Working with the state sector
projects worldwide
Chile
El Inglés Abre Puertas
The Chilean Ministry of Education has launched a national English project - English Opens Doors - to improve levels of English in Chile. One of the aims of this project is that all state school students reach a level equivalent to KET (Key English Test) by the end of primary school and a level equivalent to PET (Preliminary English Test) by the end of high school. Cambridge ESOL was chosen to evaluate the current English competence of state school students.
Cambridge ESOL produced a diagnostic test for the Chilean Ministry based on assessment material which had already been extensively trialled and validated throughout the world. Because of its global network of partners, Cambridge ESOL was able to call on a local partner in Chile - the Instituto Chileno Británico de Cultura - to administer the test. The British Institute already administers most of Cambridge ESOL's exams in Chile , which made it the ideal partner for this project. A sample of 12,000 students, representing the 8th grade (13-14 year olds) and the 12th grade (17-18 year olds), took the test in October 2004.
The test was calibrated to the Council of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. This ensured that not only was the reported information meaningful to external sponsors as well as to candidates, but that the corresponding levels were also standardised across international boundaries.
China
Public English Test System
In 1996 an agreement was signed between China 's State Education Commission and the British government's Department for International Development to develop a framework of publicly available English tests beyond the school/college - the Public English Test System (PETS).
Cambridge ESOL worked with the National Education Examinations Authority (NEEA) in China to ensure that PETS would provide assessment and certification of communicative English language skills at different levels of competence.
The initial test design and development project began in January 1997 with the development of level criteria and test specifications. Production of materials, including item writer training, test materials' production, trialling of materials and analysis of results began in September 1997. The first live administration of all five levels of tests took place as scheduled in September 1999, with over 33,000 candidates sitting these tests. In 2004, over 300,000 took the PETS tests.
BULATS and the Chinese Civil Service
The Chinese government recognise the advantages that English language proficiency brings to the country's economy and profile, and has committed itself to a drive to raise English language levels and standards of teaching nationwide. BULATS is an assessment service specifically designed to provide a rapid, accurate means of assessing language skills used in the workplace, and is proving ideal for the needs of Chinese government agencies.
In December 2003, Cambridge ESOL signed an agreement with the Shanghai Personnel Bureau to administer BULATS to all Civil Servants and to all applicants to the Civil Service in Shanghai . This is the first time that an external examination board has received official recognition from a Chinese government body. Since then, Cambridge ESOL's BULATS distributor, the British Council, has signed an agreement with the Chinese Personnel Bureau for nationwide use of BULATS by the Chinese Civil Service.
Colombia
National Bilingual Project
As part of its nationwide foreign language intitiative, The Colombian Ministerio de Educación Nacional (MEN) contacted Cambridge ESOL to provide a benchmarking test to evaluate the prevailing English-language levels of school and university students.
The tests were taken in November 2005 and February 2006 involving more than 5,000 students. Cambridge ESOL conducted the analysis of performance and the results have been used by MEN and ICFES to inform on standards.
In 2007 new national English examinations were introduced in Colombia in line with these new standards, which relate directly to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Cambridge ESOL has been contracted to produce the English component of the Colombian state sector exams and is also undertaking local capacity-building in Colombia. This project is ongoing.
India
BEC
With the growth of the IT and service industries in Tamil Nadu, communication skills in English have become increasingly important. Highly talented students, particularly from rural areas, used to miss out on career opportunities because their English language proficiency did not meet international standards. Now the British Council and the Directorate of Technical Education, Government of Tamil Nadu, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to offer BEC to the 250 engineering colleges in the state.
Although BEC is already seen by many employers in India as a benchmark for Business English communication, this new initiative makes it the first UK qualification to be officially recognised in India . When the agreement is fully operational, around 12,000 candidates a year are expected to take BEC through this project.
Mexico
SEPaInglés
The SEPaInglés Project was an English teaching and assessment project between the SEP (Ministry of Education) in Mexico, the BBC, British Council and Cambridge ESOL. The aim of the project was to produce a local version of the Look Ahead TV-based English course, which takes learners from beginner to Council of Europe Threshold level, for delivery in a distance learning package for adults. This was to include SEP accredited examinations at three levels in the course (Breakthrough, Waystage and Threshold).
Tests were developed specifically for the local environment in which they were delivered, but were linked to external standards like the Cambridge ESOL KET and PET examinations. Cambridge ESOL's expertise in language testing enabled it to provide training for test developers and item writers both in Mexico and in the UK. It was also able to train SEP staff in test analysis and calibration. As well as developing the accredited examinations, Cambridge ESOL also produced a computer-based SEPaInglés test to screen candidates for various levels of the course and to screen teachers to be trained as Oral Examiners.
Formacíon de Profesores de Inglés para Educación Secundaria
Cambridge ESOL's long-term commitment to the Mexican Ministry of Education has nurtured a strong and positive image in government circles which has left them ideally placed for consideration in new projects. In the new development programme for secondary school teachers, PET has now been set as the minimum language level required of English language teachers. The Mexican Ministry of Education is providing training programmes for teachers to reach this level and, in some cases, enter for the PET exam. The next stage in the programme concentrates on teaching methodology, and the syllabus for the TKT (Teaching Knowledge Test) has been incorporated into this part of the programme.
Vietnam
YLE, KET, PET & FCE
In 2006 Cambridge ESOL became the first overseas assessment organisation to partner with a state education authority to administer exams in Vietnam.
Following an agreement signed in October with the Ho Chi Minh City education department, the Cambridge ESOL exams Young Learners English, Key English Test, Preliminary English Test and First Certificate in English, will be offered through more than a hundred state schools in the city. The education authority in Ho Chi Minh City is committed to the national government policy of improving standards of English in Vietnam.
An initial pilot took place in around 50 selected schools which already offered intensive English teaching, with the first exam session in December. Cambridge ESOL is to provide a major programme of training for teachers, examiners and administrator in Vietnam as part of a transition which will see the state department eventually fully adopt the administration of the Cambridge ESOL exams.
