This longitudinal study describes two modes of evaluation that were used to assess language (primarily English) training in a large French company over the last 8 years. It explains why "declarative assessment" was discontinued after three years, before examining in greater detail the "on-site audits" that are the main subject of the paper. The design and content of the latter are explained, as is their gradual transformation from a punitive tool into a means of formative assessment, targeting the professional development and not the coercion of trainers and training companies. Finally, the results of some quantitative analyses are presented and conclusions concerning the realities of these English courses, whatever the initial prescriptions may have been. Examination of state of the art procedures of programme assessment and of the consequences of this process in particular would tend to confirm this as a well-founded approach.