English Speaking Board (International) Ltd

Author: Liam Morton

  • Communications to centres: Ofqual’s Extended Extraordinary Regulatory Framework (Update 1)

    Assessments in 2020/21

    We hope that you and your learners have settled into the new academic year, and you are keeping safe and well. You are probably thinking about how to manage your assessments over the next months and we at ESB International (Ltd). are working on how we can ensure that assessments can go ahead, if local or national conditions prevent our assessors from coming to your centre.

    Our priority is to offer face-to-face assessments, so that your learners can have the experience of demonstrating all the skills they have developed to an ESB International assessor who is in the room with them. We have protocols to keep the learners, teachers and assessors as safe as possible, and will follow all your centre’s procedures as well.

    However, we must also prepare for times when the local or national situation prevents assessors from coming to centres.

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    How your assessments can continue if the local or national situation prevents assessors from coming to centres
    The great news is most ESB assessments can go ahead with synchronous live assessment using video conferencing tools. Ofqual, our regulator, has released the Extended Extraordinary Regulatory Framework (read more here: EERF), which permits Awarding Organisations to offer adapted assessments when they are required, for example if you cannot have an assessor in your centre, or the assessor cannot travel, and so for most qualifications, we will be offering synchronous (live), online assessment when it is needed, using the video-conferencing software that your learners are used to. We have already offered this adaptation in the summer, and the learners, assessors and teachers found it to be valid, reliable and a very positive experience. For some qualifications, asynchronous, recorded assessment may also be possible if it is required. There are a few qualifications that cannot be adapted using asynchronous digital assessments, which can only be assessed synchronously.

    When can I have the list of qualifications that can be adapted and the detail of what will happen with my learners?
    Detailed information about each qualification, how we are adapting it, and what centres and learners need to do to prepare are in the guidance documents that we will be releasing on Monday 2nd November.

    If you have any questions about assessments in the meantime, please email product@esbuk.org. We wish you all a restful and healthy half-term, and are very much looking forward to working with you in 2020 and 2021.

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  • ESB QUALIFICATION NEWS – Level 1 Speech Pathways

    We are pleased to announce that our new Level 1 Speech Pathways qualification will be available from January 2021.

    From January 2021, learners will be able to take the updated and improved ESB Level 1 Award in Speech (Grade 2) pathways-based qualification. Below is a short description of each pathway option:

    • Speech to Connect – This option is the existing Grade 2 assessment, which includes the following sections: Personal Interest Talk, Speaking by Heart, Reading to Listeners and Open Exchange of Ideas. It is designed to develop learners’ presentational skills and build their confidence in self-expression. In particular, it encourages learners to develop a love of literature and provides them with an opportunity to bring text to life.

    In addition, the three new pathways are:

    • Speech to Inform – This option is designed to strengthen learners’ understanding of an important Key Stage 2-3 curriculum topic, as well as encouraging the development of interests in current national and local issues.
    • Speech to Perform – This option is designed to encourage learners to be creative. In particular, this pathway will give learners the opportunity to compose and perform their own self-composition.
    • Speech for Employability – This option is designed to introduce learners to the world of business and entrepreneurship. It provides learners with an opportunity to not only give a talk about a famous or successful businessperson, but also deliver a pitch for an existing or an invented product or service.   

    When will the new qualification be available to book?
    You will be able to make bookings from 1st November, 2020 for assessments that are due to take place from 1st January, 2021.

    Can we continue to book the existing, Level 1, Grade 2 Speech qualification until then?
    Yes! From this September to October 31st, you can continue to register learners for the existing one-unit ESB Level 1 Award in Speech (Grade 2) – (Ofqual number: 501/1664/2).

    Timeline

    QualificationDates for registrationDates for assessment
    Existing, one-unit Level 1 Award in SpeechSeptember 1st, 2020 – October 31st, 2020.September 1st, 2020 – December 31st, 2020
    New, Level 1 Speech Pathways qualificationNovember 1st, 2020 onwardsJanuary 1st, 2021 onwards

    Key points:

    • Assessments for this qualification must be booked for dates up until the end of December, 2020. Any assessments planned from January, 2021 onwards will be for the new level 1 Speech Pathways qualification.
    • Any assessments planned for November or December, 2020 on the existing, one-unit level 1 Award in Speech, must be registered by 31st October, 2020 as this qualification will be withdrawn from 1st November, 2020.

    As part of the project, we will be making small amendments to the learning outcomes, assessment criteria and grading criteria of the Speech to Connect pathway in order to strengthen qualification validity. However, please note that the grade boundaries of the assessment will remain the same (e.g. Pass, Good Pass, Merit, Merit Plus and Distinction.   

    You will still be able to choose the traditional route to obtain the ESB Level 1 Award in Speech (Grade 2) from January, 2021. This is the Speech to Connect pathway.

    Our new and exciting pathway options are designed to advance the oracy skills of learners in a way that suits them, playing to their strengths and interests. 

    Please click on the links to download a sample Qualification Specification and associated Teacher Guides for the new Speech Pathways qualification.

    ESB Level 1 Award in Speech (Grade 2) Sample SpecificationDownload
    Speech to Inform Teacher GuideDownload
    Speech to Perform Teacher GuideDownload
    Speech for Employability Teacher GuideDownload
    Speech to Connect Teacher GuideDownload

    If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us by email at: product@esbuk.org or alternatively you may wish to speak to Senior Product Developer Mark Crosher on 01695 573439 (ext. 218).  

  • COVID DOESN’T STOP ENGLISH SPEAKING BOARD IN THE CARIBBEAN!

    Learners in one of ESB’s most-established international centres in the Caribbean recently had a successful assessment session via Zoom.

    ESB Assessor Julia Ward was delighted to see the high standard of work from Trinidad’s & Tobago’s LenguaLynda Centre.

    Julia said:

    “The technology worked and the students all did extremely well. They were such a lovely group of learners that I really hope that I get the chance to meet them in person one day”.

    Centre Organiser Lynda Banks-Khan, commented:

    “Thank you for your wonderful comments about our learners. They have all worked so hard and shone in the face of adversity. I am so proud of them all. For most of them this year, ESB has been the most consistent part of their lives. We are grateful to be part of an organisation that inspires confidence, among many other qualities, in our students”.

  • ESB endorses the National Literacy Trust’s Initiative – ‘Words for Life’

    ESB wholeheartedly supports this initiative and congratulates all involved. Our 12,000 learners who annually achieve an ESB speech qualification are asked to select a favourite book and prepare an excerpt to read, as part of their assessment as demonstrated below.

    Books open up new worlds, experiences and perspectives, as well as develop our vocabulary.  As we ask our learners to read out loud from a favourite book and introduce why they chose it, ESB International also encourages the development of confidence in reading aloud, clear and audible speech, vocal variety, vocabulary, word sounds and blending and hopefully a pleasure in reading.

    If any schools would like to know more about our Speech qualifications and talk to one of our team please contact us on findoutmoreaboutESB@esbuk.org.