IFSP launches national English proficiency exam for federal students
The Instituto Federal de São Paulo (IFSP) held a launch event at its rectorate in São Paulo on Thursday, 30, to introduce the Exame de Proficiência em Língua Inglesa (EPLI). The exam, developed entirely by staff of the Federal Network of Professional, Scientific and Technological Education, will assess English communicative competence of students across the network.
Around 30,000 exams are planned for the first phase, to be administered between August and November 2026. The initiative aims to provide free access to proficiency testing and to generate strategic data that can strengthen language‑teaching policies and the internationalisation of federal institutions. Funding for the project began in 2024 through the Secretaria de Educação Profissional e Tecnológica (SETEC) of the Ministry of Education, enabling the development of the test platform, reference matrix and assessment tools.
The project was ideated by IFSP professor Tereza Martins, who highlighted the need for a uniform, equitable test. Matilde Scaramucci, a retired professor from Unicamp, serves as technical supervisor. Both emphasised that the exam is tailored to the diverse proficiency levels of federal students while fostering equitable evaluation nationwide.
Entities: Celso Eduardo Lins de Oliveira · Exame de Proficiência em Língua Inglesa (EPLI) · Faculdade de Saúde Pública (FSP) of USP · Instituto Federal de São Paulo (IFSP) · Matilde Scaramucci · Matilde Scarumcci · Ministério da Educação (Brazil) · Secretaria de Educação Profissional e Tecnológica (SETEC) · Tereza Martins · Universidade de São Paulo (USP)
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 18 SOURCES] EPLI aims to provide strategic data to strengthen language‑teaching policies and the internationalisation of federal institutions. (IFSP)
- [● 18 SOURCES] The exam will be offered free of charge to students. (IFSP)
- [● 18 SOURCES] Tereza Martins, professor at IFSP, acted as the ideator of EPLI. (IFSP)
- [● 18 SOURCES] The project is financed by the Secretaria de Educação Profissional e Tecnológica (SETEC) of the Ministry of Education, with funding beginning in 2024. (IFSP)
- [● 18 SOURCES] Around 30,000 exams will be administered between August and November 2026. (IFSP)
- [● 18 SOURCES] Matilde Scaramucci, retired professor from Unicamp, serves as technical supervisor of the EPLI project. (IFSP)
- [● 18 SOURCES] IFSP launched the Exame de Proficiência em Língua Inglesa (EPLI) nationally. (IFSP)
- [● 18 SOURCES] EPLI assesses English communicative competence of students in the Federal Network of Professional, Scientific and Technological Education. (IFSP)