About IESOL

LanguageCert International ESOL (Listening, Reading, Writing) qualification is usually referred to as the ‘Written Exam’.

The exam is enjoyable and fun to take, as candidates are confronted with interesting language tasks from one’s everyday life events, such as writing letters to friends, sharing their thoughts, listening to an interesting story or reading a piece of news – only to mention a few examples; however, the nature of the tasks varies according to the qualification level.

The Written Exam offers a range of tangible benefits:

  • Student and teacher-friendly exam, requiring little exam-specific preparation
  • Exam duration: about 2.5 hours depending on the qualification level
  • Flexible structure:
    • Listening section: 26 questions
    • Reading section: 26 questions
    • Writing section: 2 tasks

All questions of the Listening and Reading sections, and the 2 tasks of the Writing section are equivalent.

  • Pass Score: at least 50% overall in all sections. No thresholds or limitations per section. For more details please see the table below
  • LanguageCert Certificate in International English for Speakers of Other Languages (Listening, Reading, Writing) is awarded to successful candidates

What are the assessment rules of the Written Exam?

The LanguageCert International ESOL suite of examinations is directly aligned to the levels of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) produced by the Council of Europe. The Written Exam is rigorously assessed against CEFR specified criteria. The grades awarded will be either High Pass, Pass or Fail.

International ESOL Part

Maximum Score

Total Maximum Score

Listening

50

150

Reading

50

Writing

50

Grades

High Pass

101-150 out of 150

Pass

75-100 out of 150

Fail

0-74 out of 150

For more detailed information on the marking scheme of the Written Exam, as well as on the assessment marks for each task type at a particular level, please download the LanguageCert Qualification Handbook for International ESOL (Listening, Reading, Writing).