Cambridge ESOL Examinations in Australia

Cambridge qualifications enjoy a very high level of international recognition both by universities and employers as evidence of the appropriate standards in English. Questions and tasks are based on meaningful language and real-life activities so the language studied is useful outside the classroom.

All written papers are returned to the UK for marking to ensure worldwide standardisation and reliability. The four language skills are tested separately but averaged across the papers allowing strengths to balance weaknesses. All exams include a live paired interview with two examiners, all of whom are trained, standardised and experienced.

There is an extensive range of publications, handbooks and exam preparation texts to support either the classroom teacher or candidates who are not studying at a school.

Over 500,000 candidates each year worldwide.

Cambridge Examinations may be taken by people of any age, race or nationality, but are specifically designed for speakers of languages other than English. Young candidates (under 16) should seek advice from the Cambridge Examinations office.

No. However it is a good idea to prepare thoroughly for the examinations and this may be best achieved by attending a preparation course. A list of schools in Australia offering accredited Cambridge preparation courses is available from the NEAS (National ELICOS Accreditation Scheme) website or from the English Australia website(see our Useful Links page)

If preparing on your own, textbooks with practice tests and other materials are available from good language bookshops. (see our Bookstores page). Advice and sample papers can be found on the Cambridge ESOL Candidate Support website.

The best way to decide is to talk to a language teacher at a school about your level of English. You can try doing some practice tests to see how you go.

Go to our About the Exams page, with hyperlinks to the Cambridge ESOL website and more detailed information about each of the examinations.

No. We are only responsible for the enrolment and examination procedures. Check our Useful Links page for information on language schools in Australia and refer to question 3 on this page.

No. Payment is required at the time of enrolment. We do not accept or process enrolments without proof of payment.

Yes. However you must complete a separate entry form for each exam and pay a separate fee. N.B. The CAE and CPE exams are held on the same day in March, so you may not enter for both exams.

No.

There are no refunds once enrolment is complete and a receipt issued, as your examination papers will be sent from Cambridge and back again even if you do not sit the examination.

If you have an illness and a medical certificate to show this, you may be able to receive a partial refund (see Terms and Conditions). Refunds are at the discretion of the Centre Exams Manager.

No. No candidate may be substituted for another.

If there are not enough candidates entered for an examination after the closing date for enrolments, that examination may not run. If this is the case, you will be offered a full refund.

Yes. There is no limit to the number of times you can sit the same examination, and a fail in any examination will not be recorded on any future Statements of Results, but you must enrol and pay the exam fee each time.

Candidates can access their results online approximately 7 weeks after the examinations, and the certificates are despatched about 4 weeks after the results are published.

We send the certificates to the language schools for their candidates or to a private address for individual candidates.

If you would like your results and certificate delivered to an overseas address, please give your details to your teacher or school.

If you are an individual candidate, you will have to pay a small extra fee to cover the cost of the secure overseas delivery. You can do this through our office when you are enrolling for an examination.

Please note that only candidates who pass their examination will receive a certificate.

If you don’t receive your certificate within two months of receiving your results, please contact the school you were studying at, as they are responsible for sending them to you and should do so by some means of secure mail.

For individual candidates, please contact Cambridge Examinations: cambridge@cambridgeexams.com.au or call us on (02) 9555 9752.

If you lose your certificate after you have received it, please contact Cambridge in the UK direct. You must pay a fee to have it replaced. If it has been more than 12 months since you sat the examination, you may not receive a certificate. In this case, you will receive a Certifying Statement of your grade.