Author: Liam Morton

“Young people with SEN often have fewer opportunities in later life: by age 27 they are less likely than their peers to be in sustained employment” (DfE, 2018).

English Speaking Board is steadfast in its determination to positively impact this trend.

Learners at Belfast Met College recently had the opportunity to develop essential skills for work and independence by partaking in ESB’s Inspiring Confidence in Employability (ICE) qualifications.

Says ESB’s Senior Assessor, Peter Ellis, “This group from Belfast Met showed a consistently high standard in their assessment today. Each one had a full portfolio of quality work which was full of colour, information, and photographs. The assessment required them to present themselves to the group and talk about their work experience and hobbies. There was also a telephone exercise and a one-to-one interview. Each student presented themselves smartly, coped with my questions well and were all charming and friendly.”

Juliet Meighan, teacher at Belfast Met College adds, “ It was our absolute pleasure to welcome Peter back to the College for our first face to face ICE assessments in over 2 years. The group rose to the challenge, putting any nerves to one side to complete their Oral Skills for Interview assessments.

“The learners enjoyed showing their portfolio of work to Peter– in particular their “ICE Cubes” which was the company name for their Enterprise unit. We also had many photographs on display of all the healthy lunches the group had made as part of their ‘Being healthy/Eating well’ unit. It was wonderful to see all students shine both individually and as a group.”

With the aim to embrace inclusivity and to empower all its learners to achieve their potential, ESB qualifications encourage social mobility and enable individuals to make informed choices – completing a bespoke qualification specific to their employment needs and competencies.

ESB’s ICE qualifications are endorsed by lead employers such as Costa Coffee, Asda, Morrisons and Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

Says ESB’s Chief Assessor, Ben Jackson, “It is fantastic to witness the immense impact that our assessments have on our learners – equipping them with skills for the future. You should all be incredibly proud of yourselves and your work!”

ESB’s 70/70 Campaign is financially supporting more centres to access its assessments!

ESB continues to promote inclusivity and equal opportunities for learners with significant learning disabilities as part of its wider 70/70 Campaign.  It aims to reach out to disadvantaged learners – those facing disadvantage from socio-economic factors, migration, and special educational needs and disabilities – and will support their schools, colleges, and organisations financially to access its assessments, support, and training. 

As well as its ICE qualifications, ESB has additional speech qualifications for learners with significant special needs and disabilities – Building Confidence in Communication qualifications. Find out more about these qualifications here.

If you are interested in our Speech qualifications for neurodiverse learners, we would love to hear from you. Please contact a member of our Business Development Team at business@esbuk.org for further information. Once you contact us you can also find out if your centre is eligible for financial support through our 70/70 Campaign.

ESB celebrates Mental Health Awareness Week!

To celebrate Mental Health Awareness Week, ESB is reflecting on the importance of individuals possessing key oracy skills in order for them to express themselves, their thoughts and their emotions, clearly.

Says ESB’s Product Development Manager, Anthea Wilson, “Here at ESB, we recognise that a focus on speaking and listening in today’s world is crucial to enable individuals to build successful relationships, share their experiences and thoughts, and listen to others. With the pandemic and its ensuing limitations in respect of face-to- face communication, ESB believes it is more important than ever that people realise that their voice has value, and our assessments enable learners to do this.

“ESB enables individuals to develop the confidence to embrace their individuality in a world with social media.”

As a member of the Oracy Network, the group supporting the work of the Oracy APPG, ESB has been successfully offering oracy qualifications to boost learners’ confidence in communication and promote wellbeing for nearly 70 years.

• According to the Oracy APPG’s inquiry, two thirds of primary teachers (69%) and nearly half of secondary teachers (44%) said school closures had a negative effect on the spoken language development of disadvantaged students.
  
• Evidence from Wexham Court Primary School, submitted to the Oracy APPG Inquiry emphasised: “Oracy has a strong role and impact on…wellbeing and mental health. Everybody needs to feel confident enough to talk and share their feelings at any given time, not just children, [but] adults too.”

ESB recognises the importance of giving learners the opportunity to find their voice and communicate their views but at the same time, it places great significance on the development of learners’ key listening skills.

Its wide range of speaking and listening qualifications provide opportunities for learners to develop their speaking, listening and learning skills through a range of assessment activities across four sections.

Not only does ESB gives its learners the option to choose what they wish to talk about, but also offers them a platform and a chance to be heard and gives them the freedom to speak passionately about what really interests them.

If you are interested in our Speech qualifications, we would love to hear from you. Please contact a member of our Business Development Team at business@esbuk.org for further information. Once you contact us you can also find out whether your centre is eligible for financial support through our 70/70 Campaign.

Mental Health Awareness Week runs from Monday 9^th May – Sunday 15th May and is the UK’s national week to raise awareness of mental health.

ESB introduces a new sample set of ESOL Skills for Life (SfL) Reading and Writing papers from Entry 1 to Level 2.

Centres can view the new Sample Set 7 (Set M) by accessing the Resources tab on ESB’s website or by clicking on the links in the table below.

	Reading Set 7	Reading Mark Scheme Set 7	Writing Set 7
	Entry 1 Reading	Entry 1 Reading MS	Entry 1 Writing
	Entry 2 Reading	Entry 2 Reading MS	Entry 2 Writing
	Entry 3 Reading	Entry 3 Reading MS	Entry 3 Writing
	Level 1 Reading	Level 1 Reading MS	Level 1 Writing
	Level 2 Reading	Level 2 Reading MS	Level 2 Writing

Says ESB’s Product Development Manager, Anthea Wilson, “After listening to our centres’ requests for more resources, we are delighted to launch these new sample papers. Here at ESB, we aim to ensure all centres and learners feel supported from the outset, right through to completion of their ESB journey. We are committed to supporting teachers and helping them to encourage and fulfil the potential of learners. We hope that these new sample papers will enable teachers, tutors and learners to effectively prepare for their assessments and gain the maximum benefit from their ESB experience.”

Why should your centre take ESB’s ESOL SfL assessments?

ESB’s ESOL SfL assessments facilitate language development to help learners become competent in core language skills; reading, writing and speaking and listening, and to obtain the vital skills that support engagement in daily life activities, develop further learning and independence, and gain or progress to meaningful and sustainable employment.

Below are just some of the benefits of ESB ESOL Skills for Life qualifications:

If you believe that your learners would benefit from our ESOL Skills for Life assessments, we would love to hear from you. Please email our Business Development Team at business@esbuk.org to find out whether your centre is eligible for funding and support through our 70/70 Campaign.

Guidance on how to book your assessments can also be found on our website here.