For the past 5 years, the English Program of Assumption College has been using the IELTS examination for all of our M6 students as a measurement of their English abilities before graduation, and the results have been very satisfying.  This examination is organized by the British Council Language Institute. The purpose of this examination is for determining the level of a student's English abilities based on the 4 skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. The exam is divided into two phases:  the Morning Phase is a written exam which takes about 2 hours 30 minutes (Listening - 30 minutes, Reading - 60 minutes, and Writing - 60 minutes) and the Afternoon Phase is a face to face Speaking interview with a foreign teacher, which takes about 10-15 minutes. 

 

    In preparing our students for the IELTS we have followed a careful strategy, which we are always reviewing for improvement.  During the early years, from M1 to M3, the major focus is on grammar and on learning to love reading and writing.  From M4 to M5, our students are trained in advanced reading and writing types, which leads right in to the M6 year, when the focus is primarily on IELTS preparation for more than 1 semester.  In order to prepare the students, our teachers have excellent resources, including top quality texts, and a special IELTS preparation room with computer programs to support the students' training in all 4 skills.  The teacher who has pioneered this focus is Mr. Steven Raine, whom the students have given top marks for his knowledge and teaching skills.

 

    We are very proud of the students who recently scored high marks, and we are eagerly anticipating more scores of the same caliber this November when the bulk of our EP-M6 students take the exam!