Highlands College - ESOL Cambridge Mainsuite Courses
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ESOL Cambridge Mainsuite Courses

 

PET

  • PET is a valuable qualification if you want to work or study abroad or to develop a career in international business.

  • PET is a popular way to improve your language skills and use them in a wide range of contexts.

  • PET covers the four main language skills - reading, writing, listening and speaking, using material from real life situations.

  • PET provides evidence of practical skills, and indicates sufficient ability to be of practical use in clerical, secretarial and managerial jobs, and in many industries, such as tourism, where contact with English speakers is required.

FCE

  • FCE is ideal if you want to work or study abroad or to develop a career which requires language skills (e.g. business, medicine, engineering).

  • FCE indicates sufficient proficiency in English to be of practical use in clerical, secretarial and managerial jobs in many industries, in particular tourism, where contact with English speakers is required.

  • FCE provides evidence that you have the ability to deal with routine letters and telephone enquiries, and to cope with some non-academic training courses and simple textbooks and articles.

CAE

  • CAE recognises the ability to communicate with confidence in English and deal with most aspects of everyday life.

  • CAE helps you to improve your language skills and use them in a wide range of contexts. The exams are based on realistic tasks, and indicate the ability to use the language in practical situations.

  • CAE provides evidence that you have the ability to participate in meetings and discussions, expressing opinions clearly, and be able to understand and produce texts of various types, including business letters and reports. You'll also be more than capable of following university courses taught in English.

CPE

  • Success at this level represents a significant personal achievement.

  • CPE is ideal if you want to work or study abroad, or to develop a career which requires language skills (e.g. business, medicine, engineering). The CPE certificate is recognised by thousands of universities and employers throughout the world.

  • CPE certificate shows that you have progressed beyond a good knowledge of vocabulary and grammar and can actually use the language in real contexts.

 BEC

  • BEC courses are designed to help you improve your English language ability used in the context of business. BEC is ideal if you are preparing for a career in business.

  • More than ever, a good knowledge of English is needed to succeed in international business and commerce.

  • An internationally recognised business qualification can help you show that you have learned English to an appropriate standard and can use it in a professional context.

 

A Comparison of Courses and Levels

 

 

Cambridge Proficiency Examination

 

 

 

Cambridge Advanced Examination

      (score 48-54 on Part 2)

BEC Higher

Level 1

 

 

Cambridge First Certificate

       (score 31-40)

BEC Vantage

Entry 3

 

Preliminary English Test

        (score 24-30)

 

Entry 2

 

 

 

Entry 1

 

 

 

 

Pre-Entry

 

 

 

 

How do I enrol on one of the Mainsuite Courses? 

There are various routes but we do need to ensure that you have the best chance at being successful on the course so we have designed some strict course entry requirements. 

What happens if I am not the right level for the class I want?

Cambridge suggest that students need to study for 120 hours to move from one level course to the next. This might mean that you need more practice and study before moving

We will recommend that you join one of the Mainsuite Workshops. The Workshops for 14 weeks and are designed for those students needing more practice in Writing and Grammar before joining a Mainsuite Course. You will be offered the possibility of taking a Skills for Life Reading and/or Writing exam at an appropriate level at the end of the course.

How long are the Mainsuite courses?

On average, Mainsuite courses last between 30-34 weeks – depending on the time of year (75-85 hours in total).

Ensuring your success

All tutors will do their very best to prepare students for their Mainsuite examination, however, you do need to be realistic about how you can affect your chances. Here are the main areas to be aware of: 

 

  • Attendance – it can be difficult to attend all the sessions due to work commitments, illness and holidays but on such short courses your attendance is vital. If you miss a class, phone you teacher to find out what you have missed to make sure you arrive at the next lesson with work prepared.

  • Reading – success on all Mainsuite courses is very dependent on you reading outside the classroom. The more you read the better! This doesn’t just mean newspaper and novels, but magazines, leaflets, reports, information on the Internet etc is all valuable reading. Read, read, read!

  • Homework – it may sound obvious, but studying at home is very important. You only have a small amount of contact time with your group and your tutor, therefore, homework is the only way to extend your learning. All work will be corrected by tutors and valuable feedback given. Written homework is particularly important – this part of each exam is very difficult to do without lots of practice and teacher feedback. Realistically, you need to spend at least as much time studying outside the classroom as during the lesson!


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