English Speaking Board (International) Ltd

Category: Uncategorised

  • ESB thrilled to support initiative to increase diversity of voices in children’s literature

    ESB is delighted to hear the announcement made by BookTrust that a free copy of an anthology of children’s books by black British authors is to be provided to every primary school in England together with free curriculum resources from August onwards.

    The collection of stories, Happy Here, is a collaboration between Book Trust, publisher Knights Of and the charity Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) and is aimed at children aged seven and older.

    ESB’s Chief Executive, Tina Renshaw says, “What a fantastic gift to primary schools! We wholeheartedly support this initiative and the fantastic aim to enhance the diversity of voices published in children’s literature.

    “We look forward to hearing our learners choose to read some of these stories in their assessments and to hear this rich diversity of voices”.

    Read more about this exciting project here.

    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 play an important role in shaping children’s lives: they open up new worlds, experiences and perspectives, as well as developing vocabulary.  As we ask our learners to read out loud from a favourite book and introduce why they chose it, ESB encourages the development of confidence in reading aloud, clear and audible speech, vocal variety, vocabulary, word sounds and blending, and at the same time hopefully instils in them a love of reading for pleasure.

    If any schools would like to know more about our Speech qualifications, please contact our Product Development team at product@esbuk.org.

  • Communications to Centres: DfE and Ofqual joint consultation

    Dear Centres,

    As you will be aware the Department for Education and Ofqual commenced a joint consultation on Friday 15th January about alternative arrangements for the award of Vocational and Technical Qualifications (VTQs) in 2021 following the cancellation of exams and centre closures. The consultation covers general and vocational qualifications, with the linked document focusing on the latter. It is important that centres, assessors and parents are aware of and respond to the positions upon which the consultation is based, as it does not propose a simple repeat of the outcomes from the Summer Term 2020 – that being adapted assessments or Calculated Grades for the relevant ESB International assessments that were affected in the summer of 2020. 

    As ever we will contact centres directly and place updates on our website when we are in a position to share any outcomes. We will be contacting a range of centres to seek their feedback as to what we feel might be the impact on our work together and are happy to receive any views via product@esbuk.org.

    The consultation closes 11:45pm on 29 January 2021.




    Tina Renshaw
    Chief Executive
    English Speaking Board (International) Ltd.

  • Communications to centres: Assessment Update following recent England wide National Lockdown announcement (Update 1)

    ESB International has been successfully carrying out a proportion of its assessments remotely using video conferencing technologies since September. We have been sharing these successful adapted assessment experiences with our centres via our website and social media so that centres could maintain their confidence in working towards and booking assessments, during the continuing uncertain environment.

    As a result of the England wide national lockdown announced by the Prime Minister on January 4th, ESB International’s Speech and ESOL Skills for Life Speaking and Listening assessments will continue to take place remotely. We use the video conferencing facility that centres habitually use and that your learners are used to. We hope, therefore, it will not be necessary for centres to cancel any existing bookings they may already have in place which are due to take place shortly.

    Detailed information about each qualification, how we are adapting it, and what centres and learners need to do to prepare for remote assessments are set out in the guidance documents below:-

    ESB Centre Guidance for ESOL Skills for Life Assessments (Synchronous) during Lockdown 2021 Download
    ESB Centre Guidance for Speech Assessments (Synchronous) during Lockdown 2021Download

    If you have any questions about these guidance documents or delivering adapted assessments, please contact the Product Development team at product@esbuk.org.

    Any centre wanting to have ESOL Skills for Life Reading or Writing assessments during this lockdown period should please email product@esbuk.org.

    Not only do our qualifications build learners’ confidence and boost progression and employability, but they are also built with our learners’ interests at heart, ensuring an enjoyable learning experience.

  • Festive Period Closing Notice

    We would like to inform you that the offices of English Speaking Board (International) Ltd. will be closed from 23rd December 2020 – 1st  January 2021 inclusive, for the festive period. We will reopen on Monday 4th January, 2021.

    Please be assured that all queries will be answered as soon as we return.

    Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to working with you in 2021.

    We wish you all a wonderful Holiday Season and a Happy New Year from the ESB Team.