Many ELICOS colleges have more than one course running at the same time, and these may be at different levels.
There is a set of names used in ELT around the world to describe proficiency levels from Beginner (lowest) to Advanced (highest). Sometimes, additional levels are created between these. Generally, a student at the Elementary level should be able to have a basic conversation, while an Intermediate level student can usually talk about most general topics but usually awkwardly and sometimes with difficulty.
Because there are differences between the understanding of these levels, the common European Framework of Reference for Languages is used widely to describe language ability. This table shows a very rough equivalency between these levels, CEFR levels, and the IELTS band scales.
| Level | CEFR | IELTS exit level (approx equivalent) |
| Beginner | A1 | |
| Elementary | A2 | |
| Pre-intermediate | B1 | 4.0 |
| Intermediate | B1+ | 4.5-5.0 |
| Upper intermediate | B2 | 5.5 |
| Lower advanced | B2+ | 6.0 |
| Advanced | B2+ to C1 | 6.5 |
