ESOL Skills for Life
Are you interested in offering our ESOL Skills for Life qualifications at your centre?
Our Chief Executive, Tina Renshaw, would be delighted to tell you about the impact that an ESOL Skills for Life qualification can have on your learners, and how our external assessments can free up more time for teaching and learning.
ESOL Skills for Life with English Speaking Board (International) Ltd.
We create, assess, result and certificate regulated ESOL Skills for Life qualifications. Our qualifications are designed for learners aged 16 and above living, studying, working or preparing to work in the UK.
Our ESOL Skills for Life portfolio is regulated by Ofqual from Entry 1 to Level 2 and we also offer a non-accredited Pre-Entry qualification, the ideal gateway into the world of ESOL for beginners.
Our qualifications provide a holistic approach to improving English language skills, as learners are able to develop their speaking, listening, reading and writing through assessments contextualised to everyday life. Our assessment materials are relevant for learners of all ages and backgrounds, and are designed to interest and engage young people and adults wherever they are in their lives and learning journeys.
25+
More than 25 illustrious further education and community institutions offer our ESOL Skills for Life qualifications
16,000+
We certificate more than 16,000 ESOL Skills for Life learners annually
2023
Named the 2023 Awarding Organisation of the Year by the Federation of Awarding Bodies
Why choose external assessments?
Our external assessments are designed to reduce many of the burdens faced by centres during busy exam periods. External assessments offer many benefits over an internal model, as English Speaking Board (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 |
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Reading and Writing |
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Speaking & Listening |
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Don’t just take our word for it, here are the opinions of some of our centres who have experienced first-hand the benefits that external assessments can bring:
What makes ESB International different from other Awarding Organisations?
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 and proactive working relationship with our centres. We resolve 96.3% of all centre queries in just 48 hours.
Flexible, on-demand assessments
Just 2 days’ noticed required for 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 during peak season) 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 and Writing are also advised which assessment criteria to work on.
Friendly, standardised assessors
Our assessors are recruited from a community of ESOL practitioners and experts and are annually standardised and moderated. 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.
How easy is to change from another awarding organisation to ESB International?
Changing to ESB ESOL Skills for Life if you have been using another awarding organisation is very straightforward. All the 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 working. 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.
And if your learners have already achieved an Award from another organisation, they can put it towards their All-Modes Certificate from ESB International.
Our prices
We believe in accessible education for all and price our qualifications accordingly. Reading, Writing and Speaking & Listening assessments can be booked by our centres at a time and date that suits them using our flexible, interactive online booking hub. Our qualification costs per learner can be found in the table below:
Level | Reading | Writing | Speaking & Listening |
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Pre-Entry (unregulated) | N/A | N/A | £33.00 |
Entry 1 | £15.00 | £15.00 | £42.00 |
Entry 2 | £15.00 | £15.00 | £44.00 |
Entry 3 | £15.00 | £15.00 | £45.00 |
Level 1 | £16.00 | £16.00 | £49.00 |
Level 2 | £16.00 | £16.00 | £54.00 |
You can use our interactive tool to build an accurate quote for the number of learners you would like to enter for our qualifications.
What is included in the price of an ESOL Skills for Life qualification?
There are no hidden costs with external assessments, which means no surprises before, during or after the day. On top of that, we only invoice after the assessment, allowing our centres to mange their budget more effectively.
A full list of our centre fees can be found on our Prices page.
Travel and logistics
Our assessors will make their way to your venue, no matter where it is in the UK.
Training and support
We run regular webinars to support centres with our online booking platform.
Accredited certificates
Every learner receives a physical certificate following a successful pass in their Reading, Writing or Speaking & Listening assessment.
Resources and support
Our commitment to supporting both teachers and learners is reflected in our extensive range of online resources. From sample materials, mock assessments, videos and external links, we provide everything you need to ensure a smooth and successful ESOL Skills for Life experiences. Our resources are known for their quality and accessibility, and are used by many learners and educational institutions, whether they do ESB International assessments or not.
We support our centres with both the delivery and administration of our qualifications. Training can be arranged with our ESOL Skills for Life Senior Assessor for guidance on how to prepare your learners, whilst our Customer Experience Team runs regular webinars to support your exams department with booking and managing your assessments.
What funding is available for ESB assessments?
English Speaking Board (International) encourages its centres to explore the funding options available to them when booking our assessments.
We are proud to run our own fund, named after our founder Christabel Burniston, that can assist centres in the voluntary/community sectors should they require help with qualification and/or training fees. If you run a voluntary/community centre that would like to offer our ESOL Skills for Life qualifications, contact us today.
For most mainstream education centres, like Further Education colleges, our qualifications are approved for funding by the Education Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). To find out more, we have a full guide available for you.
Our centres and learners
We work with a wide range of like-minded centres nationwide, all eager to provide accessible education for learners for whom English is a second language. You can find your nearest centre using the table below:
Are you ready to follow the lead of the notable institutions above and become a part of ESB’s ESOL Skills for Life family? Contact us today and find out more about the lengths we go to support our centres and their learners.
We enjoy excellent relationships with our centres, and many have remarked on the support they receive from Head Office, the friendliness of our assessors and the positive impact that achieving our qualifications has had on their learners.
Our learners come from a wide range of diverse backgrounds but share the common goal of striving to unlock their full potential by improving their English language skills. An ESOL Skills for Life qualification can unlock many future paths, including:
Access to further and higher education
An ESOL Skills for Life qualification can serve as a gateway for pursuing lifelong ambitions at college or university. Aside from teaching the essential language skills required to study at UK educational institutions, higher level courses also serve as excellent preparation by requiring learners to research, present and write at length.
Opens up employment opportunities
One key benefit of an ESOL Skills for Life qualification is the evidence it provides to potential employers of the learner’s language competence. This allows learners to utilise qualifications or prior work experience more easily when applying for jobs in the UK.
Boosts social integration and personal progression
An ESOL Skills for Life qualification equips the learners with the necessary linguistic tools to navigate diverse or unfamiliar social settings confidently. Proficiency in English empowers individuals to actively participate in their local communities, access public services and talk with their children’s educators.
Frequently asked questions
Booking assessments
The minimum advanced booking period is 28 days for ESOL SfL Speaking and Listening assessments and 2 days for Reading and Writing assessments.
We pride ourselves on our flexibility at ESB and recognise that there may be the need to make alterations even after the learners’ names and details have been uploaded to My ESB. Centres are able to modify the following to their existing booking: the qualification(s), date/time, number of sessions and number of learners. Please be aware that charges may apply depending at what time the amendments are made (to find out more, visit our prices page) and that substantial amendments that require reassignment of assessors may not be possible. Please note that assessors have no authority to sanction changes and cannot enter learners on the day of the assessment, or change the level at which they have been entered
A centre-approved adult must be present for an assessment with learners under the age of 18 or with vulnerable adults. Please refer to our Safeguarding information referring to working with children, young people and vulnerable adults to verify the instances when an approved adult is required. This information is also in your Centre Handbook.
It is the centre’s responsibility to check that each learner over the age of 18 presents photo ID on the day of the assessment, ensuring that the learners for each assessment are those who have been registered on MyESB. It is not the assessor’s responsibility to check learners’ ID. Acceptable forms of identification include a passport or other photo ID issued by a government or local authority, a photo driving licence or a UK Armed Forces photo ID card. Learners who fail to provide ID should not be prevented from sitting their assessment, but they will not be resulted until valid ID is confirmed by your centre.
No. It is the centre’s responsibility to ensure the learner’s identity and the assessment will take place as normal.
Centres must import their learner details onto MyESB prior to the assessment date. It is important to enter all learner names as they should appear on the certificate. Failure to do this correctly may incur a charge after certification.
All learners entered for an assessment at a state-funded school/college in England need a Unique Learning Number (ULN). The ULN is a 10-digit number unique to every learner and can be obtained by schools/colleges from the Learning Records Service (LRS). ULNs are not mandatory for private learners or students who are under the age of 14, attend schools/colleges outside of England or attend non-state funded (independent) schools or colleges. For more information, please visit the LRS and Department for Education (DfE) website.
Preparing for your assessments
If you would like to apply for a Reasonable Adjustment for your learner/learners, please select the Reasonable Adjustment when you register your learners on My ESB. There is information about the accommodations that are available, a matrix so you can identify adjustments to support your learners and guidance documents on the Reasonable Adjustments area of the website. If you have any queries regarding the reasonable adjustments application, please email product@esbuk.org.
Examples of evidence are a relevant diagnostic report, a Cognassist Diversity Assessment Report, a statement of learning needs or medical condition from appropriately qualified personnel. We also take into account the learner’s normal way of working and statements from your support staff. Reasonable Adjustments are specific to the learner, and we encourage tutors to work with us to implement the best and fairest accommodation, so email product@esbuk.org to discuss any individual applications.
As soon as you know your learner may require an accommodation in class and in the assessments, contact us to discuss the options and to ensure that your learner can prepare for the assessments accordingly, e.g. using modified papers.
Neurodiverse learners and those with special educational needs and disabilities
There is not a pass mark, but learners have to achieve every assessment criterion, depending on the level and the skill. The details are in the Specifications for the Award.
There are samples available for each level. There are some Reading and Writing papers that are only available to tutors at ESB centres, with a password that is available from product@esbuk.org.
Planning the assessment day
A centre organiser or tutor should contact their assessor in advance of the assessment to confirm start time and to finalise details such as directions, parking etc. It is also advisable to liaise with the assessor to confirm the timetable for the day including any breaks. This is an opportunity for the organiser to clarify any questions they may have about the assessment and to provide any information the assessor may need to be aware of.
You will need to timetable a ‘dummy’ or non-assessed learner to make up the pair. This should be a learner who has already taken their assessment at the same level or one level above. In the unlikely event that there is no ‘dummy’ available please speak to your assessor who will be able to work with you for the best solution. The non-assessed learner will complete the assessment as an assessed partner would, but does not need to complete the Listening task in Section 4.
Use the guided time for each assessment in the qualification specification and you can use the timing guidance document on the Plan your Assessment page on the website. Add up to 5 minutes between pairs to allow for learners to enter and leave the assessment room. Liaise with your assessor to arrange any break times.
Yes. Centres should provide pen and paper for learners which they can use throughout the assessment, as necessary. Centres are advised to discourage learners from making excessive notes as this does affect their communicative / listening skills.
There is not a set number of questions. It is very dependent on the complexity of the questions and the confidence in which candidates ask them. The assessor may prompt for additional questions if necessary or, equally, thank candidates for their questions and move on.
No. This is not mandatory, but some learners like to use VAs as a prompt for the content. Also, effective use of VAs can add interest to a talk and help clarify points made.
Learners may use bullet points or brief notes, but these must be shown to the assessor before the talk. It is more authentic and natural for the learners to use brief notes than to learn their talks by rote. Reciting from memory can negatively affect pronunciation and creates unnecessary stress for the learner.
If they feel more comfortable presenting in this way then this is perfectly acceptable. It is not necessary, however.
From September 2024, assessors will play the audio on their own devices, and centres do not need to provide a CD player or a means of playing sound files.
After the assessment
If you would like to apply for a Special Consideration for your learners, a Special Consideration Form can be downloaded from the Special Considerations area of the website.
A centre can make an application on behalf of a learner who missed their assessment due to illness for re-entry within six months of the original assessment for half the normal fee of that assessment. The application must be made within 30 days of the original assessment date and include a medical certificate, along with the learner’s details, and be sent to our Customer Experience Team. Please refer to our Absence Through Illness Policy.
You will receive your learners’ results 5 working days after the assessment date. However, during the peak period of 1st May – 31st August, this will be 10 working days for Reading and Writing assessments.
If a centre is dissatisfied with results awarded to a learner/group of learners, they should raise an enquiry with our Customer Experience Team. The enquiry should never be made to the assessor directly and should be made within 15 working days of receiving their results. To find out how ESB International manages centre enquiries, please refer to our Enquiries, Complaints and Appeals Policy.
All successful learners receive a certificate. Certificates will be dispatched to centres within 10 working days of results being issued. To allow for sampling and standardisation procedures, results cannot be regarded as final until confirmed by certification.
A centre may request a replacement certificate for their learners if they have lost or damaged their certificate. Please refer to our Replacement Certificate Policy.
Yes. You can apply for a Certificate in ESOL Skills for Life if your learners have three Awards at the same level, or at different levels, either all from ESB International, or from ESB and another awarding organisation. This falls under our Recognition of Prior Learning policy and you can find the forms to apply for an individual learner or for a group of learners on the website here. Each Certificate costs £7.
No. The Home Office only recognises Secure English Language Tests (SELT) and no Skills for Life qualifications are on the approved list, because of funding rules and the requirements for SELT providers.
Want to find out more?
We are engaged in ESOL Skills for Life conversations of national importance, working with the following institutions:
Proud partners of National Association for Teaching English and Community Languages to Adults (NATECLA)
Associate member of the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE)
Institutional member of the European Association of Language Testing and Assessment (EALTA)
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