What are external ESOL Skills for Life assessments?

Unlike the majority of other Awarding Organisations who offer accredited ESOL Skills for Life assessments, English Speaking Board (International) Ltd. not only creates the qualifications and exam papers, but also assesses, marks and certificates learners – benefits that are all included in the price each learner’s qualification.

Why choose external assessments?

Our external assessments are designed to reduce many of the burdens centres experience during busy exam periods. External assessments offer many benefits over an internal model, as ESB International as the Awarding Organisation assumes many of the responsibilities that would otherwise be under the centre’s remit:

What is right for you?	Internal	External
Speaking & Listening	YOU provide and train staff to conduct assessments YOU provide and train staff to mark assessments YOU provide and train an internal verifier to moderate assessments YOU host and pay for external verification	WE send an assessor to your venue WE train, standardise and moderate the assessor OUR assessor results your learners against a standardised criteria WE create, print and send your learners’ certificates
Reading and Writing	YOU print papers YOU provide and train staff to mark assessments YOU provide and train staff to moderate assessments YOU host and pay for external verification	YOU print papers WE mark assessments WE standardise markers annually WE guarantee that all borderline and unsuccessful papers will be moderated

What is included in the price of an ESB ESOL Skills for Life qualification?

Travel and logistics

Our assessors travel to your venue for Speaking & Listening assessments, no matter where it is in the UK.

Quality control

All Reading and Writing papers are marked to uniform criteria by markers who are continually standardised. All borderline papers are moderated.

Accredited certificates

We create, print and dispatch a physical certificate to every learner following a successful pass for any mode of assessment.

But aren’t external assessments more expensive than internal equivalents?

While internal qualifications may appear cheaper at first glance, the hidden costs quickly add up. External assessments eliminate the need for time-consuming internal marking and moderation, reducing lost hours for your teaching staff. Internal assessments often require significant investment in staff training and verification, which can make them less cost effective than external equivalents.

ESB International is transparent about its prices and centre fees, and we do not invoice until the next working day after the assessment, giving our centres the flexibility to manage their budgets more effectively. You can find a full list of our centre fees here.

What makes ESB different from other external providers?

You simply won’t find a more personable, supportive or responsive provider of ESOL Skills for Life qualifications in the UK. Our centres benefit from:

Rapid, responsive support

We focus on a close, supportive relationship with our centres. We resolve 96.3% of all centre queries in just 48 hours.

Flexible, on-demand assessments

Just 2 days’ notice is required for booking Reading and Writing assessments, and you can change learners’ names up until 24 hours before the assessment.

Fast results and certificates

Results are delivered within 5 days (10 days in peak periods) and certificates within 10 days, 99% of the time.

Personalised reports

Personalised reports and feedback are provided for all learners who complete Speaking & Listening assessments. Learners who are unsuccessful in Reading & Writing are also advised which assessment criteria to work on.

Friendly, standardised assessors

Our assessors are experts and practitioners recruited from the ESOL community. They are friendly, sympathetic to learners’ backgrounds and skilled at bringing out their full potential.

Secure, trusted assessments

Our markers and assessors are standardised annually and regularly moderated. Our pass rates reflect the excellence of our centres and learners, and the security of our assessment criteria.

Fast Track service

We understand that some ESOL Skills for Life learners may face unexpected relocation whilst they are working towards their ESOL Skills for Life qualifications. To support these learners, we offer a dedicated fast-track service whereby Reading and Writing assessments can be scheduled more flexibly to help these learners gain the qualifications they need without delay. If you would like to hear more about our fast-track offering, please contact our Educational Delivery Team.

Why ESB International is the preferred choice for external ESOL Skills for Life provision

“Exceptional”. “Efficient”. “Elevate”.

Our experience with ESB has been exceptional. They have successfully combined quality with efficiency, which has allowed us to elevate our ESOL programme. We’re pleased with the positive feedback from learners and look forward to continuing our journey with ESB
Michael Killin,
ESOL Curriculum Manager
Dudley College of Technology

Dudley College, one of the valued institutions in our ESOL community, has spoken in glowing terms of their recent transition to ESB International from another Awarding Organisation offering external ESOL Skills for Life assessments.

Read full testimonial from Dudley College

How easy is it to switch to ESB International from another Awarding Organisation?

All of our ESOL Skills for Life qualifications are aligned to the Adult ESOL Core Curriculum, so you won’t need to change your schemes of work or the levels to which your learners are currently working towards. We recognise spiky profiles, so your learners can complete the Reading, Writing or Speaking & Listening Award that is right for them and get an overarching certificate. If your learners have already achieved an Award from another organisation, they can put it towards their All-Modes Certificate from English Speaking Board (International) Ltd.

Moving your ESOL Skills for Life provision to English Speaking Board is very straightforward, whether you are switching from another Awarding Organisation or starting from scratch. In just 6 easy steps, your organisation can be registered to deliver qualifications from our ESOL Skills for Life portfolio – backed by our industry-leading levels of support and flexibility.

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01. Discovery

After expressing an interest in any of our ESOL Skills for Life qualifications, our Business Strategy Team will arrange a discovery meeting to get a greater understanding of both your organisation and learners. This is also a great opportunity to ask us anything about our assessment methodology, particularly about the benefits and differences of external assessments.

02. Collaboration

We have the personnel on hand to provide expert advice and offer a plethora of bespoke sessions for a whole of business acclimatisation to ESB, such as a meeting between our Customer Experience Team and your Exams Officer to understand our booking process, or a meeting between our respective Finance Departments for clarity surrounding our fees and prices. This ensures a seamless integration tailored to your unique requirements every step of the way.

03. Onboarding

Staff responsible for teaching qualifications will receive training from our ESOL experts to understand the assessment process, while administrative staff will participate in a webinar to familiarise themselves with the ESB booking hub. Additionally, all staff involved will attend an induction session to better understand ESB as an organisation.

04. Prepare for first assessment

Integrate the teaching of your selected Skills for Life qualifications into your provision, with our expert guidance and available resources to help you. You can then schedule your first assessment through the ‘My ESB’ online booking platform, ensuring to account for lead times of 28 days for Speaking & Listening and 2 days for Reading and Writing assessments.

05. First assessment day

Upload your learners to the booking platform and assign them to your assessment(s). We supply a handy timetabling tool in advance for a seamless assessment day. ESB’s external model means that our assessors travel to your venue to conduct the assessment and we will mark all written papers – saving your tutors time and your centre money on quality control and verification.

06. Future assessments and beyond

Learners typically receive their results within 5 days and certificates within 10 days of the assessment, (outside of peak periods). ESB remains readily available to provide guidance on qualifications or re-run any induction, training, or booking webinars in case of staff turnover at your centre or just as a refresher.

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