This webpage contains all the relevant information for the instructions and regulations for the Modern Foreign Languages Listening and Speaking examinations for Common Entrance at 13+:
Audio files for listening examinations for each examination will be available to download as MP3s from a secure website. The files will be released on the Friday prior to the examination week. Passwords for downloading files will be provided via email at the time of their release.
Listening: you will receive the examination papers for each candidate, and copies of the transcript of the recorded material.
Speaking: you will receive the examination papers for each candidate, and copies of the examiner’s papers.
Speaking Examiner’s Marksheets and Speaking Record Sheets should be downloaded from the Examination Documentation webpage. Relevant documents can be found in the drop-down tab within each subject.
On receipt of the boxes of examination papers, the Head of centre should check the number of papers on the packing list.
All Listening materials must be kept in a secure place in their sealed packets, and only opened in the examination room, on the day of the examination, in the presence of the invigilator supervising the session and within sight of the candidates sitting the examination.
All Speaking materials must be kept in a secure place in their sealed packets, until after the last teaching session prior to the examination, when the Head of centre may distribute the papers to examiners conducting the tests.
Mark schemes for each examination will be available to download as PDFs from a secure website at 4pm on the day before the relevant examination. The passwords for downloading the mark schemes will be provided via email at the time of their release. These must be stored in a secure location and remain unopened until the end of the day on which the relevant examination has taken place.
At the start of the examination, candidates are allowed three minutes to read the questions. This time is recorded on the recording, after the instructions.
Each extract will be played twice, in accordance with the instructions in each section, and there will be a pause between sections. At the end of the examination there will be a further two minutes for completion of the tasks. All pauses are recorded on the audio.
Candidates may make notes or answer the questions at any time.
Dictionaries are not allowed in any part of this examination.
A transcript of the recorded material is provided for the examiner’s use only.
For candidates granted additional time under access arrangements, ISEB does not provide separate audio with extended pauses. However, the invigilator may use the transcript of the recording to determine when to pause the standard audio manually, in order to give candidates extra time to write their answer. The tracks may not be replayed at any stage. The invigilator should allocate the extra time across the test as a whole, and in accordance with the needs of the candidates, up to the maximum extra time for the test.
For the listening examination, extra time candidates should be accommodated in a separate room, in order not to confer an advantage on regular time candidates.
For candidates with a significant hearing impairment, making it difficult to follow speech at normal speed, a teacher who teaches the language being examined may read the transcript of the recorded material at a pace suited to the candidate’s needs, so that he/she can lipread comfortably. Additional repetition of the material is allowed, if necessary. An invigilator must be present in the examination room at all times.
All candidates with access arrangements which may distract or disturb other candidates should be accommodated in a separate room.
Candidates must have a quiet place in which to prepare the Role-play Card, where they will not be able to communicate with, or be distracted by, anyone else.
No written notes may be taken into the preparation room, and candidates must not have access to any material other than the role-play card, a bilingual paper dictionary, lined paper and a pen/pencil.
During the preparation time, candidates may make notes for Parts 1 and 2 of the test only. These notes can be referred to during the test, but they must be written on lined paper, not on the role-play card, and must be collected in at the end of the test.
Recording the speaking examination
Prep schools may use CDs, memory sticks or any other digital equipment for recording candidates but are expected to liaise with senior schools about the most appropriate method.
Recording equipment should be tested in advance. The microphone should be turned towards the candidate and all extraneous noises excluded, if possible.
For each individual senior school, the examiner should record the name of the prep school at the beginning of the CD/memory stick/digital file, and each candidate’s name as he/she begins the examination.
Pauses due to hesitation in the candidate’s delivery of answers must remain on the recording. During the changeover of candidates, if machines are fitted with a PAUSE button, it is better to use this than the STOP control.
The Board expects all papers to be marked by the senior school for which a candidate is registered. Signed speaking examination mark sheets, record sheets and listening examination papers for each candidate should be sent to senior schools, together with the recordings. These should be sent by next-day delivery or courier by the last day of the speaking examination period. Packets containing speaking examination media must be clearly marked with the language and level and include the sender’s name and address. Senior schools will undertake to return media only when a return label has been supplied. Emails containing digital speaking files should include all relevant details.
If candidates’ scripts are being marked internally, prep schools should liaise with the relevant senior schools in advance of the examination period to establish their requirements in respect of the dispatch of recordings, candidates’ scripts and the provision of results.
The speaking examination consists of three parts: Part 1, a role-play situation; Part 2, a text-based task and Part 3, an open, unprepared conversation.
Three Cards (A, B and C) containing Parts 1 and 2 of the examination will be provided, and the examiner must choose any one of the three Cards for each candidate.
The examiner may distribute the Cards in any order but should ensure that all three are used more or less equally over the examination session.
Candidates must be assessed using the same Card for Parts 1 and 2 of the examination.
Where a role-play Card is based on information which may be particularly sensitive for a candidate, e.g. following a recent bereavement, the examiner may select an alternative Card with which the candidate is not familiar, but this should be explained to the senior school when submitting the accompanying report form.
The role-play situation required a candidate to carry out six tasks in the target language, which have been given in English. Candidates should be advised to focus on the role-play for at least three of the ten minutes’ preparation time.
The role-plays may be based on any area of the specification, and will be of a transactional or social nature, such as conversations in the shop, at the station, in a café/restaurant, or discussing hobbies, school, or family with a friend.
The following points are important:
The text-based task is intended to engage candidates in interactions of a more social nature and will therefore be based on the topics listed under Theme A: Socialising (see Appendix I of the relevant specification).
Candidates will be required to respond to five questions, basing their responses on information which has been given in English.
At Level 1, candidates will be provided with six pieces of information in English, and Level 2 candidates will be provided with seven. Candidates should therefore listen carefully to the questions asked, as there will be one piece of information which is not used at Level 1, and two at Level 2.
Use of the near future tense may be required in this task, but the use of other tenses is not expected.
The examiner should not continue significantly beyond the maximum time allowed for this part of the examination, to allow ample time for the final section.
Candidates will be required to take part in an open, spontaneous and unprepared discussion of at least one of the topics listed under Theme A: Socialising (see Appendix 1 of the relevant specification), but they should not overlap with the topics used in Parts 1 and 2.
The Open Conversation should last the stipulated two to three minutes for each candidate.
Examiners are expected to use a wide range of topics and candidates should not know in advance which topics have been chosen.
With less able candidates, it may be necessary to cover more than one topic superficially, using questions of a more closed nature, tailored to the ability of the candidate. With more able candidates, examiners should attempt to ask some questions of a more open nature, or a series of related questions to follow up on what has been said, in order to explore a topic in greater depth.
It can be helpful to ease the candidate into the Open Conversation by asking a general ‘starter’ question relating to a particular topic, for example: ‘Tell me a little about your family …’ and allowing him/her to lead the direction of the conversation.
Examiners are encouraged to enable candidates to develop their responses to demonstrate their range of vocabulary and knowledge of the language. Candidates may use only the present tense if they wish, but they would need to show a knowledge of past and near future tenses in order to access the top marks.
Assessment of the Open Conversation
The examiner will give an overall impression mark (maximum of 8 marks) for spontaneity, quality of response, quality of language and range of tenses used. A best-fit policy should be used and ½ marks may be awarded.
As the descriptors for the Open Conversation vary according to the language being assessed, examiners are advised to obtain copies of the relevant mark scheme from the most up to date version of the specification (available on the Subject Information page for each subject).
Note that the highest marks are given for:
Of course, grammatical accuracy matters, and it is essential for good communication, but it is not the principal criterion by which a candidate’s performance is judged. The best candidates have plenty to say in answer to the questions and communicate effectively and convincingly, using the range of tenses specified in each language.
