EAL STAR is a well-established, globally used digital assessment, tracking and monitoring platform designed to support schools in understanding and responding effectively to the needs of pupils for whom English is an Additional Language (EAL). 

Developed by the creators of EAL HUB, EAL STAR was founded by Beth Southern, an experienced EAL consultant and school leader who works closely with schools across the UK to strengthen EAL provision and improve outcomes for multilingual learners. 

Over many years of working directly with educators, Beth was repeatedly asked the same questions: 

How can schools assess EAL pupils consistently? 
How can progress be tracked over time?
How can teachers clearly understand where pupils are and what support they need next? 

At the time, there was no robust, standardised digital solution that combined assessment with meaningful tracking, monitoring and planning, so EAL STAR was created to fill that gap.

Developed over an initial 18-month period and refined continuously since, EAL STAR has grown into one of the fastest-growing EAL assessment platforms in the education sector, now used by schools across the UK and internationally. The platform is shaped not only by practitioner expertise, but also by insight drawn from tens of thousands of completed assessments, which are continually monitored and analysed in aggregated and de-identified form to fine-tune baseline accuracy, strengthen reliability and ensure assessment outcomes remain robust, fair and developmentally appropriate. 

Designed in response to the real needs of teachers and EAL coordinators, particularly those working under significant time pressure, EAL STAR provides a single, intuitive system where all EAL pupils can be viewed, assessed and monitored in one place. As a former Head of EAL, Beth fully understands what it is really like to work in a busy school setting. 

With EAL STAR schools gain real-time insight into their EAL cohort, how pupils are progressing, and where targeted support or intervention is required, all at the click of a button. Flexible access levels allow classroom teachers, senior leaders and governors to view relevant data and evidence, supporting informed decision-making and effective provision. The platform has been rigorously tested across a wide range of school contexts.

In collaboration with partnership schools, EAL Star grew from simply offering assessment of the 4 skills to incorporating what they felt was needed and was lacking from other assessments out there - tracking, monitoring, sharing of data, an EAL register and pupil profiles all in one super platform. In addition to that schools asked for the ability to port students and data between schools, an intuitive assessment that knows when a child is struggling and ends the test and a system that populated data automatically to key areas of the platform. 

So that is what we created.

EAL STAR continues to evolve in line with the changing needs of schools. Recent developments include bulk data upload via CSV, multi-location functionality and infrastructure designed to support multiple regions, ensuring the platform remains scalable, future-proof and responsive to the realities of modern EAL provision.