Czech Republic's English Proficiency on the decline according to new 2019 Index

The country’s worldwide ranking has fallen from 20 to 23 in English proficiency; Netherlands leads global EPI index

Jason Pirodsky

Written by Jason Pirodsky Published on 12.11.2019 07:00:23 (updated on 12.11.2019) Reading time: 1 minute

Daily News
English language school. Lesson, teacher and student talking
English language school. Lesson, teacher and student talking

Are English language skills in the Czech Republic getting worse?

That’s the state of things according to the ninth edition of the Education First English Proficiency Index (EF EPI), in which the Czech Republic’s ranking has dropped from 20th worldwide to 23rd, with English proficiency measured in 100 countries across the globe.

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And it isn’t just English skills improving elsewhere. The Czech Republic’s EF EPI score, which is measured by the results of free online English language tests taken at the Education First website, has dropped from 59.99 in 2018 to 59.30 in 2019.

Still, the rating is good enough for the Czech Republic to maintain its status as one of fifteen countries with a “High” level of English proficiency.

For comparison, the Czech Republic falls below Hungary (ranked #15) and Romania (#16), as well as Kenya (#18). Czech neighbor Slovakia comes in at #25.

English proficiency worldwide rankings via EF EPI

Interestingly, Czech men have overtaken women in the 2019 rankings. Last year, men in the Czech Republic scored 59.24, while women scored 60.21. That has reversed in the 2019 results, with men rising to 60.12 and Czech women falling to 58.85.

Globally, women tend to score slightly better than men with an average 53.23 vs. 53.03.

While the Czech Republic has maintained it’s “High” English Proficiency rating since 2015, the country has dropped from #16 in the 2016 EPI to #20 in 2017 and 2018, and down to #23 in the 2019 rankings.

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English proficiency in Europe via EF EPI

Netherlands has overtaken Sweden, last year’s #1, to top the 2019 EF EPI with a score of 70.27. Norway, Denmark, and Singapore round out the top 5.

They are among a total of 14 countries are currently rated as having a “Very High” level of English proficiency, a list that also includes Czech neighbors Austria (#8), Germany (#10), and Poland (#11).

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