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Hi, This question of exam boards rears its ugly head every summer. I have worked with both Cambridge and C&G. advantages of Cambridge very good quality exams excellent website to support teachers with plenty of downloadable apst apers , audio & practice activities training pack available with DVD for teachers teacher as interlocutor with own studnets no assessment or IV by teachers disadvantages contrived activities occasionally resits can't be scheduled on an ad hoc basis price advantages of C&G: students choose their own topic flexibility with dates (depending on your institution's staff resources) disadvantages of C&G: countless errors in exam papers and assessment packs at entry level poorly written instructions for interlocutors poorly phrased questions for candidates in all modes vague, confusing and sometimes inappropriate assessment criteria at level 1 & 2 conflicting regulations in various editions of the tutor handbook only 2 official practice papers for entry level & none for level 1-2 no assessor training available from the exam board - not even online no exam officer trainig External Verifier not always an ESOL specialist Time lapse between completing exam and arrival of certificate can be many months- not ideal for Citizenship applications in addition: institutions incur all the additional salary and stationary /venue / transport costs of: admin-printing exam papers & assessment packs admin-checking these are correct & delivering them managers-staff training-creation and implementation of & not just for teachers, but also admin teachers-marking teachers-internal verification candidates & teachers-endless signing off of paperwork & filling in feedback forms Hope this is helpful Denise Denise Mullen ESOL Tutor Adult Learning Service (Harrogate Rural ) (office) 01765 645920 (mob) 07815 563191 >>> NORMA BREWER <[log in to unmask]> 14/07/11 10:40 AM >>> Why don't you look at Cambridge. ESOL? You can see a lot of information on the website. You can be sure the exams are well researched and sound.As an Oral examiner I have considerable experience of the validity and reliability of the exams.The College/school provides the interlocutor and the Assessor is from Cambridge- so the teachers are not involved in actually assessing the students while still participating in the assessment process and having their own opportunity to make their own (personal) judgement on how their learners have done- although they do not have access to the marking scheme. Best wishes Norma [log in to unmask] --- On Wed, 13/7/11, Dominic Clarke <[log in to unmask]> wrote: From: Dominic Clarke <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Re City and Guilds ESOL To: [log in to unmask] Date: Wednesday, 13 July, 2011, 22:26 Hello The only exams I have ever conducted as an ESOL tutor are the C&G ones so I haveno basis of comparison. That said , I am not impressed by the language errors in the papers, the previously mentioned discrepancies between the candidate papersand the general awkwardness of the instructions on some activities. I believe I havethe most up to date papers , if that really is the case then they are out of date egthey don't give authentic contexts in some cases. I can only hope there are betterexamining boards out there Regards Dominic > Date: Wed, 13 Jul 2011 21:32:09 +0100 > From: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re City and Guilds ESOL > To: [log in to unmask] > > Hi, we are considering a move in the opposite direction - from City and Guilds to Trinity, so I would be really interested in finding out the reasons why you are changing. What experiences did you have with Trinity? > > The main reason we are considering moving away from City and Guilds is that the assessments are very time consuming. All modes are assessed by the tutor and IV'ed internally. This places huge demands on us as tutors. In addition, the new rules for speaking and listening assessments require an assessor and a tutor to be present for all entry level assessments, even though they are all reecorded. This is proving very difficult for us this year, as it is over and above our regular teaching commitments. > > Another issue with City and Guilds is that there can be discrepancies between the tasks set and the mark scheme. Some of the tasks are also (over-)complicated, which confuses some learners, who then perform less well than they are able to. > > On the positive side, the City and Guilds assessments are flexible - they can be taken at any time and there are a number of topics to choose from. Learners can take the full assessment or single modes as and when required. This is helpful for us, because learners can start throughout the year. > > Hope this helps. > > > Helen Guezelkuecuek > > *********************************** > ESOL-Research is a forum for researchers and practitioners with an interest in research into teaching and learning ESOL. ESOL-Research is managed by James Simpson at the Centre for Language Education Research, School of Education, University of Leeds. > To join or leave ESOL-Research, visit > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/ESOL-RESEARCH.html > A quick guide to using Jiscmail lists can be found at: > http://jiscmail.ac.uk/help/using/quickuser.htm > To contact the list owner, send an email to > [log in to unmask] *********************************** ESOL-Research is a forum for researchers and practitioners with an interest in research into teaching and learning ESOL. ESOL-Research is managed by James Simpson at the Centre for Language Education Research, School of Education, University of Leeds. To join or leave ESOL-Research, visit http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/ESOL-RESEARCH.html A quick guide to using Jiscmail lists can be found at: http://jiscmail.ac.uk/help/using/quickuser.htm To contact the list owner, send an email to [log in to unmask] *********************************** ESOL-Research is a forum for researchers and practitioners with an interest in research into teaching and learning ESOL. ESOL-Research is managed by James Simpson at the Centre for Language Education Research, School of Education, University of Leeds. To join or leave ESOL-Research, visit http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/ESOL-RESEARCH.html A quick guide to using Jiscmail lists can be found at: http://jiscmail.ac.uk/help/using/quickuser.htm To contact the list owner, send an email to [log in to unmask] Access your county council services online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at www.northyorks.gov.uk. 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