The English Language Test for International Students (ELTIS) is used by participating US universities as an alternative English proficiency requirement for international applicants. Our free printable practice test PDF covers all four tested skill areas — listening, reading, grammar and usage, and vocabulary — so you can prepare offline at your own pace.
ELTIS is accepted at a growing number of US institutions as a substitute for the TOEFL or IELTS for students who have completed secondary or post-secondary education in English-medium environments. If your target university accepts ELTIS, this PDF will help you understand the question formats, academic language register, and inference skills the test demands.
Print this practice test, set a timer, and work through each section as you would on test day. Review every answer carefully — including correct ones — to build the reading and listening comprehension strategies that produce consistent scores on academic English proficiency exams.
The ELTIS examination measures the English language skills international students need to succeed in US university coursework. It is not a general English test — all content is drawn from academic contexts, and questions require the kind of critical reading and listening comprehension that undergraduate and graduate study demands.
Listening Section: You will hear recorded academic lectures and conversations on topics drawn from various disciplines — science, humanities, social science, and professional fields. Questions test your ability to identify the main idea, locate specific supporting details, understand speaker purpose and attitude, and make inferences from spoken academic discourse. Unlike conversational listening tests, ELTIS listening passages use the formal register and organizational patterns of university lectures.
Reading Section: Academic passages require you to identify the central argument, analyze text structure (compare/contrast, cause/effect, problem/solution), understand vocabulary in context, and draw conclusions from evidence. Questions on vocabulary in context focus on Academic Word List (AWL) terms — high-frequency academic vocabulary that appears across disciplines.
Grammar and Usage: Questions test your control of standard written academic English, including subject-verb agreement, verb tense consistency, pronoun reference, modifier placement, and parallel structure. Error identification items ask you to locate the grammatical problem in an underlined sentence segment. ELTIS vs. TOEFL/IELTS: ELTIS does not include a speaking or writing section, which makes it a lower-stakes format for some students. However, not all US institutions accept it, so confirm acceptance with your target universities before choosing ELTIS over TOEFL or IELTS.
Set aside 90 uninterrupted minutes to simulate full exam conditions. Print the PDF, turn off distractions, and work through each section in order. Time each section individually so you develop accurate pacing instincts — running out of time on the reading section is a common performance issue for test-takers who spend too long on difficult vocabulary questions.
After completing the practice test, score your answers and calculate your performance by section. If your listening comprehension score is lower than your reading score, that indicates you need more practice with academic spoken English. Supplement this PDF with recordings of university lectures (many are freely available through OpenCourseWare platforms) to build your ear for academic discourse patterns.
For grammar and usage, review your errors by category. If you consistently miss subject-verb agreement questions, that requires focused grammar review. If your errors cluster around modifier placement, study that rule set specifically. Targeted review of your weak areas in the weeks before your exam date produces the largest score gains. Use our online ELTIS practice tests alongside this PDF for full preparation coverage.