Ute Knoch

Keywords communication difficultiescommunication in care settingsEnglish language proficiencypersonal care assistants Information Type Article Information Ageing & Society , Volume 45 , Issue 11 , November 2025 , pp.

1 BACKGROUND A critical part of health professions education (HPE) is making necessary and defensible educational decisions related to students' learning, progression and readiness for practice. These educational decisions can directly affect students' learning experiences and outcomes in various degrees. Consequences of these decisions also impact a range of HPE stakeholders such as the patients, colleagues and communities with which health professional students interact.

Background In language assessment, “linking” broadly refers to the practice of relating the scores or levels on two tests or aligning them to a language proficiency framework such as the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). When it comes to the former definition, linking can be categorized into three types: equating, concordance, and prediction. Equating, which has been the most discussed of the three types, involves relating scores on parallel or alternate forms of a test.