Professional English
English for the world of work
More than ever, a good knowledge of English is needed to succeed in international business and commerce: whether for working with multinational companies in your own country, or living and working abroad.
In many areas of international commerce, English is used as the common language, and if you can show you have an internationally recognised business qualification in English, you will have a greater advantage in the jobs market, and much greater flexibility if you want to work abroad.
Cambridge ESOL has a wide choice of certificates aimed at the business community that will help you get the most advantage from using English.
English for your future: Cambridge ESOL certificates for the world of work
BEC (Business English Certificates)
The Business English Certificates (BEC) are internationally recognised qualifications that show to employers what skills the test taker has for using English in the workplace. There are different levels of BEC, reflecting the differing reading, writing, listening and speaking abilities needed for business.
BULATS (Business Language Testing Service)
For companies which need a rapid, accurate means of assessing the language skills of employees, BULATS offers an economical, easy to understand test and reporting system.
Available online and in paper-based formats, BULATS is a multilingual assessment service used by companies worldwide.
Cambridge ILEC (International Legal English Certificate)
For any lawyer working with international matters, English is an essential tool. It is the common language of the legal profession, of business and of international affairs. ILEC is designed to assess English language competence in a legal context.
Cambridge ICFE (International Certificate in Financial English)
Individuals who wish to succeed in the international business community need to possess first-rate English language skills and the ability to converse with accounting and finance professionals. ICFE, developed in collaboration with ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) helps finance professionals demonstrate they have the financial English skills they need.
Why take Cambridge ESOL qualifications?
Every year more than 3 million people take Cambridge ESOL examinations. They benefit from the extra advantages that come with our certificates:
Recognition
Cambridge ESOL is a part of the world-famous University of Cambridge, and our certificates are recognised by thousands of employers, government agencies, and professional bodies in many countries. They are also recognised by educational institutions and immigration authorities.
Find out more about which organisations recognise Cambridge ESOL exams.
Real English
Our certificates are based on testing real language skills relevant for today's world of business, rather than learning lists of words and grammar from books.
All of our certificates are linked to the Council of Europe's Framework of Reference for Languages, an international language benchmark.
Confidence
To ensure our exams are fair to all test takers, regardless of their nationality, first language or gender, Cambridge ESOL carries out detailed research and analysis of student performance. You can be confident that the questions and tasks used in exams provide an accurate measure of students' true ability.
Cambridge ESOL achieves this by maintaining the largest dedicated research team of any UK-based provider of English language assessment.
Find out more about our research programmes.
Support
When you take a Cambridge ESOL exam, you are not alone. There is a wide range of support material which can help you get the best from your studies.
Candidates have their own area of our website, where they can download a guide to our exams, past papers and other study aids.
We also have a support site for teachers preparing students for our exams.
In addition, there is a wide range of coursebooks, practice tests and other study materials produced by independent publishers, both in the UK and overseas, which are linked to Cambridge ESOL exams.
