Thanks for booking your English language test

Thanks for booking your English Language Test at University of Gloucestershire, we have sent you a confirmation email with your responses.

The test consists of the following components:

• Speaking Test to be assessed via an interview (15 minutes)
• Listening Test to be assessed via the interview
• Reading Test to be completed before the interview (1 hour)
• Writing Test to be completed before the interview (1 hour) with the signed declaration completed

The interview takes place via Zoom. The reading and writing tests will be sent to you 24 hours prior to the interview. There is a document attached with further details about the test.

You will be contacted shortly to confirm the specific time of your interview.

If you have any questions about your test, please email [email protected].

You can find further information to help you prepare for your test below.

1. Tests are only administered to potential applicants if it has been agreed by the University of Gloucestershire Compliance Team or the Admissions team.
2. Your university contact will tell you the date and the time of the interview. You will then receive an email confirming this. You will also receive a calendar invitation via Outlook.
3. The test consists of the following components:
   • Reading Test to be completed before the interview (1 hour)
   • Writing Test to be completed before the interview (1 hour) with the signed declaration completed
   • Listening to be assessed via the interview
   • Speaking to be assessed via the interview (15 minutes)
4. The reading and writing tests are written tests, whilst the listening and speaking tests are conducted via Zoom.
5. The English Language team will email out the test materials to you before the interview with the Admissions team copied in. You are responsible for printing out the document.
6. The reading and writing tests should be completed within 24 hours without any reference to other materials or resources and you need to sign the declaration which is on the writing question paper confirming this.
7. The reading test has an answer sheet which can be completed on a computer or by hand (using a pen, not a pencil).
8. The writing test can be completed on a computer or by hand using a pen. If completing on a computer, the same document with the questions and declaration can be used.
9. Once the reading and writing test is completed, you should send back the completed documents as a Word document or a PDF. The answer sheets should be emailed to [email protected].
10. For the interview, you should be online 15 minutes prior to the interview. The interview will consist of the following:
    • Questions verifying your identity including name, date of birth and course applied for
    • Questions relating to family, hobbies and past times, and places visited (including overseas and the UK).
    • Questions relating to your current and previous education, professional experience, the motivation for applying for the course and course details
    • Questions relating to your English including reference to any tests previously taken and reference to the written papers completed and sent back earlier.
11. You can expect the interview questions to involve a variation in language grading and speed of delivery. This is to help us identify listening levels in line with the listening band descriptors and provide different listening challenges. Please do not worry if you need the interviewer to repeat a question or slow down.
12. During the interview, the interviewer will take notes. This is to help assess your speaking and listening: 
13. The reading test will be marked using the answer key and with reference to the marking guidelines for IELTS academic reading to convert the score to an IELTS band.
14. The written tests will be marked by English Language teaching staff at the University. The writing test will be marked using the writing band descriptors for the following areas; Task response: Coherence and Cohesion: Lexical Resource: Grammatical range and accuracy and an overall band mark given.
15. The speaking and listening will be marked using the listening bands for the following areas: fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical accuracy and pronunciation.
16. When all of the tests have been marked, an English language report will be produced. A CEFR grade (e.g. B1, B2) and IELTS equivalent will be awarded for each skill. This report will be sent to the Admissions and Immigration teams at the university. Staff from those teams will contact you with the result and how your application proceeds.