English Skills Challenge
Vocabulary, natural expressions and grammar in context · Individual results
Your results
Strong B2-leaning performance
Teacher-reviewed result based on meaning, grammar, natural usage and task completion. Full-sentence answers and valid alternatives receive credit.
Good evidence of B2-level vocabulary and grammar in this mixed written quiz; not an official CEFR certification.
One item left unanswered.
Includes partial credit for a strong but meaning-changing transformation.
C1 structures are emerging; keep practising inversion and precise sentence transformation.
Performance snapshot
Consistently accurate with definitions, idioms and expressions in context.
Strong with inversion, prepositions, verb patterns and “despite / because of”. Review present perfect with “since”.
Uses “look into”, “get back to” and “end up” successfully in complete sentences.
Retrieving a phrase without options is harder than recognising it. Build quick recall through short speaking drills.
Skill descriptions are qualitative teacher judgements based on this quiz. They are not scores from a separate speaking, listening or reading test.
Strengths
Accurate understanding of informal and formal language, including “dodgy”, “scapegoat”, “public scrutiny”, “feasible” and “deteriorate”.
Good use of common expressions such as “every now and then”, “save it for a rainy day” and “draw the line at”.
Good control of “despite + -ing”, “because of + noun phrase”, negative inversion and “end up being”.
Often gives a complete, meaningful sentence rather than a fragment. That is valid evidence of language control, not a mistake.
Priorities for improvement
- Inversion: practise structures such as “Not only did…” and “At no point did…”; make sure the inversion is accurate and the original meaning is preserved.
- Countable and uncountable nouns: “some work” / “a piece of work”, rather than “a work” in this meaning.
- Present perfect with “since”: avoid direct translation from Spanish. Say “I’ve known her since 2021”, not “I know her since 2021”.
- Precise transformations: keep all key information from the original sentence, especially in “not only…” structures.
- Polite follow-ups: phrase requests so it is clear whether you are asking for a reply now or checking whether one has already arrived.
Review your answers
Feedback focuses on the English in each answer. Natural alternatives and full-sentence answers are accepted where they satisfy the task.
- Accepted
1. Cheeky
Your answer: Playfully bold or slightly disrespectful
Correct — accurate understanding of an informal adjective.
- Accepted
2. Dodgy
Your answer: Unreliable or suspicious
Correct — good grasp of informal descriptive vocabulary.
- Accepted
3. Hold a grudge
Your answer: Remain resentful about something
Correct — the meaning is precise.
- Accepted
4. Public scrutiny
Your answer: Examined closely by the public
Correct — strong understanding of a formal expression.
- Accepted
5. Feasible
Your answer: Realistic and possible to carry out
Correct — accurate synonym and context.
- Accepted
6. Every now and then
Your answer: Every now and then
Correct — natural equivalent of «de vez en cuando».
- Accepted
7. Scapegoat
Your answer: Gets blamed for a problem, often unfairly
Correct — captures the key idea of unfair blame.
- Accepted
8. Touchy subject
Your answer: Sensitive and potentially upsetting
Correct — accurate meaning.
- Accepted
9. Save it for a rainy day
Your answer: Save it for when you might need it
Correct — meaning understood.
- Accepted
10. A terrible smell
Your answer: It stinks!
Correct — natural, idiomatic expression.
- Accepted
11. Rapport
Your answer: We’ve known each other for years, so we have a really good rapport.
Correct — the complete sentence includes the target word and is fully natural.
- Accepted
12. Hear back
Your answer: I look forward to hearing back from you soon.
Accepted — natural and polite. “I hope to hear back from you soon” is closer to the Spanish source, but your sentence uses the target phrase correctly.
- Accepted
13. Look into
Your answer: I'll look into it.
Correct — concise and natural; “it” refers to the problem.
- Accepted
14. Get back to
Your answer: I'll investigate it and get back to you tomorrow
Correct — the whole sentence correctly completes the prompt.
- Accepted
15. Look forward to
Your answer: I’m looking forward to meeting her.
Correct — “to” is followed by the -ing form.
- Accepted
16. Despite
Your answer: Despite having laptops, we couldn't finish.
Correct — correct structure after “despite”.
- Accepted
17. Because of
Your answer: we cancelled the trip because of the terrible weather
Correct — “because of” is followed by a noun phrase.
- Accepted
18. End up
Your answer: We ended up looking for the car keys the whole afternoon
Accepted — the target phrase is correct and the meaning is clear. “...all afternoon” sounds more idiomatic; “ended up spending the whole afternoon looking...” mirrors the original more closely.
- Accepted
19. Tell someone
Your answer: The others told Ana about it.
Correct — correct verb pattern without “to”.
- Accepted
20. Ask someone
Your answer: I will ask the receptionist
Correct — correct verb pattern; adding “for help/information” is optional.
- Accepted
21. End up being
Your answer: He ended up being murdered in the final chapter
Correct — correct phrasal verb and passive structure.
- Review point
22. A piece of work / some work
Your answer: he sent me a work to check out
Needs a small correction — “work” is uncountable here. Say “He sent me some work to check” or “a piece of work to check out.” “Check out” itself can be natural in context.
- Review point
23. Present perfect + since
Your answer: I know her since 2021.
Needs grammar review — the meaning is clear, but the standard form is “I’ve known her since 2021.” This is the main genuine tense error in the response set.
- Accepted
24. Despite having
Your answer: Despite having laptops, we couldn't finish the work
Correct — accurate translation and appropriate structure.
- Partial credit
25. Not only…
Your answer: Not only did you save us, but you helped me avoid a costly mistake
Partial credit — excellent inversion after “Not only”. The sentence changes “saved us time” to “saved us” and changes “us” to “me”, so it does not preserve all the original meaning.
- Accepted
26. Negative inversion
Your answer: At no point did she admit the mistake.
Correct — accurate inversion and base verb after “did”.
- Accepted
27. Before + -ing
Your answer: before leaving the house
Correct — appropriate form after the preposition “before”.
- Accepted
28. On the edge of your seat
Your answer: on
Correct — natural collocation.
- Review point
29. Planned obsolescence
Your answer: No answer submitted
Not answered — useful term to learn: planned obsolescence.
- Accepted
30. On standby
Your answer: Waiting for a decision to be made
Accepted in context — being on standby can involve waiting until a decision or instruction is given, while remaining available to act. The wording is reasonable in this context.
- Accepted
31. Stunned
Your answer: Extremely surprised or shocked
Correct — accurate meaning.
- Accepted
32. Deteriorated
Your answer: Become worse in quality or condition
Correct — accurate definition.
- Accepted
33. It’s not up to me
Your answer: It’s not up to me.
Correct — natural equivalent of «no me corresponde decidirlo».
- Accepted
34. Tactful recommendation
Your answer: It’s worth considering…
Correct — useful diplomatic phrase.
- Accepted
35. Falling behind schedule
Your answer: Progressing more slowly than planned
Correct — accurate meaning.
- Accepted
36. On track
Your answer: Progressing according to plan
Correct — accurate meaning.
- Accepted
37. Draw the line at
Your answer: draw the line at something
Correct — the expression and preposition are right.
- Accepted
38. Trade-off
Your answer: a trade-off between cost and quality
Correct — natural collocation.
- Accepted
39. Make sure
Your answer: We need to make sure everyone receives the update.
Correct — natural and grammatically accurate.
- Accepted
40. Remember / recall
Your answer: I don't remember what she is called.
Accepted — understandable and grammatically possible. “I can’t remember her name” is a little more idiomatic, but your answer communicates the intended meaning.
- Accepted
41. Second conditional
Your answer: If it weren’t for my job, I would do sport more often
Correct — the conditional structure is accurate, and “do sport” is natural British English. The answer fits the sentence and communicates the intended meaning.
- Accepted
42. Mini-story vocabulary
Your answer: scruffy · stank · about · flush · moan · Long story short
Correct — all six choices fit the story.
- Accepted
43. Hear back
Your answer: hear back from
Correct — this is the core expression with the correct preposition; a full sentence was not required.
- Accepted
44. End up + -ing
Your answer: after the party, we ended up having a kebab.
Correct — a complete and natural example of “ended up + -ing”.
- Partial credit
45. Polite follow-up
Your answer: would you please confirm if you have got back to me
Partly successful — polite intention is clear and “get back to me” is used. The wording asks whether they have already replied. More natural: “Could you get back to me when you have an update?”
Overall interpretation
Your strongest area is vocabulary recognition, supported by good control of many B2 grammar patterns. The main gap is not basic understanding; it is precision when producing language independently, particularly with tense choice and fixed expressions. The overall profile is consistent with B2-leaning performance on this written practice sample, with some C1 structures recognised or attempted.
CEFR note: this is a learning estimate from a mixed quiz. It cannot establish an official CEFR level because it does not assess all four skills under standardised conditions.