Choosing the right English exam for your graduates

For many students, an English certificate is the last door before something important. It can be a graduation requirement, the condition on a scholarship, or the paperwork that decides an exchange. Choosing the right exam, and preparing for it properly, matters.

English level alone does not carry students through. Each exam has its own format, its own clock and its own question types, and those have to be learned too. Here is a look at five exams we prepare students for, and what each one asks of them.

iTEP

iTEP is organised into modules and draws on the kind of academic topics students meet in study. Preparation starts with the shape of the exam and moves through module-by-module practice on those topics.

College Board ELASH II

ELASH II has three sections: Listening, Use of Language and Reading. Students do best when they practise the items that are most often answered wrongly, learn to read between the lines, and build the focus to stay accurate on longer texts. More on preparing for ELASH II.

Oxford Test of English

The Oxford Test of English is computer-based and certifies levels up to B2 across four modules: Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing. Good preparation starts with first contact with all four modules, then works on speed and register before finishing with full module mocks. More on the Oxford Test of English course.

TOEFL ITP

TOEFL ITP has three parts: listening comprehension, structure and written expression, and reading comprehension. Preparation that is laid out exactly as the exam is helps students know where they are at every point of the test.

IELTS

IELTS returns again and again to the same broad topics: education, health, technology, the environment, migration and development. Organising preparation around those topics builds both the vocabulary and the ideas students need.

Three questions to help you choose

• What do your graduates need the certificate for? A graduation requirement, a scholarship, an exchange or a job may each point to a different exam.
• Who are your students? their current level, their programs and where they are heading all affect which exam suits them.
• When do they need it? your academic calendar and the exam dates decide how much preparation time you really have.

Preparation built around each exam

Smrt English has a preparation course for each of these exams, and they all live on the same platform your groups already use. Each course is built around one exam, with its timings, its sections and its traps, and coordinators can see who is ready before anyone pays a registration fee.

If you already know which exam your graduates certify with, tell us and we will show you that course from the inside. If you are still deciding, we are glad to help you work out which exam best fits your students and your calendar.