and exam centres
Preparing nearly 2 million candidates for a range of 24 Cambridge exams each year is the task of thousands of teachers worldwide. Cambridge ESOL prizes its relationship with teachers and teacher trainers and invests heavily in resources to support them in a variety of ways.
With advances in communication access and technologies, it is becoming possible to provide candidates with practical support and encouragement in their language learning and preparation for qualifications.
Supporting teachers
Cambridge ESOL supports the work of teachers with examination handbooks, sample papers, teacher training packs and Speaking test videos that are prepared by assessment experts. There is substantial investment in teacher training, with a global team of 230 presenters trained by Cambridge ESOL to deliver seminars on the exams.
Teacher Portfolio
To support teachers with their own professional development, the Cambridge Teacher Portfolio was launched this year. It is a secure, free online portfolio that enables teachers anywhere in the world to store materials, lesson plans, teaching reflections and their career details.
Teaching Resources
The Teaching Resources website – attracting 65,000 visitors a month – provides teachers with practical teaching support for Cambridge exams. This year, new material for the YLE revised tests, ILEC and BULATS was added.
The Examiner
This is a monthly online newsletter that helps teachers make the most of the Teaching Resources website. Each edition presents a different theme and directs teachers to specific online classroom activities or explanations of test formats.
Supporting candidates
While most candidates take a language course before taking a Cambridge exam, there are thousands of students who use self-access study methods or distance learning programmes and who obtain information from Cambridge ESOL’s website. Cambridge ESOL is developing a series of highly useful booklets Information for Candidates, giving clear overviews of the exams. These free-ofcharge booklets exist for KET, PET, FCE, BEC and YLE and are available on the website. Other booklets are in production.
Candidate website
A candidates’ website is being constructed to help language learners. The Results Online service – which received over 660,000 candidate visits during the week of statement of results – will be integrated. The site will have other support materials to help learners with their language development.
Improving the customer experience
With the growth in product range, candidature and exam centres, the way in which Cambridge ESOL communicates with its customers must keep moving forward, using new technologies to improve systems. New call logging and tracking technology will mean that candidates and parents from anywhere in the world will have responses to their questions within 36 hours. Teachers and school staff will have more immediate help with their exams and administration queries. The friendly and faster Helpdesk service will also benefit exam centres needing technical support on exam entry and administration systems.
Supporting centres
Improvements to centre support, registration and inspections will be useful to new and existing centres and help them access support services and materials from Cambridge ESOL more directly and quickly. They will also have faster access to staff training and induction (online, DVD and paper-based) programmes.
Enhancements will enable quicker access to the technical support required for online entries and results systems and for the delivery of computer-based tests as centres equip themselves to offer this mode of test taking.
Communication with centres has for years been conducted through the web, a dedicated intranet site, regular bulletins, handbooks, guides and newsletters. As technology advances and offers new ways to communicate, the Customer Services Group is exploring alternative channels to make it easier for exam centres to access the necessary documents and information they need to deliver the exams.
Innovating through technology
Using technology to keep in touch
A new online training facility is being developed for Oral Examiners around the world who assess the Speaking part of exams. Centres and schools will benefit from a new easier-to-use and time-saving extranet to help their exam administration.
Assessing in a paperless environment
The computer-based testing project team is responsible for developing an online test delivery engine that delivers computer-based PET and Asset. There are other similar projects in various phases of development, all offering greater flexibility for candidates and centres: choice of the mode of the exam, more frequent sessions, reduced lead-in and turnaround times and enhanced security.