Integrated Skills in English (ISE)

• Skills tested: Speaking, Listening, Reading, Writing
• 5 levels (CEFR: A2–C2)
• Suitable for elementary to advanced learners
• Typical learners include school, college, university students, to prove language skills for educational purposes

Trinity's Integrated Skills in English (ISE) examinations assess all four language skills – Speaking, Writing, Listening and Reading – interacting with each other as they do in the real world.

See the ISE Syllabus page for complete academic information.

An ISE examination forms a natural part of any course of English language study, undertaken in a group or individually.

The examinations include a portfolio element. By taking classroom work into account as well as tasks carried out under examination conditions, a wide and varied sample of learner work is taken fully into account.

Preparation for the examination supports the programme of work chosen by the teacher and learner, rather than interfering with it.

Please make sure you download all the documentation associated with the three components of the ISE examinations:

1. Portfolio Tasks (make sure you're using the current set for this year)
2. Controlled Written Examination
3. Spoken Interview

Learners can choose to take ISE exams on their own or combine them with the Graded Examinations in Spoken English (GESE) if they also need to demonstrate oral ability at levels other than those corresponding to the ISE levels.

ISE 0, ISE I, ISE II, ISE III and ISE IV correspond to Grades 4, 6, 8, 11 and 12 of the spoken exams (GESE). 

Please use the ISE Centre Handbook for complete
administrative information.

ISE Syllabus Information

The ISE syllabus provides complete academic information for all ISE levels. In summary, the syllabus provides information about:

• the structure and content of the examinations
• the academic requirements
• the assessment criteria

The ISE syllabus is an essential document for all candidates enrolled for an ISE examination and for teachers who are preparing candidates to take ISE examinations..

Please download an electronic version of the 2010-2013 ISE Syllabus.

For further academic support for the ISE examinations, please visit the ISE support pages of the website.

To obtain a hardcopy version of the GESE syllabus, please contact Trinity Head Office in London or your National/Area consultant.

Basic Information

On the basic information pages for ISE, you will find practical information for Trinity centres about how to run an ISE examination session.

The following resources are available:

• A summary of ISE recognition by universities and employers in the UK and worldwide
• The ISE Centre Handbook
• A summary of ISE centre requirements
• A list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) and their answers
• The Controlled Written examination dates
• Information on how to prepare a timetable for the ISE Interview
• Results look-up tables used to convert letter grades into an overall result for the Interview component

. Overview

Overview of the ISE examination with calculation of overall result.

Recognition

Trinity College London is a Full Member of the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE).

If you would like to add your university or college to the list of recognising institutions please visit our join the list page.

Trinity College London's Integrated Skills in English (ISE) examinations and Graded Examinations in Spoken English (GESE) are recognised by higher educational institutions around the world as evidence of English language proficiency for student admission.

Higher educational organisations which recognise ISE and GESE
UK institutions
USA institutions
Italian institutions
Spanish institutions
Mexican institutions
Irish institutions
Argentinian institutions


International recognition for other countries varies from country to country. See our worldwide recognition pages for details of your country.

ISE and GESE examinations are taken by hundreds of thousands of candidates worldwide each year and the number is growing in many countries including: China, Hong Kong, India, Greece, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Mexico, Argentina, Turkey and Russia.

Syllabuses
Full academic information is available in the ISE syllabus and the GESE syllabus.

CEFR
The CEFR Calibration Report details how GESE and ISE examinations are related to the Common Europeans Framework of Reference (CEFR). The CEFR Project Summary is a shorter version of this report. View the chart of how these exams are mapped to the CEFR.

ALTE
Trinity College London is a Full Member of the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE). Please see www.alte.org for further details.

Ofqual (formerly QCA)
In the UK, ISE and GESE are accredited by the Qfqual (Qualifications & Curriculum Authority (QCA)), and its respective partners in Wales and Northern Ireland.

EQF (European Qualifications Framework for Life Long Learning)
A European Qualifications Framework for Life Long Learning (EQF) is in the process of being introduced. The recommended target date for countries to ensure that individual qualification certificates bear a reference to the appropriate EQF level is 2012. The EQF will relate different countries' national qualifications systems and frameworks together around a common European reference.

UCAS
ISE and GESE are also listed in the UK's University and Colleges Admissions Services (UCAS) guide to qualifications acceptable as evidence of English language competency for admission to higher education:
ISE II (B2 / Level 1)
ISE III (C1 / Level 2)
ISE IV (C2 / Level 3)

Grade 7 (B2 / Level 1)
Grade 8 (B2 / Level 1)
Grade 9 (B2 / Level 1)
Grade 10 (C1 / Level 2)
Grade 11 (C1 / Level 2)
Grade 12 (C2 / Level 3)

ISE Controlled Written examinations

The ISE Controlled Written examinations are available on fixed dates throughout the year.

You should check with your National/Area consultant about the closing dates for enrolment for these examinations. The closing date is the day by which your application and fee for the examination must reach your National/Area consultant.

You can find the ISE Controlled Written examinations dates below. You can also download a PDF copy of the 2011 examination dates.

Controlled Written examination dates

Examination Dates 2012 

Saturday 21 January 2012 ISE 0, ISE I, ISE II, ISE III and ISE IV  

Wednesday 8 February 2012 ISE 0, ISE I, ISE II and ISE III 

Wednesday 14 March 2012 ISE 0, ISE I, ISE II and ISE III 

Wednesday 18 April 2012 ISE 0, ISE I, ISE II and ISE III 

Wednesday 9 May 2012 ISE 0, ISE I, ISE II and ISE III 

Saturday 26 May 2012 ISE 0, ISE I, ISE II, ISE III and ISE IV  

Wednesday 6 June 2012 ISE 0, ISE I, ISE II and ISE III 

Wednesday 4 July 2012 ISE 0, ISE I, ISE II and ISE III 

Wednesday 8 August 2012 ISE 0, ISE I, ISE II and ISE III 

Wednesday 19 September 2012 ISE 0, ISE I, ISE II and ISE III 

Wednesday 10 October 2012 ISE 0, ISE I, ISE II and ISE III 

Wednesday 14 November 2012 ISE 0, ISE I, ISE II, ISE III and ISE IV  

Wednesday 12 December 2012 ISE 0, ISE I, ISE II and ISE III 

Please check with your National/Area consultant about the closing dates for enrolment for these examinations. The closing date is the day by which your application and fee for the examination must reach your National/Area consultant.

Exam Timetable - Interview

You must prepare a Spoken Examination timetable for the examiner to use on the day of your oral examinations. If there is no timetable, the examiner has the right to demand one from you and stop the exam session until one is available.

Full details of how to timetable are given in the ISE Centre Handbook.

Download a sample timetable created in EXCEL

ISE Results Look-up Tables

Please click on the link below to download the Results look-up tables. You can use these tables to check what overall result a candidate will receive for the Interview component from their combination of letter results. For example, at ISE II a result of ABC = Pass with merit.

NB The letter grades can be awarded in any order, as all phases of the Interview have equal weighting. Thus, using the example above; ABC, ACB, BAC, BCA, CAB, CBA, all give the same result: Pass with merit.

ISE Interview Results look-up tables