The English Language Testing Society (ELT Society) is proud to announce Professor Barry O’Sullivan OBE as the recipient of its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award in Language Testing and Assessment for 2025. This prestigious award honors individuals whose lifelong work has made a significant and sustained impact on the field of language assessment.

With a career spanning over 30 years, Professor O’Sullivan has transformed the landscape of language testing through groundbreaking research, innovative practice, and global leadership. As Director of English Language Research at the British Council, he is renowned for developing and validating the Aptis test and for his pioneering socio-cognitive model of test development and validation.

Barry’s work has deepened the profession’s understanding of spoken performance, rater behavior, benchmarking, and standard setting. His recent forays into artificial intelligence and machine learning in assessment demonstrate his continued leadership at the cutting edge of the field. Beyond his research, Barry has influenced language assessment policy and education as the founding president of the UK Association for Language Testing and Assessment, a visiting professor at the University of Reading, and an advisory professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His exceptional contributions have been recognized with fellowships from the Academy of Social Sciences and the Asian Association for Language Assessment, as well as an OBE from the UK government.

The ELT Society is honored to recognize Professor O’Sullivan’s enduring legacy and profound influence on generations of language assessment professionals worldwide.