GESE Exam Guidance and Assessment

Here you will find guidance about Trinity college GESE Exams these include GESE Grade 2 Speaking & Listening A1 / ESOL Entry 1 which you need when you are applying for a Spouse / Partner Visa. You will need GESE grade 5 Speaking & Listening  B1 entry 3 level  when you are applying for UK Citizenship along with the Life in the UK test.

Trinity’s GESE exams test the English speaking and listening skills of people whose first language is not English. They focus on building motivation and confidence in using English and enable students to chart their progress from beginner to proficiency. GESE exams are approved for UK visa or settlement purposes.

Discussion of a prepared topic:
The purpose of the Topic phase is to give candidates the opportunity to display their command of the language of the grade while talking about self-selected and personally relevant topics.
● When choosing the topic for discussion, candidates should prepare the topic on a subject they are personally interested in, knowledgeable about and able to discuss with the examiner.
● Please note the topic should not be chosen directly from the list of subject areas for the Conversation phase. Instead, candidates should be strongly encouraged to prepare a personalised topic. This is to enable candidates to show a wide range of language throughout the exam.
● The personal aspect is an important feature of all Trinity exams. Therefore, candidates should be discouraged from selecting the same topic as their peers. Teachers should ensure that if groups of learners do decide to use the same topic, e.g. football, every effort is made to personalise the content.
● The topic should provide candidates with the opportunity to demonstrate the language requirements of the grade. Therefore, candidates should be encouraged to incorporate language items of the grade into their contributions.
● When preparing the topic candidates are advised to think carefully about the amount of material necessary for their topic, bearing in mind the time available. They should prepare enough material
to sustain a discussion of the topic for up to five minutes, but not more.
● Candidates must not prepare their topic as a written script, as this will inevitably lead to a memorised recitation and result in the candidate not being prepared to use spontaneous spoken English. Recitation will have a negative effect on the assessment of this phase.
● In preparing their topic, candidates are advised to anticipate questions the examiner might ask. They should be prepared to give further examples, explanations and clarifications as requested by the examiner.
● Before the exam, the candidate must complete the Topic form and bring it to the exam room. The Topic form is designed to help promote a spontaneous discussion which must not include or rely on a memorised recitation.
● The candidate must complete the Topic form with the required number of points for discussion (four discussion points for Grade 4, five for Grade 5, six for Grade 6). One short sentence or phrase will suffice for each point. The candidate should prepare enough material about these points to sustain a discussion of up to five minutes, but no more.
● At all Elementary grades, the examiner will ask the candidate to talk about at least four of the discussion points on the Topic form.
● The examiner will refer to the discussion points on the Topic form in no particular order. Therefore, all of the points should be thematic and provide an opportunity for discussing different aspects of the topic. Topic forms must not include such general points as ‘Introduction’, or ‘What I did next…’.
● The Topic form can be written by a person other than the candidate as written skills in English are not being assessed in these exams. However, the content of the form should have originated from the candidate.
● As the Topic form is crucial for the execution of this phase, the phase will not take place if the information contained on the form is not made available to the examiner.
● It is a requirement of the exam that candidates ask the examiner relevant and appropriate questions throughout the Topic phase. At all Elementary grades, the candidate must ask the examiner at least one question about the topic.
● Candidates may bring pictures, photos, diagrams or other useful objects into the exam room to illustrate the topic and aid the discussion with the examiner. However, live animals or dangerous objects such as knives must not be brought into the exam room.
● Please note a candidate who fails to prepare a topic for discussion cannot be assessed for Task fulfilment for this phase. The phase will be voided and this will result in a fail being awarded for the exam as a whole.

The Conversation phase

The purpose of the Conversation phase is to give candidates the opportunity to participate in a genuine and interesting exchange of information, ideas and opinions, while demonstrating their ability to use the language of the grade.
● The Conversation phase consists of a discussion of two of the subject areas listed for the relevant grade. Although the examiner will only select two of the subject areas listed, candidates need to be prepared to talk about all of them.
● Candidates are encouraged to contribute as much as they can to the conversation and make every effort to show the examiner the range and quality of the language required for the particular grade.
● Candidates must not memorise or recite responses to the examiner’s questions as this will lead to the candidate being unable to take part in a genuine conversation with the examiner.
●At each grade, candidates are expected to use the communicative skills, language functions and language items listed for the grade and for the previous grades. Therefore, those responsible for preparing candidates for the exams should ensure that candidates are completely familiar with the language items, understand their meaning and can use them accurately and appropriately.
● At Grade 5, candidates are required to ask the examiner at least one question related to the subject areas in this phase.
● At Grade 6, candidates are required to ask the examiner at least two questions related to the subject areas in this phase.

The Listening task

Three short spoken passages prompt the use of high level listening skills, such as deduction, prediction and inference.
● The Listening task is introduced at the Advanced stage only.
● The listening passages are non-specialist and do not relate to the specific subject areas provided for the Conversation phase. It is considered important at this stage to introduce an unknown element into the exam for which the candidate cannot prepare specifically in terms of language content.
● The listening task is intended to be solely a test of listening. The candidate is required to give only very brief verbal responses indicating comprehension achieved through the use of high level listening skills.
● The candidate needs to show recognition of the context, participants and register.

About the assessment

General
It is an essential characteristic of Trinity exams wherever they are conducted that grading is carried out by a qualified Trinity examiner who is trained, standardised and monitored regularly to ensure impartiality and consistency of assessment. In every exam, the examiner assesses the use made of the language of the particular grade and that of all preceding grades.

The outcomes for each grade assume mastery of the outcomes of the previous grades. It is therefore important when preparing candidates for a particular grade that attention is paid to the previous grades. Although these will not be examined explicitly, the examiner will be looking for the candidate to demonstrate a repertoire of language items which includes items from the current grade as well as the preceding grades. All phases of the exam at each stage are given equal importance in the overall assessment.

Candidate assessment
The candidate’s performance in the exam is measured by means of one overall criterion, Task fulfilment. This is assessed in each phase of the exam.
The assessment of each Task fulfilment criterion is based on the following factors:
● coverage of the communicative skills listed
● coverage of the language functions listed
● coverage of the grammatical, lexical and phonological items listed
● accuracy in the use of the grammatical, lexical and phonological items listed
● appropriacy of the grammatical, lexical and phonological items used
● fluency and promptness of response appropriate for the grade.
More detailed descriptions of Task fulfilment are available to show how the examiner assesses all exam phases at the four stages. These performance descriptors can be downloaded from the Trinity website.
The examiner assesses the candidate’s performance in each phase of the exam by awarding a letter grade A, B, C or D. In simple terms, these levels can be classified as follows:
● A — Distinction (reflects an excellent performance)
● B — Merit (reflects a good performance)
● C — Pass (reflects a satisfactory performance)
● D — Fail (reflects an unsatisfactory performance).

Assessment
At the Elementary stage, GESE Grades 4, 5 and 6, the examiner assesses the candidate’s performance by awarding a letter grade A, B, C or D for Task fulfilment for the Topic and Conversation phases. In simple terms, these
levels can be classified as follows:
● A — Distinction (reflects an excellent performance)
●B — Merit (reflects a good performance)
● C — Pass (reflects a satisfactory performance)
● D — Fail (reflects an unsatisfactory performance).
The combination of the two letter grades, i.e. the one awarded for the topic and the one awarded for the conversation provides the overall level of achievement.

The examiner completes an individual Exam report form immediately after the exam. The Exam report form provides an indication of the result of the exam and identifies key areas for improvement. The final result is confirmed by the issue of a certificate within a specified period after the exam.

GESE Exams are designed to show candidates can:
● understand what is said clearly, slowly and directly in simple everyday conversation with support
● communicate in basic and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters
● use basic sentence patterns and communicate through simple phrases, groups of a few words and formulae about themselves and other people, what they do, places and possessions
● ask and answer simple questions about personal information and everyday life.

SELT test centres offer UK Border Agency approved, Secure English Language Test, Speaking & Listening exams

If you are applying for a Spouse / Partner Visa you will need  GESE Grade 2 Speaking & Listening A1 / ESOL Entry 1

You will need  B1 entry 3 level  when you are applying for UK Citizenship along with the Life in the UK test. This is the Trinity College London GESE grade 5 Speaking & Listening exam.

This new Pass Trinity 5-6 book will help you prepare for your B1 test and pass your Trinity GESE Grade 5 speaking and listening exam/test more easily

This new Pass Trinity 1-2 book will help you prepare for your A1 test and pass your Trinity GESE Grade 2 speaking and listening exam/test more easily

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