Margaret Fowler

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• Margaret Fowler
• Examinations Service Manager
• British Council Italy

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British Council
Who we are
The United Kingdom international organisation for
educational and cultural relations
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Our purpose
To build mutually beneficial relationships
between people in the UK and other countries
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• English
• Education
• Arts

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Where we are
The British Council has 200 offices in more than
100 countries
In Italy we are in
Milan, Naples and Rome
Exams venues in 25 other cities in Italy
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Nuova Sede!

• British Council Rome
• Via San Sebastianello 15
• Roma

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Our services at the British Council
English language courses

Training for teachers of English Examinations
services
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Study in the UK
www.educationUK.org
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Examinations
Cambridge ESOL
IELTS
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La SapienzaLuissPolitecnico di
TorinoUniversità BocconiPolitecnico di
MilanoTrento, Padova, Genova, Venice, Parma,
Reggio Calabria,Lecce, Cagliari, Napoli, Bologna,
Pavia and many others

• Some of the universities we work with

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The IELTS partnership

• British Council
• IDP Australia
• Cambridge ESOL

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What is IELTS?

• a vertical test of communicative proficiency in
  English for study or work in English (A1 to C1)
• a test of all four language skills
• a test of international English
• NOT a test of study skills, grammar or a
  particular subject area

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• IELTS offers
• 48 dates a year to choose from
• Public sessions once a month in 25 cities
  throughout Italy

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Where in Italy...
New venues in Pisa, Cassino, Viterbo
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• Registration up to 7 days beforehand
• Results on line after 13 days
• High security features
• Recognised worldwide by over 600,000 institutions

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Essential test qualities

• Validity
• Reliability
• Impact
• Practicality

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Choice of two types of IELTS test modules

• Academic
• or
• General

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• Academic Test
• For entry to Universities, Colleges
• For professional recognition
• General Training Test
• For immigration
• Check before you enrol

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Global Candidature Breakdown
Online enrolments in Italy (2009) Academic
84 General T. 16
General Training
Academic
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Test Format
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The IELTS band scores

• IELTS provides
• a profile of a candidates skills in all four
  language areas
• an overall band score
• IELTS tests for the full range of levels, from
  non-user to expert user, A1-C2

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Band Scores

• 9 band scale
• 9 expert user
• 8 very good user
• 7 good user
• 6 competent user
• 5 modest user
• 4 limited user
• 3 extremely limited user
• 2 intermittent user
• 1 non-user

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IELTS v European Framework v Cambridge ESOL
exams
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Examples of IELTS scores

• Reading 6.5
• Listening 6.5
• Writing 7.5
• Speaking 7.0
• Overall Band Score 7.0

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A university may even ask for a specific profile

• Listening minimum 6
• Reading minimum 7
• Writing minimum 6
• Speaking minimum 6

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Who recognises IELTS?
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• IELTS is trusted and accepted by close to 6,000
  organizations and faculties worldwide.
• I

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• Professional bodies
• Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK
  and USA
• Immigration authorities
• Australia, Canada, New Zealand
• Government agencies and departments
• Australia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, UK, USA

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Who recognises IELTS in Italy?

• Over 50 Italian Universities as credits towards
  first degrees
• Eg. Bocconi, Politecnico di Torino, Politecnico
  di Milano, Venice,
• Bicocca, Genova, Padova, Trento, Bologna,

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In the US

• Recognised by over 1,200 U.S. higher education
  institutions

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What scores do US schools requirefor academic
success?
Levels/Sample Schools Scores
Undergraduate Range 6.0 - 7.0
New York University 7.0
UIUC 6.5
Arizona State University 6.0
Graduate Range 6.0 - 8.5
Columbia University 7.0
Columbia School of Journalism 8.5
Professional schools Range 6.0 - 8.5
Harvard MBA 7.0
LLM Range 6.5 - 8.0
Duke University 7.5
Indiana University 7.0
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Typical US university admission requirements

• It is the policy of the Graduate School to admit
  only those students with a minimum TOEFL score of
  550 (paper-based test), 213 (computer-based
  test), or 83 (internet-based test), or a minimum
  IELTS score of 7.0. In many departments a higher
  score may be required if the applicant is to
  succeed in the competition for limited new
  student openings.

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MIT, Boston (MA) accept only IELTShttp//math.mit
.edu/academics/grad/admission
US entry requirements examples
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Use the online Global Recognition
System on www.ielts.org to find out which
institutions in the U.S. and worldwide will
accept your IELTS scores
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IELTS is accessible and practical

• One of the most frequently available tests in the
  world you can choose from up to 4 test dates
  each month
• Enrol up until 7 days before the test date
• Results available 13 days after the test
• Test fee payable in Euro

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How to register?

• On line at www.britishcouncil.it
• At a British Council office

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Paper 1 Listening
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Paper 2 Reading
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• Variety of task types
• sentence completion
• notes, summary, diagram, flow chart, table
  completion
• classification
• matching
• multiple choice
• identification of writers views, attitudes,
  claims

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Paper 3 Writing - Academic

• Part 1 - at least 150 words - 20 minutes
• Describing information from graphs, diagrams,
  tables, charts

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The chart below shows the number of men and women
in further education in Britain in three periods
and whether they were studying full-time or
part-time. Summarise the information by selecting
and reporting the main features shown below.
(Write at least 150 words)
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Writing Assessment Criteria

• Task achievement or task response
• Cohesion and coherence
• Lexical resource
• Grammatical range and accuracy
• Access Public Band Score Descriptors
  http//www.ielts.org/PDF/UOBDs_WritingT1.pdf
• http//www.ielts.org/PDF/UOBDs_WritingT2.pdf

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Band score 6

• According to the graph, the number of men and
  women in further education in Britain shows the
  following pattern. In the case of male, the
  number of males has declined slightly from about
  1000 thousands in 12970/71 to about 850
  thousands in 1980/81. However this figure rose
  back to about 850 thousands in 1980/81. The
  proportion of full-time education has declined
  during this periods. However, the proportion of
  part-time education has increased dramatically.
  On the other hand , in the case of female, the
  number of both full.-time education and
  part-time.education has increased during this
  period. From about 700 thousands in 1970/71,
  these figures rose to about 820 thousand s in
  1980/81, to about 1100 thousands in 1990/91..

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Paper 3 Writing - Academic

• Part 2 - at least 250 - 40 minutes
• Discursive composition

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Academic Writing Task 2

• In Task 2 candidates are presented with a point
  of view or argument or problem They may need to
• present a solution to a problem
• present and justify an opinion
• compare and contrast evidence, opinions and
  implications
• evaluate and challenge ideas, evidence or an
  argument

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The IELTS Speaking test

• Realistic interactive conversation with a live
  examiner
• Shows your real life communication skills
• Preferred by many institutions in the U.S. and
  worldwide.

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Speaking, 11-14 minutes
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IELTS Speaking Test

• 11-14 minutes 3 parts
• Part 1 General questions about home, family,
  job, studies etc
• Part 2 Monologue based on a verbal prompt on a
  card (1 minute to prepare)
• Part 3 Discussion of more abstract issues
• based on theme of part 2

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Part 2 card

• Describe something you own which is very
  important to you.
• You should say
• where you got it from
• how long you have had it
• what you use it for
• And explain why it is so important to you

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Speaking Part 3

• Lets consider first of all how peoples values
  have changed
• What kind of things give status to people in
  your country?
• Have things changed since your parents time?

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Criteria for assessment of speaking

• Fluency and coherence
• Lexical Resource
• Grammatical Range and Accuracy
• Pronunciation
• One examiner
• All interviews are digitally recorded

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Preparing for the Test

• Published preparation materials list
• at www.ielts.org

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Support

• Cambridge Practice Tests for IELTS (CUP)
• Top Tips for IELTS
• Teacher and candidate resources at www.ielts.org
• IELT Scores explained DVD

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Road to IELTS
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Road to IELTS

• Free self-study materials from the British
  Council to all candidates who register online 5
  weeks in advance
• practice IELTS listening tasks under timed
  conditions
• view sample videos of speaking tests,
  highlighting good and less good practice
• develop vocabulary and techniques for writing
  tasks

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To find out more about

• Visit
• www.britishcouncil.it
• www.ielts.org

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Our website
www.britishcouncil.it