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Hello Pooney, Last year Ofqual, requested that awarding organisations delivering ESOL International and Skills for Life qualifications, regularly meet through FAB (Federation of Awarding Bodies) for a number of reasons, one being to improve the elimination of the problem you have mentioned above. The problem that you have stated directly relates the evidence of English Language competency that candidates need in order to apply for settlement, citizenship, study or spouse visas. This is in addition to those learners (not candidates) who generally want to progress their level. You will remember last year the attempted contrived 'consultation' process that Ofqual subjected the sector to with very few changes being made as a result of steadfast commitment from our fellow forum members. My understanding of this was that there were two underlying reasons for the consultation. The first being that the current SFL qualification was not fit for purpose for those who need it only for immigration purposes and the second was to attempt a shift towards external assessment (as it is understood, although not 100% correct, that the main area of malpractice appears to be with internal assessment). I absolutely agree with your point above, that there are many, many private training providers that pop up from nowhere, have candidates impart with 8-fold the price of a qualification, who then in some cases don't even sit the exam, for the candidate to then go to the Home Office to produce a certificate that reflects their supposed level of English. I have heard an array of stories ranging from students receiving certificates from examining boards that offer external assessments to students giving 'secret coding' over sweet shop counters to receive a certificate .... all WITHOUT sitting the exam. To impact on this - ASIC accreditation is no longer mandatory (took effect from 28th October 2013) resulting in any training provider being able to offer qualifications, without ASIC accreditation. Choosing my words carefully, in a word, Ofqual do not offer guidance on this matter and when issues have been raised with The Home Office the response is, what I would term as, inadequate. Comments would be very much appreciated. Angela Keenan | Director of Qualification Design and Assessment| Learning Resource Network| London| e-mail: [log in to unmask] Tel: +44 870 625 8408 Fax: +44 207 681 1327 url: www.lrnglobal.org | · Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter · Subscribe to our YouTube channel Help save paper - do you need to print this e-mail? If you are not the intended recipient, employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination or copying of this communication and its attachments is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication and its attachments in error, please return the original message and attachments to the sender using the reply facility on e-mail. -----Original Message----- From: ESOL-Research discussion forum and message board [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Pooneh Joharchi Sent: 10 December 2013 12:21 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: ESOL Exam for immigration purposes Dear All, There is an issue which i wanted to share with you and have your input about it. Since you all may aware that people have been required to produce B1 certificate in order to apply for indefinite leave to remain or British passport. Meanwhile there are some training centres who are taking advantage of the people and the immigration system by providing the certificate without actual exam or even by attempting to release the exam content to the examinee prior the actual exam to deceive the awarding bodies and to enable the examinees to pass the exam in one go. In my opinion there should be a responsible organisation to monitor the training centres who are producing the ESOL certificate for immigration purposes. I would value your opinions. Many Thanks, Pooneh Sent from my iPhone *********************************** 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]