margaret fowler examinations service manager british council italy britishcouncil.it/ielts

Margaret Fowler

Examinations Service Manager

British Council Italy

britishcouncil.it/ielts

Your Official Source on U.S. Higher Education

British Council

Who we are

The United Kingdom international organisation for educational and cultural relations


Our purpose

To build mutually beneficial relationships between people in the UK and other countries


English

Education

Arts


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


Nuova Sede!

British Council Rome

Via San Sebastianello 15

Roma


Our services at the British Council

English language courses

Training for teachers of English

Examinations services


Study in the UK

www.educationUK.org


Examinations

Cambridge ESOL

IELTS


La SapienzaLuiss

Politecnico di TorinoUniversità Bocconi

Politecnico di Milano

Trento, Padova, Genova, Venice, Parma, Reggio Calabria,Lecce, Cagliari, Napoli, Bologna, Pavia

and many others

• Some of the universities we work with:


The IELTS partnership

British Council

IDP Australia

Cambridge ESOL


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


0 500,000 1,000,000 1,500,000

2000200120022003200420052006200720082009

Global candidature growth: 1.4 million test takers in 2009



IELTS offers:

• 48 dates a year to choose from

• Public sessions once a month in 25 cities throughout Italy


Where in Italy...


New venues in Pisa, Cassino, Viterbo…


• Registration up to 7 days beforehand

• Results on line after 13 days

• High security features

• Recognised worldwide by over 600,000 institutions


Essential test qualities

Validity Reliability Impact Practicality


Choice of two types of IELTS test modules

Academic

or General


• Academic Test–For entry to Universities, Colleges

–For professional recognition

• General Training Test–For immigration

– Check before you enrol


Global Candidature Breakdown

75.0%

25.0%

Academic

General Training


Online enrolments in Italy (2009):

Academic = 84%General T. = 16%


Test FormatListening

30 minutes, 4 sections, 40 items

General Training Reading


Academic Reading 60 minutes, 3 sections, 40 items

General Training Writing

60 minutes, 2 tasks

Academic Writing 60 minutes, 2 tasks

Speaking 11 - 14 minutes, 3 parts


The IELTS band scores

IELTS provides: a profile of a candidate’s 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


Band Scores

9 band scale9 expert user

8 very good user7 good user6 competent user5 modest user4 limited user3 extremely limited user2 intermittent user1 non-user


IELTS v European Framework v Cambridge ESOL exams

C2 CPE IELTS 7.5 - 9.0

C1 CAE

BEC Higher IELTS 6.5 - 7.5

B2 FCE BEC Vantage IELTS 5.5 - 6.5

B1 PET BEC Preliminary IELTS 4.5 - 5.5

A2 KET IELTS 3.5 - 4.5

A1 Movers Starters

IELTS 2.5 - 3.5


Examples of IELTS scores• Reading 6.5

• Listening 6.5

• Writing 7.5

• Speaking 7.0

• Overall Band Score: 7.0


A university may even ask for a specific profile

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


Who recognises IELTS?


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

• I


• 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


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,

•


In the US

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


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


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.”

• •


MIT, Boston (MA) accept only IELTShttp://math.mit.edu/academics/grad/admission

US entry requirements examples


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


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


How to register?

• On line at www.britishcouncil.it

• At a British Council office


Listening 30 minutes, 4 sections, 40 items

General Training Reading


Academic Reading 60 minutes, 3 sections, 40 items

General Training Writing

60 minutes, 2 tasks

Academic Writing 60 minutes, 2 tasks

Speaking 11 - 14 minutes, 3 parts


Paper 1: Listening


Paper 2: Reading


Variety of task types

• sentence completion

• notes, summary, diagram, flow chart, table completion

• classification

• matching

• multiple choice

• identification of writers’ views, attitudes, claims


Paper 3: Writing - Academic

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

tables, charts


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)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1970/71 1980/81 1990/91


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


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………..


Paper 3: Writing - Academic

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


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


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.


Speaking, 11-14 minutes



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


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


Speaking Part 3

Let’s consider first of all how people’s values have changed …

• What kind of things give status to people in your country?

• Have things changed since your parents’ time?


Criteria for assessment of speaking

• Fluency and coherence• Lexical Resource• Grammatical Range and Accuracy • Pronunciation

One examiner

All interviews are digitally recorded


Preparing for the Test

• Published preparation materials list

at www.ielts.org


Support

Cambridge Practice Tests for IELTS (CUP)

Top Tips for IELTS

Teacher and candidate resources at www.ielts.org

IELT Scores explained DVD



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

Road to IELTS


To find out more about

Visit

www.britishcouncil.it

www.ielts.org


Our website

www.britishcouncil.it

margaret fowler examinations service manager british council italy britishcouncil.it/ielts

Documents

higher education slide

official source

higher education ielts

higher education study

higher education choice

higher education registration

higher education academic

general slide