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Book your assessments (UK-based centres)

My ESB‘ is the online booking hub of ESB International. This intuitive platform allows our centre organisers to book their assessments and effortlessly manage the administration of their booking.

This page will help fast-track your knowledge of ‘My ESB’, allowing you to get started on booking your assessments for a date and time that suits you, adding learners to your Sessions and much more!

Please be aware the ‘My ESB’ Hub is available for UK-based centres only. For centres outside of the UK looking to book assessments from our Speech portfolio, please follow our guide for Speech International centres.

Our booking process (UK centres)

The end-to-end journey from booking your first ESB International assessment to receiving your learners’ certificates can be explained in as little as nine-steps. Please see the timeline below for an introduction to our booking process, before finding out more about our intuitive booking platform, ‘My ESB’, further down this page.

My ESB Hub

Our user guides provide an extensive overview of the ‘My ESB’ Hub. There are slight differences between booking Speech and ESOL Skills for Life assessments. Please make sure that you refer to the relevant guide for your centre:

Speech (UK-based) User Guide

ESOL Skills for Life User Guide

The following video tutorials are applicable for both Speech (UK-based) and ESOL Skills for Life bookings, and offer bitesize information for some of the Hub’s most important elements.:

  • How to make a booking
  • How to manage your learners
  • How to apply a reasonable adjustment to a learner

Make a booking

Manage your learners

Add a Reasonable Adjustment

Access Learner Reports

Frequently asked questions

1. How is an assessor(s) assigned to my booking?

Once your booking has been confirmed, the number of assessors that your sessions require are automatically allocated to your booking. This process can take several working days, so your booking will appear as ‘pending’ until all of the assessors your booking requires are confirmed.

2. How far in advance of my planned assessment date should I make my booking?

There is a 28 day minimum booking period for all assessments booked on the My ESB Hub. However, please be aware that it can be difficult to secure a desired date when booking close to our Summer Peak Period (May, June and July). During peak periods, dates may appear as amber or red on the booking calendar. It is impossible to book red dates and whilst amber dates can be booked, we do not advise it as we cannot guarantee that enough assessors will be available.

3. I’ve saved my booking as a draft. What now?

Saving your booking as a draft will not in anyway start the formal process of confirming your booking (such as holding a time and date). Draft bookings are simply a tool that will allow you to save your progress to avoid starting the process again from scratch.

4. I’ve made my booking. Who should I speak to if I need more support?

If you would like to run through arrangements regarding your assessment day, you should speak to your assessor. Your assessor’s contact details will be visible to you in the Hub once your assessor has accepted your booking. If you need more support using ‘My ESB’, then please contact our Customer Experience Team.

5. Do I need to add learners to each Session?

Yes. You can upload bulk spreadsheets (.csv files) of learners’ names by downloading a template from within the Hub. You will need to drag and drop learners into the different sessions if there is more than one.

6. Can I cancel my booking?

Yes. The following charges may apply for booking cancellations:

  • More than 4 weeks before assessment day = no charge
  • Less than 4 weeks to go before assessment day = £150 cancellation fee
  • Less than 1 week to go before assessment day = £450 cancellation fee
  • 7. Can I amend my booking?

    The My ESB Hub provides several options for altering an existing booking:

  • You can remove a Session from a booking (more than 4 weeks before assessment day = no charge, less than 4 weeks before assessment day = £150, less than 1 week before assessment day = £250).
  • You are able to change the number of learners in your booking. In the event that you add more learners which will exceed the maximum learner numbers for the Session you are amending, the following charges may apply (more than 4 weeks’ notice = no charge, less than 4 weeks’ notice = £150, less than 1 weeks’ notice = £250).
  • You can change the qualification of a Session in your booking (there may be a £55 charge for changing a qualification with less than 4 weeks’ notice before the assessment day).
  • You can amend the date/time of your booking (with less than 4 weeks’ notice from the original assessment date = £55, with less than 1 weeks’ notice of the original assessment date = £250).
  • 8. Is there a minimum fee for booking ESB assessments?

    Yes. We charge minimum fees per assessor session (which is a full assessment day per one assessor – 5 hours). Our minimum fees are supplementary charges which are only required if the total learner fees are less than than the minimum fee per required assessor. We therefore recommend that when booking your assessments, you should look to book as few Sessions as possible by entering the maximum number of learners for each Session. Additional Sessions may mean additional assessors. We charge the following minimum fees for booking our assessments:

  • £500 for Secondary Age qualifications
  • £400 for Primary Age qualifications
  • £300 for Group Speaking qualifications
  • 9. How do I receive my learners’ reports?

    You will receive personalised reports of your learners’ results within 5 working days from your assessment day, or 10 working days during our Peak Periods (May, June and July). You will receive an email when your reports have been sent, which you receive directly to your Hub.

    10. What should I do if one of my learners is absent on the day of their assessment through illness?

    Full information for the steps a centre can if a learner is unable to undertake their assessment because of illness can be found in our Absence through Illness Policy.

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