BSB celebrates Five Years as a Cambridge Assessment English Test Centre

BSB celebrates Five Years as a Cambridge Assessment English Test Centre The Cambridge Advanced Examination (CAE) is accepted as university entrance proof of English level by all UK universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, and many others worldwide.

The Cambridge Advanced Examination (CAE) is accepted as university entrance proof of English level by all UK universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, and many others worldwide.

In the five years we have been a test centre, The British School of Beijing (BSB) Shunyi has run over 30 Cambridge examination sessions for more than 500 candidates. The exams are administered in the English as an Additional Language (EAL) department and are used as part of our Key Stage 3 (KS3 - Years 7, 8, 9) and Key Stage 4 (KS4 - Years 10, 11) assessment cycle. Cambridge teaching exams are also used for staff development and more than one hundred of our staff have taken teaching and language exams.

The Cambridge Assessment English exams are assessed according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and the ones we focus on at BSB are:

• Key English Test (KET) – A2
• Preliminary English Test (PET) – B1
• The First Certificate in English (FCE) – B2
• The Cambridge Advanced Examination (CAE) – C1

We use the PET exam as proof of level for students to graduate from the EAL programme in KS3 and the FCE and CAE exams are used in KS4 as IGCSE equivalents. We are a computer-based test centre and this reduces the amount of time students need both for registration for the exam and for their results. The test data is all uploaded to Cambridge and marked in the UK. Students receive an official certificate from Cambridge stating their level. The exams test: reading, writing, listening, speaking and use of English.

At BSB we have a large pool of Cambridge-certified speaking examiners and Mr Andy Sheridan, of the Secondary EAL department, is a speaking examiner trainer for both our school and others in the Beijing area.

The CAE exam, suitable for KS4 and Key Stage 5 (KS5-Years 12,13) students, is accepted as university entrance proof of English level by all UK universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, and many others worldwide. Because this is such a valuable exam – which can be sat at school and can potentially mean that students do not need to take an IELTS exam – the EAL department would like to open our exams up to non-EAL second language speakers.

Students who speak English as a second language who have not been on the EAL programme but would like to take an advanced exam are welcome to contact us about how they can do this. Students who have graduated from EAL are also welcome to take higher level exams. We can provide past papers and practice time during our regular EAL homework ASA on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for anyone interested.

If you would like any more information, please contact me at: anne.burraston@britishschool.org.cn

Ms. Anne Burraston

Head of EAL

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