Cambridge English For Life (CEFL), one of Malaysia’s leading English language education providers, partnered with HeyHi to launch the National English Proficiency Challenge (NEPC) 2026, a nationwide English competition for students aged 6 to 17.
As CEFL’s official online competition platform partner and sponsor, HeyHi powered the competition journey from registration and digital assessments to automated shortlisting and the live Grand Final held at Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre, Subang Jaya on 25 October 2026.
The response was encouraging. Within its first month of registration, NEPC attracted more than 1,200 sign-ups from students across Malaysia.
A Shared Ambition Built on 25 Years of Excellence
For more than 25 years, Cambridge English For Life (CEFL) has played an important role in shaping English language education in Malaysia. With more than 70 centres nationwide and over 100,000 graduates, CEFL has built a strong track record in helping learners develop their English proficiency. It is also an Authorised Cambridge English exam centre and a learning partner of National Geographic Learning.
The launch of NEPC 2026 marked a meaningful milestone in CEFL’s 25th anniversary year, extending its commitment to English language education beyond the classroom. Through a nationwide competition, students aged 6 to 17 had the opportunity to put their English skills to the test and benchmark their proficiency against peers from across Malaysia.
Supporting this ambition was HeyHi, bringing its AI-powered e-assessment technology to make large-scale digital competitions possible. By combining CEFL’s educational expertise with HeyHi’s assessment capabilities, the partnership created a platform for more students to demonstrate their English proficiency on a national stage.
More Than a Technology Partner
HeyHi’s involvement in NEPC went beyond providing the competition platform. As the official platform partner and sponsor, HeyHi worked alongside CEFL to make a nationwide English competition accessible to young learners across Malaysia.
From simplifying registration to supporting secure digital assessments and automated results processing, HeyHi helped reduce the operational demands of running a multi-round competition.
More importantly, NEPC gave students an opportunity to measure their English proficiency against a national pool of participants, with the competition being structured around the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Beyond having their abilities assessed, students have gained valuable experience competing on a national platform, built their confidence in their English skills, and received recognition for their achievements. For top-performing students, NEPC has also opened a pathway towards an internationally recognised Cambridge English qualification through sponsored examination opportunities.
This reflects HeyHi’s belief that technology should do more than make assessments digital. It should help education providers create meaningful learning opportunities and give more students the chance to demonstrate their abilities.
A National Journey in Three Rounds
NEPC 2026 welcomed participants from CEFL centres and the general public, giving students aged 6 to 17 across Malaysia the opportunity to put their English proficiency to the test.
Participants competed across eight categories, ranging from Seed (YLE Starters, ages 6–8) to Legend (C2 Proficiency, ages 16–17), with each category aligned to a different level of English proficiency.
The competition unfolded over three rounds, with top performers earning the chance to compete for prizes worth up to RM20,000. This included fully sponsored Cambridge English Qualifications (CEQ) exams, CEQ examination fee waivers, as well as trophies, medals and certificates.
- Qualifier Round (8–23 August 2026): Students completed their first assessment online from home, at a time that suited them.
- Semi-Final Round (12–27 September 2026): Students who qualified progressed to a second online assessment to determine the finalists.
- Grand Final (25 October 2026): The top finalists came together for a live competition in Subang Jaya, marking the culmination of NEPC 2026.
Inside the HeyHi Online Competition Platform
HeyHi powered the full participant journey on a single platform, under CEFL’s own brand.
- Custom-branded registration and payments. The NEPC sign-up page reflected CEFL’s brand and connected to its payment gateway. CEFL collected fees directly, across early-bird, standard, and extended pricing.
- Digitised content and AI question generation. HeyHi digitised CEFL’s original questions. AI then generated additional question sets, giving every category the depth it needed.
- Randomised assessments for greater integrity. The platform randomised question sets, so each student received a different paper. This helped protect the integrity of the at-home rounds.
- Non-AI proctoring. The platform enforced full-screen mode and detected when a student switched browser tabs or windows. Each event was logged with a timestamp, giving CEFL a clear record for any disqualification review.
- Automated communication. Sign-up confirmations, reminders, and results were sent to every student by email.
- Automatic shortlisting. Students were ranked by highest score, fastest completion, and earliest submission.
- Results and certificates. Each student received an online results page with a downloadable certificate, designed to reflect CEFL’s brand.
- Dedicated support. A dedicated project team and prompt tech support stood behind the contest from start to finish.
The Efficiency Impact
Running NEPC online made a measurable difference to the effort and cost of delivering a national competition. Compared with running the same competition offline, HeyHi’s platform is estimated to have saved:
- Around 894 working hours across registration, content creation, grading, shortlisting and communications. At a labour rate of USD 8 per hour, this is worth approximately USD 7,150.
- Approximately USD 7,000 in physical costs, including printing, certificate postage, venue and invigilator costs, and courier logistics.
Together, this represents an estimated productivity gain of around USD 14,000 for a competition with more than 1,200 participants.
Looking Ahead
The Grand Final on 25 October 2026 marked the culmination of NEPC 2026, bringing the competition’s top performers together in Subang Jaya. For CEFL, the competition provided a national platform for students to benchmark their English proficiency and showcase their abilities. For HeyHi, the collaboration demonstrated how technology can help education providers organise and deliver large-scale competitions under their own brand.
The success of NEPC highlights what is possible when educational expertise meets purpose-built assessment technology. Whether you are an education group, language centre, school network or organisation planning a nationwide competition, HeyHi provides the technology and support to bring your vision to life.
Learn more about HeyHi’s online competition platform and discover how we can support your next education initiative.
