Versant vs SVAR vs Harver vs Berlitz: Which English Test Will Your BPO Give You?

The short answer

You usually do not choose. The employer picks the test, pays for it and sends you the link. All four check spoken English, but in different ways. Versant (Pearson) runs about 17 minutes and scores you from 10 to 90 on the Global Scale of English. SVAR (SHL) takes 12 to 15 minutes and asks you to repeat or respond in your own words. Harver has three sections: single words, listen and repeat, and a paragraph read aloud, reported as a percentile with IELTS and CEFR references. Berlitz runs employer-customised testing online or over the phone. Repeating sentences, reading aloud and answering short questions appear in more than one test, so the same practice covers most of them.

This page compares them from the official pages only, read on 21 October 2026, and marks anything that comes from candidates instead. If you already know your test, go straight to the practice bank. For the full picture, start at the BPO English tests hub.

The four tests side by side

Every cell below comes from the test owner's page or official guide. "Not published" means we looked and the owner does not say; it does not mean the feature is absent.

Sources: Pearson India Versant store; Versant by Pearson Speaking and Listening official guide (2024, PDF); Pearson test-taker preparation page; SHL SVAR; Harver Spoken Language Assessment and Harver for contact centres; Berlitz Philippines testing and assessment. All read 21 October 2026.

Versant is really two different tests

Most guides treat "Versant" as one test. Pearson's own pages describe two speaking tests under the name, and they are not the same.

The Versant English Test

This is the one on the Pearson India store. The store lists six sections: Reading, Repeat, Short Answer Questions, Sentence Builds, Story Retelling and Open Questions, with 63 questions in about 17 minutes. The score report gives an overall score and sub-skill scores from 10 to 90 on the Global Scale of English, with descriptions in four areas: Fluency, Pronunciation, Vocabulary and Sentence Mastery. Important: the Rs 1,100 product on the store is the Practice Test. Pearson says it "is for practice purposes only" and that if you need an official exam you should contact your institution or hiring company.

The Versant by Pearson English Speaking and Listening Test

Pearson's 2024 official guide describes a test with six parts and 40 items in 17 minutes: give a short answer (8 items), repeat the sentence (16), answer a question about a conversation (6), answer questions about a passage (6), retell a passage (2) and give your opinion (2). It reports four skills: Overall Ability, Speaking, Listening and Manner of Speaking, against the GSE and the CEFR. It runs on a mobile phone app or a web browser, and your test administrator may ask you to use a remotely monitored system.

The overlap is large: repeats, short answers, retells and opinions are in both. The differences: Reading and Sentence Builds appear in the store's section list but not in the 2024 guide; the 2024 test adds listening-only parts about conversations and passages. If your invitation does not say which one you will take, prepare for both. Our Versant English Test guide goes deeper on the classic format.

What each test feels like on the day

Versant: fast, timed, unforgiving of silence

Each item is timed. Pearson's 2024 guide says you must start speaking within 6 seconds on short answers and repeats, or the test moves on; you get 30 seconds to retell a story and 40 seconds for an opinion. There is nobody to talk to. The skill that matters most is starting quickly and keeping a steady pace. Prepare with timed drills, not reading about the test.

SVAR: short, mixed, mobile-friendly

SHL says SVAR takes 12 to 15 minutes, works on mobile and web, and has candidates repeat or respond in their own words. SHL also says the test "captures spontaneous, real-time speech", so a memorised script does not help. Our SVAR questions and answers guide walks through the SVAR-specific formats with samples.

Harver: three sections, judged on how you sound

Harver's three sections are single word testing, listening to a sentence and repeating it, and reading a longer paragraph aloud. What it measures is delivery: speaking rate, pauses and hesitations, cadence and pitch. Harver also mentions word choice, but in all three sections the words are given to you, so delivery is where you gain or lose. Employers can add brand-specific "talk tracks", so the paragraph may sound like a real call script. Our Harver English assessment page has drills for each section.

Berlitz: closer to a conversation

Berlitz Philippines offers a Speaking Skills test that can be customised to the skills an employer needs, a Simulated Oral Proficiency Interview (SOPI) online, Listening and Reading tests, and a Writing test for screening large numbers of applicants. Testing runs online or over the phone, at any hour, and results come back within two business days. Berlitz does not publish the speaking test's length or scale. Because the speaking test can be live and customised, practise real conversations, not only drills. See the Berlitz test page for practice topics.

Which employers use which test: official and reported

Test owners rarely name their clients, and employers change tests by account, site and year. So the map below has three labels. Official means a test owner's or employer's own page says it. Candidate reports means candidates and prep sites say it, and we could not confirm it on an official page. Search demand means people search for the pairing; that shows interest, not fact.

For named Indian employers, with campus and lateral hiring separated, see English tests at Indian BPOs and IT services. If you have an official source that confirms or contradicts a row, the official resources page lists the owners' contact routes.

What transfers between the tests

The good news for anyone who does not know their test: most of the skill is shared. The table maps each skill to the tests that use it, from the official task descriptions above.

Two things do not transfer well. Harver puts unusual weight on delivery (rate, pauses, cadence and pitch), so it needs read-aloud work that the newer Versant test does not. And Berlitz's speaking test can be live and customised, so drills alone are not enough; practise real conversations as well. Everything else is one skill set.

Five myths the official pages correct

• "You can buy the official Versant test online." The Rs 1,100 product on Pearson's India store is the Versant English Practice Test, "for practice purposes only". Official tests come through your employer or institution.
• "Buy the practice test twice to see more questions." The store says practice tests are fixed forms, so the questions do not vary from test to test, and all sales are final.
• "SVAR is marked by a recruiter listening to you." SHL describes AI-powered, automated scoring with a report across language metrics.
• "Harver only tests reading." Harver lists three sections, and the middle one is listening to a sentence and repeating it.
• "Berlitz gives you the result at the end of the call." Berlitz Philippines says results are provided within two business days.

How to find out your test and prepare for it

First, read the invitation. Pearson's store says its emails carry test instructions and a Test Identification Number (TIN), and Pearson's score lookup page works from the TIN, so a TIN in your invite points to Versant. An SHL or Harver link opens their platform; a Berlitz test may arrive as a scheduled call or an online link. Second, ask the recruiter in one line: "Could you tell me which English assessment I will take, and whether it is on a phone or a computer?" It is a normal question to ask. Third, if you still do not know, prepare for the shared skills.

Then put it in order. Do the 7-day plan if you have a week; record the read-aloud items in Read Aloud for a word-by-word score; play the calls as a role-play with the AI. When your result arrives, read what your score means. For whether you can book a test yourself and how results reach the employer, see fees, booking and results.