 to level C1 (general professional English, international trade, student profile), samples, practice parts, and edge cases (off-topic, too short, one-word, copied or French answers, a silent interview, transcription failures). These interviews were first marked blind by three independent markers, against the CEFR descriptors; these markers are AI models distinct from the one that marks the site.
At the latest check, on 29 October 2026:
- all 18 edge cases were marked correctly;
- the site gave the same level as the markers for 27 interviews out of 28;
- it still rated one level too high a B1 interview in international trade (B2);
- marked twice, the same interview sometimes received two neighbouring levels: 2 cases out of 46.
These markers are not accredited CLOE evaluators: only official results can show how the marking performs on real candidates. You can enter your official level, if you wish, on your "My progress — CLOE English" page.

Official sources

CLOE is a CCI France certification. Erosophia is not affiliated with CCI France or with the CCI network. Page updated on 29 October 2026.