british institutes - The International Certification Board

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British Institutes, founded in 1975 and currently working with over 2000 qualified examiners, certifies language skills according to the standards of the Council of Europe (COE) which can be found in the Common European Framework of Reference.

British Institutes is an International Member of EALTA "European Association for Language Testing and Assessment".

British Institutes is in the UK UCAS "Universities and Colleges Admission Service".

Our ESOL examinations certify the acquisition of skills that greatly improve communication skills of a language which is dynamic, rich, topical, correct and cultural.

The British Institutes Certification Board offers the following examinations:

ESOL General English, for adults, teenagers, secondary schools and universities.
ESOL Young Learners, for primary school children and lower secondary school teenagers.
British Institutes Business English, for managers, white-collar workers and professionals. These examinations use and test language which is pertinent to the world of work.

British Institutes examinations assess the four fundamental skills through specific tests (sub-tests) for:

written comprehension (Reading),
written production (Writing & Use of English),
oral comprehension (Listening)
oral production (Oral)

Our certification is usable throughout the European Union, both in the world of academia and in the working world.

How we certify our examiners:
Every examination session is governed by strict Examination Procedures that guarantee reliable, valid and trustworthy certification. The examiner selection process also guarantees reliability as only those Directors of Studies who are certified by British Institutes are entrusted with the running of British Institutes examinations.

Methodological-Scientific Research:
British Institutes is tirelessly committed to teaching, methodological and content-related research with a view to setting examinations that are always in line with the dynamics of innovation and linguistic change.

How British Institutes examinations are developed:
we have based the structure of our examinations on the guidelines provided by the Council of Europe and the Common European Framework of Reference. Our extensive, highly qualified Didactic Committee and examination research group all collaborate to support the examination development process.

Click here to see the "CAN DO" statements of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference)