Assessment

Assessment of International ESOL -

(English for Speakers of Other Languages)- the Written exam (writing, reading and listening)

The City & Guilds International ESOL suite of examinations is closely allied to the levels of the Common European Framework of Reference produced by the Council of Europe, details of which are available on www.coe.int/lang

International ESOL examinations are stringently assessed against the criteria as detailed in the syllabus.

The grades awarded will be either First Class Pass, Pass or Fail.

A First Class Pass is awarded when the candidate achieves First Class Passes in the Listening, Reading and Writing sections.

A Pass is awarded when the candidate achieves at least 2 Passes and a Narrow Fail in the Listening, Reading and Writing sections.

A Fail is given when the candidate achieves 1 + Fail grades or 2 + Narrow Fail grades in the Listeningreading and Writing sections.

• marks are awarded for the Listening and Reading Sections; the breakdown of these is shown for each level, together with the minimum requirements for First Class and Pass
• the Listening and Reading questions are marked against paper-specific marking schemes
• the free-writing sections are marked against performance criteria aligned to the descriptors of the CEFR. The candidate is judged on how well the performance in the test meets these criteria, while Task fulfillment, Grammar, Vocabulary and Structure are used to confirm the overall assessment.

For more detailed information on the marking scheme for the writing tasks, as well as on the assessment marks for each task type at a particular level, please download City & Guilds Qualification Handbook for International ESOL.

All Examiners are approved by City & Guilds and undergo rigorous and frequent training and moderation, to ensure that grades are awarded strictly in accordance with EFR levels and City & Guilds examination requirements.