International Spoken ESOL

... if you're taking these qualifications

• What sorts of things do they cover?

  You'll cover:

  • speaking English in educational and social situations.
    
• How will I learn and be assessed?

  Essentially these qualifications are procifiency tests to assess your ability to communicate in English, so you don't necessarily learn but demonstrate your skills.

  Your centre may provide  you with an exam preparation course to help you get ready for the exam.

• Which level is right for me?

  Preliminary - A1 (Entry Level 1)

  You can:

  • use everyday expressions and very basic phrases for practical needs
  • ask and answer questions about personal details
  • understand short texts on familiar topics and obtain information from signs and symbols
  • write simple phrases and sentences in documents, ie forms.

   

  Access - A2 (Entry Level 2)

  You can:

  • understand sentences and frequently-used expressions
  • communicate in tasks requiring an exchange of information
  • obtain information from short documents, familiar sources, signs and symbols
  • write to communicate with some awareness of the intended audience.

   

  Achiever - B1 (Entry Level 3)

  You can:
  

  • understand main points of clear standard communication
  • convey information, feelings and opinions on familiar topics
  • engage in discussion to reach a shared understanding
  • produce a simple connected text
  • describe experiences, events,  hopes & ambitions.

   

  Communicator - B2 (Level 1)

  You can:

  • understand main ideas of complex communication 
  • interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity without strain for either party
  • engage in discussion in familiar and unfamiliar situations
  • communicate in detail, appropriate to purpose and audience.

   

  Expert - C1 (Level 2)

  You can:
  

  • understand demanding texts and recognise implicit meaning
  • use language fluently and spontaneously
  • engage in discussion making clear and effective contributions
  • produce well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects
  • communicate ideas and opinions effectively.

   

  Mastery - C2 (Level 3)

  You can:

  • understand with ease virtually everything heard or read
  • summarise information, reconstruct arguments and accounts coherently
  • express self spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in more complex situations.
    
    

  For more detailed level descriptors please go to International ESOL & SESOL (CEFR) overall descriptors for each level.

• How long do they take?

  Guided learning hours
  Guided learning hours are the hours you spend learning with your training provider or on your own. The guided learning hours for this qualification are:

  • Entry Level 1: 90 hours
  • Entry Level 2: 90 hours
  • Entry Level 3: 90 hours
  • Level 1: 90 hours
  • Level 2: 90 hours
  • Level 3: 90 hours.
    
• What jobs could they lead to?

  A City & Guilds Certificate in International Spoken ESOL could help you to get a job in an English-speaking company or a place on a course at an English-speaking university.

  When taken as part of the International ESOL Diploma (9992) these qualifications are recognised by the UK Border Agency as approved English language tests for Tiers 1 and 2 visas.