• ONLINE RESULTS RELEASE DATES (.pdf format)
  
  
• CAMBRIDGE ESOL NEWSROOM

Here you can also find early announcements such as:

• Changes to the syllabus of an exam
• Changes following an exam review process
• Our centre's next annual September teaching seminar
• Swiss Cambridge ESOL conferences
• and helpful information for teachers, schools and candidates
  

SEMINAR for TEACHERS

Saturday, 18 September 2010

The focus will be on

FCE/CAE
Assessing Speaking and developing
the effective communication skills tested

Further details and possibility to reserve your place online will be available on this website from early May.

The latest Cambridge ESOL Newsletter for teachers is now available.

Newsletter 30 includes the following features:

• Language learning vital for European democracy
• Top Washington law school rules in favour of ILEC
• Your stories needed for centenary book
• BEC to the future
• Cambridge ESOL and fairness
• How reading is examined

Check out the following Website where you can find the latest and previous issues of Cambridge ESOL's newsletter:

www.cambridgeesol.org/about_us/newsletters.htm

If you wish to be placed on the mailing list for the Cambridge first Newsletter, which is issued several times per year, contact Cambridge ESOL Information either by e-mail:
ESOLinfo@CambridgeESOL.org or Fax 0044 1223 46 02 78.

The latest past paper packs (including audio CD of listening test) and downloadable examination reports are now available:

KET and PET

• December 2008 Past Paper Packs
• December 2008 Examination Reports

FCE, CAE and CPE

• December 2008 Past Paper Packs
• December 2008 Examination Reports

BEC Preliminary, Vantage and Higher

• May 2008 Past Paper Packs
• May 2008 Examination Reports
  

The new Cambridge ESOL Teacher Support website has now been launched. The website provides an invaluable, user-friendly resource for all teachers preparing candidates for Cambridge ESOL exams. New features include:

• an interactive file-sharing area which allows you to download materials such as lesson plans, rate and comment on other people’s materials and their own upload teaching materials
• a new ‘Advice for Teachers’ section offering teaching tips and strategies for every paper of each exam
• an events areas that allows you to search for events according to location and exam
• an online booking form for teacher seminars
• discussion forums where you can interact with other teachers as well as directly with Cambridge ESOL
• links to publishers and published materials for each exam
• access to handbooks for each exam, sample papers, exam reports and further information on teaching awards.

Visit the website now at www.teachers.cambridgeesol.org

Cambridge ESOL have produced further comprehensive teacher resource packs to help prepare students for their speaking tests:

KET (S) and PET(S)
BEC PRELIMINARY, BEC VANTAGE AND BEC HIGHER

Each pack consists of a book with Teacher’s Notes, Student Worksheets and colour versions of the candidate visuals. The accompanying DVD contains new video footage of students taking the tests.

Along with FCE, CAE, and CPE, these packs are now available to purchase from Cambridge’s safe and secure online shop.

Get your exam preparation off to a good start with Top Tips from Cambridge ESOL.

The Top Tips Series has been developed further to include revision guides for PET and CAE.

These titles follow the same successful formula as Top Tips for FCE:

• A5 revision guides designed to provide practical guidance and advice to candidates
• Clear examples and explanations to show exactly what each tip means
• General tips for each paper to help candidates as they revise
• Sections on how to revise and what to do on the day of the exam
• An accompanying CD ROM with a complete exam paper (including Listening paper)
• Complete with answers and sample answers (for the Writing paper)
• Video of a Speaking test showing real students

Written by Cambridge ESOL examiners with many years’ experience of setting and marking the exams, these handy revision guides are a great way to prepare for the PET, FCE and CAE. 

Find out more about the Top Tips series.

Cambridge ESOL has announced that the November/December 2009 FCE-CAE-CPE and BEC Preliminary exams have been affected by a change of date for the online release of the results.

The NEW online results release dates for the Nov-Dec 2009 exam session are as follows:

• FCE-CAE-CPE Tuesday, 26 January 2010
• BEC Preliminary Monday, 08 February 2010

To purchase practice materials and revision guides for Cambridge ESOL exams, please visit Cambridge’s safe and secure online shop .


Top Tips
PET, FCE and CAE

Speaking Test Preparation Packs
KET for Schools and PET for Schools
FCE, CAE and CPE
BEC Preliminary, BEC Vantage and BEC Higher


Look forward to more material to come in the future.

From 2010 the Cambridge ESOL FCE and CAE exams will no longer be scheduled on the same Saturday but held on two different dates.

The FCE is confirmed for Saturday 13 March 2010
The CAE for Saturday 6 March 2010 i.e. one week earlier than in previous spring sessions

This should help with the conflict that some students have experienced when needing to sit both these exams in the spring.

Cambridge ESOL exams are increasingly being used in primary and lower secondary education around the world. Cambridge ESOL is therefore now offering a range of exams which are specially tailored to suit the interests of school pupils from approximately 15/16 and under. KET and PET for Schools exams follow exactly the same format and have identical task types to the existing standard KET and PET. The difference is that the content and treatment of topics has been particularly targeted at the interests and experience of students of a younger age.

The benefits to students include:

• It is felt that to specially tailor the exam content to suit the interests of pupils will in turn increase their motivation to learn English.
• Because it is based on familiar topics and situations, KET and PET for schools give pupils the confidence to use their English.
• Greater enthusiasm to carry on learning.

Please note that the dates are different from the standard KET and PET dates and that the speaking test will be held the same day as the written exams.  We will be pleased to offer the possibility of sitting them where there is sufficient interest. The next possible sessions are:

Saturday 5 December 2009
Wednesday 24 March 2010

Please make early contact with the local exam centre if you are interested in entering candidates for either of these two exam sessions.  Handbooks as well as promotional leaflets are available upon request.

For those wishing to keep a record of their skills and experience, they can take advantage of the “My ePortfolio”. The electronic portfolio uses the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) to allow students to record their ability in a way that is easily understood by employers, colleges and Universities on an international scale. Students can use the portfolio to record their language learning, update a personal ‘language’ biography and keep a repository of their work and achievements. New features for the site will be launched in 2009.
To find out more, visit the candidate support site:

http://www.candidates.cambridgeesol.org/cs/

The standardised score has now been launched for FCE, CAE and CPE exams, and all candidates for these exams received a statement of results with the score on it.

The score will now follow for other exams for the March session: BEC (all levels), KET, PET, including KET for Schools – KET (S) and PET for Schools – PET (S).

More information on this important enhancement is available on the Cambridge ESOL Website under N° 1.

BEC Preliminary and KET and PET exams, including KET (S) and PET (S), will also benefit from a new system of certification; candidates who do not achieve a passing grade but have demonstrated ability at the Council Europe level below the examination they have taken will be awarded a certificate showing that level.

To clarify,

The full set of grades for BEC Preliminary will be:
Pass with Merit, Pass, Level A2 and Fail.

The full set of grades for PET and PET (S) will be:
Pass with Merit, Pass, Level A2 and Fail

The full set of grades for KET and KET (S) will be:
Pass with Merit, Pass Level A1 and Fail.

More information on this important enhancement is available on the Cambridge ESOL Website under N°2.

Most Cambridge ESOL examinations test candidates at a particular level of ability, e.g. Council of Europe Level B1. Candidates who pass an examination receive a certificate indicating their performance within that level.

From March 2009, Cambridge ESOL is introducing changes to certification affecting only the KET, PET and BEC Preliminary exams in order to acknowledge the achievements of those candidates who do not meet the requirements of the level at which they are tested, but do demonstrate ability at the level below.

Under the new system of certification for the above exams, successful candidates will continue to receive a certificate marked with one of the two passing grades – Pass with Merit or Pass. Those who do not achieve a passing grade, but have demonstrated ability at the Council of Europe level below the examination they have taken, will be awarded a certificate showing that level. For example, a candidate may narrowly fail the PET exam (mapped to Council of Europe Level B1) but demonstrate ability at the level below (Council of Europe Level A2). They will not qualify for a PET certificate, but will be issued with a certificate for the level below (Council of Europe Level A2).