The Versant test: every part, how it is scored, and what a good score actually is
Versant is the automated English test an employer or a college sends you as a link, usually with a short deadline and one attempt. This guide walks the nine-part placement test in delivery order, explains why the section you speak in is not the skill you are scored on, sets out what the 10–90 score means in CEFR terms, and answers the question most people arrive with: is this accepted for Canadian immigration?
The short answer
The Versant English Placement Test is a fully automated English test published by Pearson. It has nine parts labelled A to I, 81 items, and runs about 50 minutes. You take it online on your own computer with a microphone, and no human examiner is involved at any stage. It reports four scores — Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing — on the Global Scale of English from 10 to 90, each with a CEFR band attached. The single most misunderstood thing about it is that the section you perform in is not the skill you are scored on: Conversations is spoken but feeds Listening, Sentence Completion is typed but feeds Reading, and Typing is scored into nothing at all. Employers and colleges use Versant to screen and place candidates; it is not accepted by IRCC for Canadian immigration, and its scores do not convert to CLB levels.
Versant test at a glance
| Full name | Versant English Placement Test (VEPT), published by Pearson |
|---|---|
| Parts | Nine, labelled A to I |
| Items | 81 in total |
| Length | About 50 minutes |
| Sections delivered | Two — spoken (Parts A–D) and typed (Parts E–I) |
| Skills reported | Four — Speaking, Listening, Reading, Writing |
| Score scale | Global Scale of English, 10 to 90, plus a CEFR band per skill |
| Scored by | Automated scoring only — no human examiner |
| Typical result time | Minutes to a few hours after submission |
| Taken | Online, on your own computer, with a microphone |
| Used for | Employer hiring and screening, internal placement, course placement |
| Accepted by IRCC for Canadian immigration | No |
What is the Versant test?
Versant is a family of automated English tests published by Pearson, not a single exam. The tests share a design principle: every response is scored by machine rather than by a rater, which is what lets an organisation send the test as a link and get a result back in minutes instead of days.
That family includes standalone Speaking and Writing tests, multi-skill tests, and the nine-part Versant English Placement Testthat this guide covers. They are frequently confused with one another, including by pages that claim to describe “the Versant test format” while listing parts from a different product. Before you prepare, confirm with whoever sent you the link which one you are sitting, because the parts genuinely differ.
Versant is also not an admission or immigration test. It is a placement and screening instrument: it tells an employer roughly where your English sits so they can shortlist, stream you into a training track, or place you in the right course level. That is why it is unproctored, short, and cheap relative to IELTS or CELPIP — and why no government immigration programme accepts it.
The nine parts of the Versant placement test, in order
Parts A to D are spoken and Parts E to I are typed, but the four reported skills do not line up with those two sections. The “scored into” column below is the part of this test almost nobody explains, and it is the difference between practising the right skill and the wrong one.
| Part | Task | Mode | Items | Timing | Scored into |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Read Aloud | Spoken | 2 passages | 30 seconds each | Speaking + Reading |
| B | Repeat | Spoken | 16 sentences | 15 seconds each | Speaking |
| C | Sentence Builds | Spoken | 10 sentences | 15 seconds each | Speaking |
| D | Conversations | Spoken | 12 questions | 15 seconds each | Listening |
| E | Typing | Typed | 1 passage | 60 seconds | Nothing — indicators only |
| F | Sentence Completion | Typed | 20 sentences | 25 seconds each | Reading |
| G | Dictation | Typed | 16 sentences | 25 seconds each | Listening |
| H | Passage Reconstruction | Typed | 3 passages | 30s to read, 90s to write | Writing |
| I | Summary and Opinion | Typed | 1 passage | 18 minutes | Writing + Reading |
Part A: Read Aloud
You read a short printed passage out loud. Fluency and pronunciation are both measured, and you are not expected to finish the passage.
Part B: Repeat
You hear a sentence once and repeat it exactly. The sentences get longer as the part goes on, so it becomes a working-memory test as much as a speaking one.
Part C: Sentence Builds
You hear three jumbled word groups and say them back as one grammatical sentence. Saying the fragments in the wrong order scores nothing.
Part D: Conversations
You hear a short dialogue followed by a question, and give a brief spoken answer. You speak, but this part is scored into Listening, not Speaking.
Part E: Typing
You copy a short passage to measure typing speed and accuracy. It contributes to none of the four skill scores and is reported separately.
Part F: Sentence Completion
You type the single word that best completes a sentence. You type it, but it measures Reading — vocabulary and meaning in context.
Part G: Dictation
You type each sentence exactly as you hear it. Spelling and punctuation are both scored, which is where most marks are quietly lost.
Part H: Passage Reconstruction
You read a paragraph, it disappears, and you rewrite it in your own words. Accurate content is scored, not word-for-word memorisation.
Part I: Summary and Opinion
You write a 25–50 word summary of a passage and then an opinion of at least 50 words. One 18-minute clock covers reading, summary and opinion together.
Why the totals do not add up the way you expect
Two parts are scored into two skills at once. Read Aloud feeds Speaking and Reading; Summary and Opinion feeds Writing and Reading. One part, Typing, feeds nothing. That is why you cannot add the four skills’ item counts together and arrive at 81, and why improving a single part can move two scores at the same time.
How Versant scoring works
Versant reports each of the four skills on the Global Scale of English from 10 to 90, and attaches a CEFR band to each score. Scoring is entirely automated: speech is analysed for pronunciation, fluency, sentence mastery and vocabulary, and written answers for grammar, vocabulary, organisation and comprehension of the source passage. No human rater sees your responses.
| CEFR band | GSE score | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| C2 | 85–90 | Fully proficient, including nuance and idiom. |
| C1 | 76–84 | Advanced. Comfortable in demanding professional settings. |
| B2+ | 67–75 | Strong upper-intermediate, above most role requirements. |
| B2 | 59–66 | Upper-intermediate. Where many employer cut-offs sit. |
| B1+ | 51–58 | Solid intermediate. Stretched by fast or technical speech. |
| B1 | 43–50 | Intermediate. Manages familiar topics with effort. |
| A2+ | 36–42 | Elementary plus. Short, predictable exchanges. |
| A2 | 30–35 | Elementary. Basic phrases and immediate needs. |
| A1 | 22–29 | Beginner. Isolated words and set expressions. |
| <A1 | 10–21 | Below A1. Little measurable production. |
If your employer quotes a score between 20 and 80
Older Versant score reports used a 20–80 scale rather than the Global Scale of English. Some organisations still quote their requirement on that legacy scale, so a target like “61 or above” is not a GSE number. If the figure you have been given is in the 20–80 range, ask whether it refers to the legacy scale before you compare it against a GSE score.
What is a good Versant score?
There is no universal pass mark for Versant, because the cut-off is set by whoever sent you the test rather than by Pearson. The test returns a placement score, not a verdict.
As a working reference, a GSE score of 59 or above is CEFR B2, which is the region most customer-facing and client-facing roles ask for, and 67 or above is B2+. Below roughly 43 you are in B1 or lower, which usually places you into a training track rather than a role. Course placement works the same way: the institution reads the CEFR band and puts you in the matching level.
The detail that decides most outcomes
Employers frequently set their bar on one skill, most often Speaking, rather than on an average across the four. A candidate with strong Reading and Writing and a weak Speaking score can be screened out by a profile that looks fine in aggregate. Before you prepare, ask which skill the requirement applies to — it changes what you should practise.
Versant vs IELTS, PTE and CELPIP
These tests are not substitutes for one another. Versant is a screening and placement instrument; the other three are admission and immigration tests. The practical difference is the last column.
| Test | Scored by | Score scale | Mainly used for | Accepted by IRCC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Versant (Placement Test) | Automated only | GSE 10–90 + CEFR | Employer hiring, internal placement, course placement | No |
| IELTS General Training | Human raters for Speaking and Writing | Bands 1–9 | Immigration, work, secondary education | Yes |
| PTE Core | Automated only | 10–90 | Canadian immigration and work permits | Yes |
| CELPIP-General | Trained human raters | CELPIP levels 1–12 (equal to CLB) | Canadian immigration and citizenship | Yes |
Is the Versant test accepted for Canadian immigration?
No. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada accepts CELPIP-General, IELTS General Training, PTE Core, TEF Canada and TCF Canada for permanent-residence applications. Versant is not on that list, and no Versant score can be entered into an Express Entry profile.
Nor do Versant scores convert to Canadian Language Benchmark levels. GSE and CEFR are different scales built for different purposes, and there is no official GSE-to-CLB equivalence table that IRCC recognises. Any tool that offers you one is guessing.
If Canadian PR is what you are actually here for
Prepare for an accepted test instead. Mocko covers four of the five, and the CLB converter will tell you what score you need.
How to prepare for the Versant test
Most candidates get days rather than weeks. This order front-loads the things that actually move a score in that window.
- 1
Confirm which Versant test you were sent
Versant is a family of tests, not one exam. Ask whoever sent the link whether it is the Placement Test, the standalone Speaking or Writing test, or a 4-Skills test, because the parts differ. Everything on this page describes the nine-part Placement Test.
- 2
Sit one full paper before you study anything
Take a complete timed run first. Versant reports four separate skills, so a single full attempt tells you which one is actually behind — which is usually not the one you expected.
- 3
Fix your recording setup before test day
Use a wired headset with a boom microphone, in a quiet room, on the same computer you will use for the real test. Automated scoring works from the recording, so a noisy or clipped one costs you marks no amount of English can recover.
- 4
Drill the no-thinking-time parts
Repeat and Sentence Builds give you about fifteen seconds and no preparation. These are pure pattern-recognition under pressure and they improve fast with repetition, unlike the parts that depend on general vocabulary.
- 5
Practise Part I against a real 18-minute clock
Summary and Opinion is where the clock does the damage: eighteen minutes covers reading the passage, a 25–50 word summary and an opinion of at least 50 words. Rehearse the pacing until it is automatic.
- 6
Re-test and compare skill by skill
Take another full paper a few days later and compare the four skill scores rather than an overall figure. Because several parts feed a skill other than the one you performed in, per-skill movement is the only reliable signal of progress.
Six mistakes that cost Versant candidates marks
Assuming the spoken section is your Speaking score
Part D (Conversations) is spoken but scored into Listening, and Part F (Sentence Completion) is typed but scored into Reading. Candidates routinely drill the wrong skill because they map sections to scores the obvious way.
Treating Read Aloud as a speed test
The instruction is explicit that it is not one, and you are not expected to finish the passage. Rushing costs pronunciation and fluency marks for no gain.
Ignoring punctuation in Dictation
Part G scores spelling and punctuation, not just the words. Sixteen sentences of small punctuation slips is a meaningful amount of a Listening score.
Writing a long summary in Part I
The summary has a 25–50 word range and the opinion has a 50-word floor. Overrunning the summary eats the clock you need for the opinion, which is the longer of the two.
Panicking about the typing part
Part E is scored into none of the four skills. It reports typing speed and accuracy separately, so a slow typist has not damaged their English scores.
Using a laptop microphone in a shared room
There is no human examiner to make allowances. Background noise and a distant microphone degrade the recording the scoring model works from.
Practising the full paper before test day
Mocko provides a free practice version of the nine-part placement test that follows the real format: the same parts in the same order, the same per-item timings, the same instruction screens, and automatic recording on the spoken parts. It reports Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing on the GSE with a CEFR band each, plus a map of what every part contributed — which is the only way to see that your Listening score came out of Conversations and Dictation rather than anything labelled “listening”.
Mocko is an independent practice platform with no affiliation to Pearson. Every practice item is written by Mocko rather than taken from a real test, and the scores it produces are practice estimates rather than official Versant results.
Versant by skill
Versant test: frequently asked questions
What is the Versant test?
Versant is a family of automated English tests published by Pearson. There is no examiner: you speak into a microphone and type into a browser, and scoring is done entirely by machine, usually returning a result within minutes. Employers and educational institutions use it because it can be sent as a link and scored without scheduling anyone. The nine-part Versant English Placement Test is the version that reports all four skills — Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing.
How long is the Versant test and how many questions does it have?
The Versant English Placement Test has nine parts, labelled A to I, and 81 items in total, and runs about 50 minutes. Only two sections are actually delivered — one spoken (Parts A to D) and one typed (Parts E to I) — but four skill scores are reported from them, because several parts are scored into a skill other than the one you performed in.
How is the Versant test scored?
Versant is scored entirely by automated systems, with no human rater involved. Each of the four skills is reported on the Global Scale of English from 10 to 90, and each score carries a CEFR band from below A1 up to C2. Speech is analysed for pronunciation, fluency, sentence mastery and vocabulary; written responses are analysed for grammar, vocabulary, organisation and comprehension of the source passage.
What is a good Versant score?
There is no universal pass mark, because whoever sent you the test sets their own cut-off. As a rule of thumb, a GSE score of 59 or above is CEFR B2, which is the region most customer-facing roles ask for, and 67 or above is B2+. Many employers set their bar on Speaking alone rather than on an average, so a strong overall profile will not compensate for one weak skill. Ask the organisation that sent you the link for their exact requirement.
Is the Versant test accepted for Canadian immigration?
No. IRCC accepts CELPIP-General, IELTS General Training, PTE Core, TEF Canada and TCF Canada. Versant is not on that list, and its GSE and CEFR scores do not convert to CLB levels for an Express Entry profile or any other application. If Canadian permanent residence is your goal, prepare for one of the accepted tests instead.
Can you fail the Versant test?
There is no pass or fail built into Versant itself — it returns a placement score, not a verdict. What can happen is that your score lands below the cut-off the employer or institution set, which ends that application or places you in a lower course level. Whether that counts as failing depends entirely on who sent you the test.
How many times can you take the Versant test?
Pearson does not impose a universal limit, but the organisation that sent you the test does. Some allow a retake after a waiting period, and many allow only one attempt per application or hiring round. Assume you have one attempt unless you are told otherwise.
Which parts of the Versant test are hardest?
Repeat and Sentence Builds catch most people out, because you get roughly fifteen seconds and no preparation time. Dictation is where marks disappear quietly, since spelling and punctuation are both scored across sixteen sentences. And Part I, Summary and Opinion, is where the clock does the damage: eighteen minutes has to cover reading the passage, a 25–50 word summary and an opinion of at least 50 words.
What equipment do you need for the Versant test?
A computer with a working microphone and a stable internet connection. A wired headset with a boom microphone is a meaningful upgrade over laptop speakers and a built-in microphone, because automated scoring works from the recording itself. Take it in a quiet room, and practise on the same setup you plan to use on the day.
Is the Versant test the same as PTE?
No, though both are published by Pearson and both are scored automatically. PTE Academic and PTE Core are proctored admission and immigration tests taken at a test centre or under remote supervision, and their scores are accepted by universities and by IRCC. Versant is a placement and screening test taken unsupervised on your own computer, and it is not accepted for immigration. They also share almost no question types.
How can I practise for the Versant test for free?
Mocko provides a free practice version of the nine-part placement test that follows the real format — the same parts in the same order, the same per-item timings, and the same instruction screens — and reports Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing on the GSE with a CEFR band each. Mocko is an independent platform with no affiliation to Pearson: every practice item is written by Mocko, and the scores it produces are practice estimates rather than official results.
Sit the whole Versant paper before it counts
Nine parts, 81 items, about 50 minutes — then four skill scores with a CEFR band each and a map of which part fed which score. Free to start, no credit card.
